About as amazing as it gets. "The 'lost' blueprint for the world's first tank has been unearthed in an 'astonishing' discovery. Cumbria auctioneer Paul Laidlaw is selling the fascinating document that is the only known blueprint for the British-made Mark I tank that exists. The highly-detailed, large-scale technical plan is like an X-ray for the tracked vehicle that helped change the course of the First World War. The 44ins by 28ins blueprint, dated May 1916, has come from a private vendor whose family have owned it for some considerable time. It has now emerged for the first time after being consigned for sale at auction with a pre-sale estimate of £20,000. Being sold alongside it is the 20-page patent specification for the tank. It belongs to the same vendor and is valued at £10,000. The museum-quality documents have been described as the 'birth certificate' for the tank, an invention that also changed the nature of modern warfare." www.walesonline.co.uk/lifestyle/nostalgia/lost-blueprint-worlds-first-tank-22865922?utm_source=linkCopy&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sharebar&fbclid=IwAR2O8uMZiAoNJBqqowyOsJvDyPsy4x-AlmPzdvcSq3XSt733UQZBngnf2sM
And this little Aussie puts his hand up again...ahem...gentlemen, please... Lancelot de Mole The world's first tank was an Australian invention...invented in 1912 before a need for them had even been spoken about. The case of this claimant was heard a few days after the conclusion of the other cases. We consider that he is entitled to the greatest credit for having made and reduced to practical shape as far back as the year 1912 a very brilliant invention which anticipated and in some respects surpassed that actually put into use in the year 1916. It was this claimant's misfortune and not his fault that his invention was in advance of his time, and failed to be appreciated and was put aside because the occasion for its use had not then arisen. We regret exceedingly that we are unable to recommend any award to him. But we are bound to adhere to the general rule in such cases as these that a claimant must show a causal connexion between the making of his invention and the user of any similar invention by the Government. Reward The commission finally recognised the brilliance of de Mole's design, even declaring that it was superior to the machines actually developed, but because of its narrow remit the commission was unable to recommend an award. However, de Mole was told that if he were to make a claim for out-of-pocket expenses, it would be regarded favourably. He was asked to supply a detailed statement of his expenditure on the project, and was reimbursed in the sum of £987 (about £50,000 2019 value)
