Publisher's Synopsis
The previously untold story of the Special Vehicle Development Committee, better known as 'The Old Gang' or by the abbreviation 'TOG'. These were the men who were mainly responsible for the creation of the British tanks in WW1. Men like Sir Albert Stern, Sir William Tritton, Sir Harry Ricardo, and Major Walter Wilson. At the outbreak of WW2, they were given a new task, that of breaching the heaviest German defences, with a heavily armoured tank able to cross the worst mud soaked ground of Flanders. The SVDC managed in very short time to design more than one vehicle to accomplish this seemingly impossible task and built tanks bearing their acronym as TOG-1 and TOG-2. This book covers the development of both vehicles as well as several variations and other work such as an underwater tank and connections to the gigantic Cultivator machines of the Naval Land Equipment division. The work of the SVDC was conducted in secrecy with documents, photographs, and blueprints sent to various companies and people. Places where sadly since the war so much has been lost. This book was the culmination of several years of research by the author. A search which brought together archival information from as far afield as Canada, the USA, Australia, and the UK to tell the story of these incredible men and their incredible machines.
