TIMELINE

Australia’s First Tank

1916
September	First use of the new ‘tank’ in warfare.
October	Australian infantry encounter the remains of tanks on the battlefield near Flers.
November	First scheduled attack of Australian infantry with tank support. Tank unable to participate due to ground conditions.

1917
11 April	First Battle of Bullecourt: first attack by Australian infantry with tank support. Tanks are soon disabled and the infantry lose faith in the new weapon.
May	Second Battle of Bullecourt: Australian infantry decline the offer of tank support, while the British 62nd Division advance on their left with ten tanks in support.
May	Australian newspapers report that Mr Andrew Fisher, Australian High Commissioner in London, has requested that the British government allocate a tank to Australia as a war relic.

1918
21 January	Lieutenant Norman Lovell Brown called to AIF HQ in London and placed in charge of a ‘heavy motor’ and crew to be sent to Australia.
23 January	Lieutenant Brown and a British Tank Corps Technical Officer choose 12 AIF candidates to undergo tank training at the Tank Corps Training Centre, Bovington Camp, Dorset. The top eight students will form the tank crew.
25 January	Australian newspapers report that a tank has been allocated to Australia.
19 March	HMAT A42 Boorara departs the UK with the tank, a veteran of fighting on the Western Front, aboard but the ship is torpedoed the next day and beached.
20 April	A replacement tank, serial number 4643, a newly build Mk. IV, plus a suite of spare parts, is loaded aboard HMAT C4 Dongarra at Glasgow docks, destined for Australia.
8 May	AIF Transport Section commences arrangements for the eight crew and Lieutenant Brown to return to Australia as the ‘Special Tank Personnel’.
12 May	Special Tank Personnel embark aboard HT D8 Ruahine on their way to Australia.
4 July	Battle of Hamel: first successful cooperation between tanks and Australian infantry.
5 July	The Special Tank Personnel arrive in Sydney aboard HT D8 Ruahine
9 July	HMAT C4 Dongarra docks briefly in Adelaide en route to Melbourne. Lieutenant Brown takes the opportunity to inspect the tank, which is lashed to the foredeck.
12 July	HMAT C4 Dongarra arrives in Port Phillip Bay, drops anchor in Hobson’s Bay and awaits allocation of a berth.
13 July	HMAT C4 Dongarra docks in Melbourne and the tank is unloaded on the wharf.
17 July	Tank 4643 is moved by haulage company Vaughan’s to Victoria Barracks yard, St Kilda Road. ‘Special Tank Personnel’ commence maintenance and preparation for use.
27 July	Tank 4643, under its own power, accompanies a parade of French troops through the streets of Melbourne, the first official public appearance of a tank crewed by an Australian crew in Australia.
12-13 August	Tank crew discharged from the AIF and re-enlisted for Home Service as members of the Special Unit Tank Crew.
15 August	Lieutenant Brown discharged from the AIF and re-enlisted in the Home Service as OC Special Unit Tank Crew.
4 September	Tank 4643 arrives at Mitcham railway yard, Adelaide, South Australia, for ‘War Tank Week’.
5–14 September	Tank 4643 performs for packed crowds at Unley Oval during ‘War Tank Week’. A naming competition is held.
14 September	Lady Galway, wife of the Governor of South Australia, officially christens Tank 4643 ‘Grit’.
16-17 September	Grit takes part in the launch of the Seventh War Loan in central Adelaide.
18 September	Grit is loaded onto a flatcar for the rail journey back to Melbourne.
23 September	Grit is unloaded at the Royal Agricultural Showgrounds in Melbourne, where it is discovered that various items have been stolen from the vehicle while en route.
23–28 September	Grit is displayed at the Royal Agricultural Show, Melbourne, in support of the Seventh War Loan.
28 September	Grit is loaded onto a flatcar for transport to Sydney, NSW.
2 October	Grit is transhipped from the Victorian broad gauge to the NSW standard gauge at Albury, NSW.
3 October	Grit arrives and is unloaded at Sydney’s Central Railway Station.
10–15 October	Grit and crew support the war loan rallies in Sydney.
24 October-2 November	Mobility demonstrations at the Victoria Park Racecourse.
11 November	Cessation of hostilities.
12 November	Grit is loaded onto a flatcar for the return journey to Melbourne.
13 November	H.V. McKay of the Board of Business Administration passes formal administrative control of Grit to Colonel Dangar, Chief of Ordnance.
14 November	Grit arrives in Albury for transfer from the standard to the broad gauge railway.
16 November	Grit and crew give mobility demonstrations in Albury.
18 November	Grit is loaded aboard a broad gauge railway flatcar for shipment to Melbourne.
20 November	Grit arrives in Melbourne, is unloaded at the Spencer Street railway yard, and motors under its own power back to the Engineer Depot in Alexandra Avenue.
10 December	First of the AIF crewmen, Corporal Swain, is discharged.
26 December	Most of the AIF crewmen discharged. Only Captain Brown and Corporal Fleming remain in service. Members of the Royal Australian Engineers, PMF, allocated for training as tank crew.

1919
5 April	Grit and the newly trained RAE crew, under command of Captain Brown, depart Spencer Street railway yard bound for Brisbane, Queensland.
17 April	Grit arrives at Roma Street Station, Brisbane.
17–27 April	Participation in fundraising events in Brisbane, including mobility demonstrations at Exhibition Oval.
23 April	Official visit to Grit by various dignitaries, including the Governor and Lady Goold-Adams.
26 April	Lady Goold-Adams rides inside Grit as it performs a mobility demonstration around an obstacle course at Exhibition Oval.
27 April	Grit departs Brisbane for Melbourne aboard a railway flatcar.
10 May	Some members of the tank crew arrive in Melbourne.
12 May	Grit and the remainder of the crew arrive in Melbourne.
May	Sergeant Fleming discharged.
19 May	Grit participates in the Victory March through Melbourne.
May-June	Grit given an extensive overhaul by the RAE crew under the supervision of Brown.
23 October	Captain Brown discharged.
20 September	Grit placed on exhibition at the Royal Agricultural Show, Melbourne, for a week.
6 December	Grit placed on public display in central Melbourne before being driven to St Kilda for the St Kilda Carnival.
6–13 December	Grit on display at the St Kilda Carnival.
15 December	Grit driven from St Kilda to the Engineer Depot, Alexandra Avenue.

1920
	Grit remains in storage at the Engineer Depot, Alexandra Avenue, Melbourne.
1921
14 October	Grit makes its final journey under its own power from the Engineer Depot in South Melbourne to the Australian War Museum Annex housed in the Exhibition Buildings, Carlton.
1921-1936
	Grit on display at the Australian War Memorial Annex in Melbourne.
1936-1941
	In storage in Canberra.
1941
November	Grit transferred to the new Australian War Memorial building in Canberra and placed on public display in the lower gallery.