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Birthplace of the Tank

In early 1915, as the attrition and carnage of trench warfare continued to claim countless lives on the Western Front, then Minister of Munitions, David Lloyd George declared that “this is an engineer’s war”. Lincoln engineering firm William Foster & Co. who had experience in producing tracked agricultural machinery were commissioned to produce designs for various ‘trench crossing machines’. A design team of Sir William Tritton (Chairman of William Foster & Co.) Link , engineering genius Major Walter Wilson Link and Foster’s Chief Draughtsman William Rigby collaborated on the design and manufacture of the first tank Link

The Lincoln Tank Memorial Link celebrates the centenary of ‘The Birthplace of the Tank’ close to the site of Foster’s Wellington Foundry where the first tank came off the production line in 1916, on the appropriately named Tritton Road on University roundabout. The two-dimensional design is by Robin Wheeldon from a concept by Mike Credland, made of Corten Steel depicting an uncompleted Mark 1 tank, the workers involved in its production and figures of Tritton, Rigby and Wilson.

The sculpture cost £75,000, raised through sponsorship, donations and over £10,000 was raised by 101 ‘Champions of the Tank’ who each donated £100 acknowledging the 101 mark 4 tanks produced in Lincoln. Construction began on 9th March 2015 and the five tonne sculpture manufactured by Rilmac Fabrication was installed by Willmott-Dixon on Tritton Road roundabout Link on Friday April 24th 2015 and unveiled on Sunday 10th May 2015.

Created: Fri, 1 May 2015, Updated: Sun, 3 May 2015