‘Lost’ Great War Tank Unearthed In Time For 90th Anniversary Memorial Event
23 November 2007
Tim Heap inside the remains of his grandfather's First World War tank.
It was eerie, I realised how close to death he was. If he’d sat in his seat one minute longer I wouldn’t even be here today.
”Tim Heap, Subject Manager for Travel and Tourism, and Sport and Leisure at the University of Derby Buxton.
The grandson of a soldier who fought in one of history’s first major tank battles will see his grandfather’s First World War vehicle - unearthed from a French farmer’s field - take pride of place at a 90th anniversary memorial event.
Tim Heap, 55, a University of Derby lecturer from Winster, Derbyshire, will this weekend attend the unveiling of a memorial to all the soldiers who died at the Battle of Cambrai, northern France, in November 1917, in memory of his grandfather Frank Heap; a tank commander in the conflict which saw more than 300 British tanks used to break through the German Hindenburg line.
The 19-year-old soldier escaped death when his tank was shelled three times, killing four of its nine-man crew, only because he had stepped outside the Mark IV ‘Deborah’ vehicle to take compass directions. One shell landed where he had been sitting a minute before.
First Lieutenant Heap led the remaining crew, which had pushed so far ahead they were now behind German lines, back to safety. An action for which he later received the Military Cross.
As astonishing was the accidental discovery of his damaged tank in 2002 buried under a farmer’s field and how the Heap family were made aware of it.
Tim - a Subject Manager for Travel and Tourism, and Sport and Leisure at the University of Derby Buxton - and his family had always known about Grandfather Frank’s wartime experiences and had photos of him by his tank. He survived the war and died in the mid-1950s.
Tim said: "My older brother William Heap works for the Ministry of Defence and happened to get talking to a member of the Royal Tank Regiment, who mentioned that this First World War tank had been dug up in France. On seeing a picture of it, William recognised it and said ‘that’s grandfather’s tank’."
Both William and Tim have since been to France to look at the remains of their grandfather’s tank, which has been stored in a barn since it was accidentally discovered and dug up. It’s thought English or German troops burying it during the war, to use as a bunker, actually helped preserve it.
The vehicle has now been mounted on stone blocks and will be seen by civilians and members of the Royal Tank Regiment attending a series of memorial events this week to mark the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Cambrai.
These will culminate on Sunday (November 25) in a tour of the Cambrai battlefield and the unveiling of a monument to all soldiers in the village of Flesquieres, five kilometres south-west of Cambrai.
Tim feels he will be representing both sides of the conflict of 90 years ago when he and his family attend this weekend’s memorial events, as his mother was Austrian. His maternal grandfather was even awarded the Iron Cross during the First World War.
One of the areas he lectures in as part of his work with the University of Derby is Battlefield Tourism, and the growing interest in visiting sites significant in the First and Second World Wars.
But he says actually sitting in a tank operated by his grandfather 90 years ago, and in which he almost lost his life, brought the subject home to him in a very personal way.
"It was eerie, I realised how close to death he was. If he’d sat in his seat one minute longer I wouldn’t even be here today," added Tim.
Press release by Press and PR Officer Sean Kirby on 01332 593004 or 07876 476103, or email s.kirby@derby.ac.uk.
For further media information please contact Sean or Deputy Head of Press and PR Simon Redfern on 01332 591942 or 07748 920038, or email s.redfern@derby.ac.uk.
