 |
Home | Events | Location | Education | Shop | Vehicles | Weapons
|
This vehicle is normally on display at the Museum, but is withdrawn at times for shows and events
World War 1 was the first conflict in which the motor vehicle played a major role. Thousands of trucks, ambulances, gun tractors and other motorised vehicles were used by the allied and enemy forces. However, they could not totally replace the horse's role in the 1914-1918 war as no country at that time had sufficient industrial capacity to produce both war material and enough motorised vehicles.
First Britain, then France and Germany, began to produce tanks, placing an additional burden on industrial production.
The major limitation of the trucks then available was a lack of mobility off good road surfaces. In the USA, the lack of surfaced roads outside towns had lead to the development of workable four wheel drive trucks, notably by the firms Four Wheel Drive Auto Co (FWD) and by Jeffrey and others. Some of these vehicles were used by the British Army and their advantages were quickly recognised. Despite smooth solid tyres and a very slow maximum speed they were better able to keep going on rough ground and in mud.
After the War, in 1918 the Army took possession of some German four wheel drive trucks and the Royal Army Service Corps (then the main operator of motor transport) carried out experiments to produce an ideal off road military truck. The first prototype leant heavily on German components but a production version was designed and built by the Thornycroft Company at Basingstoke. This vehicle was named Hathi, the Hindustani name for an elephant, appropriate since for its time it was a huge vehicle. The first Hathis appeared in about 1924.
The Hathi was designed initially as a gun tractor. The RASC at that time provided such vehicles for the Royal Artillery. The Hathi was an open topped bonneted truck with a bench seat for the driver and up to two extra men. A low sided timber body was arranged to allow back to back seats for the gun crew to be constructed over the hump in the floor which covered the main chassis winch.
The Thornycroft GB6 6 cylinder 11.3 litre petrol engine was derived from a marine engine and drove through a clutch to a separate gearbox from which drive shafts took power to front and rear axles. The gearbox and axle casings were in cast aluminium to save weight. The high ground clearance necessary for an off road vehicle and absence of any upper bodywork kept the centre of gravity reasonably low.
The distinctive feature of the tractor was its wide radiator the top of which conformed to the bonnet line in two concave curves. The vehicle was extensively tested towing various guns of the period. Many of the trials took place in the Long Valley between Aldershot and Farnham, still a military training area today.
The Colonial Office was interested in this and other later off road vehicles. It saw off road vehicles as a potential means of providing cheaper transport for rural areas in the Colonies, where building railways or hard roads would be uneconomic. Some Hathis were later tested in India and elsewhere.
Military versions were produced in very small numbers, probably only twenty five or so. They remained in service until the maintenance, particularly the steering front axles, became too expensive. By this time newer and more effective vehicles began to appear. In the mid 1930s some Hathis were sent to the Australian Army. Others were converted to recovery vehicles, some for the Army and others for the RAF and Royal Navy. One at least of the latter is known to have survived to the end of World War 2 at Portsmouth Dockyard.
A very battered and much modified Hathi was donated to the Museum for the Corps Historic Vehicle Collection in 1988 by Mr Adrian Birth. It had previously been owned by his neighbour Mr Don Mann, his father had purchased it from the Royal Navy to use in his tree felling business. Modifications included the replacement of the engine with a Bedford and the radiator by one from an old Garner lorry. All the bodywork had gone except the scuttle and remains of a seat. An extra large winch had been added, together with a folding spade, for use in pulling out tree roots. There were various necessary modifications to the vehicle's transmission and to provide drive to the extra winch. The vehicle had been damaged in an accident and through over enthusiastic winching.
Deemed unrestorable by some professional engineers, the work was undertaken initially by the staff and Army apprentice students of Princess Marina College. Restoration work there included the manufacture of a new radiator, exhaust system and other sheet metal work and the redesign work to accommodate a later model Thornycroft engine.
The closing of some departments of the College brought the work to an end and further restoration was carried out by other vintage vehicle enthusiasts. Work continues to bring the vehicle back as close as possible to its specification as a gun tractor. A subsequent project will add the structures necessary to complete it as a recovery vehicle. This is believed to be the sole surviving Hathi.
Length |
4.78 m (16 ft 4 in) |
Width |
2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) |
Height |
1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) |
Wheelbase |
3.50 m (11 ft 6 in) |
Engine |
Thornycroft GB6 11.3 litre petrol (original) |
Thornycroft GRN6 11.3 litre petrol (restored) |
Further information on Thornycroft vehicles is available at http://www.thornycroft.org.uk/.
REME Museum of Technology Home Page
Email Enquiries or telephone 0118 976 3375 for further information
Page produced by Peter Eldred - Last updated 27 November 2004