Thomas Gerard Hetherington

Group Captain Thomas Gerard Hetherington

First World War. Although his design for an enormous wheeled vehicle proved to be impractical, it earned him a seat on the Landship Committee

and he participated in early experiments with tracked vehicles.

Early career

Educated at

Admiralty, on 2 October Hetherington was given command of a section of five Wolseley armoured cars, representing one third of Samson's RNAS Armoured Car Section.^[2]

Landship Committee

By December 1914, Hetherington had moved to

Rhine

".

Although initially suggested in jest, Hetherington began work on a detailed design aided by his subordinates, which he submitted to his commanding officer,

first Sea Lord, who passed them on to his gunnery expert, Percy Scott, whose opinion was that it would be too easily targeted by enemy artillery before it could be used.^[5]

However, that was not the end of the line for the Revised Hetherington Proposal, because in early February, Hetherington attended a dinner at

Killen-Strait tracked vehicle across broken ground and barbed wire in a demonstration at Wormwood Scrubs, attended by Churchill and David Lloyd George, the new Minister of Munitions.^[10] Although the Killen-Strait tractor was too small to be useful, the trial would lead to the adoption of tracked propulsion for Little Willie, the first prototype tank.^[11] In January 1916, Hetherington was given command of a detachment from No. 20 Squadron, Royal Naval Armoured Car Division, that provided the crew for "Mother", the prototype of the Mark I tank, when it was demonstrated to senior naval and military officers and government officials at Hatfield Park.^[12]

In January 1918, Major Hetherington was created a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for "services in connection with the origination of the Tanks".^[13] In November 1919, the Royal Commission on Awards to Inventors concluded that "great credit" was due to Major Hetherington for his part in the development of the tank, but no monetary reward was due because his work had been within the scope of his duty.^[14]

Revised Hetherington Proposal Specifications

Armament: 3 twin 4-inch gun turrets with 300 rounds per gun
Horse power: 800 h.p. Sunbeam Diesel engine with fuel for 24 hours
Total weight: 300 tons
Armour: 3 inches
Diameter of wheels: 40 feet
Tread of main wheels: 13 feet 4 inches
Tread of steering wheel: 5 feet
Overall length: 100 feet
Overall width: 80 feet
Overall height: 46 feet
Clearance: 17 feet
Top speed on good going: 8 miles per hour
Top speed on bad going: 4 miles per hour^[15]

Later career

Transferring to the Royal Air Force, Hetherington had reached the rank of

air attaché in 1930, and to Rome in 1931 with the rank of group captain before retiring in 1935.^[16] He finally relinquished his commission as a reserve officer in 1943.^[17]

In 1921, he married Clementine Dundas Bartolucci and they had one daughter, Candida. Hetherington died on 14 October 1951.[18]

References

^ Smithers 1987, p. 21
^ Glanfield 2006, p. 43
^ Smithers 1987, p. 21
^ Glanfield 2006, pp. 52-53
^ Glanfield 2006, p. 58
^ Smithers 1987, pp. 21-23
^ Harris 2015, p. 21
^ Harris 2015, p. 22
^ Smithers 1987, p. 31
^ Hobbs 2017, pp. 157-158
^ Harris 2015, p. 26
^ Stern 1919, pp. 48-49
^ "No. 30460". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 January 1918. p. 370.
^ "Wheels of Industry". archive.commercialmotor.com. Commercial Motor Archive. 2 December 1919. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
^ Fuller 1920, p. 23
^ Glanfield 2006, p. 230
^ "No. 36116". The London Gazette (Supplement). 3 August 1943. p. 3486.
^ Elliot, Catherine. "Fingask record 211 - Group Captain Thomas Gerard Hetherington". www.dundasfamily.co.uk. Retrieved 22 May 2020.

Sources

Fuller, J. F. C. (1920). Tanks in the Great War 1914-1918. New York: E. P. Dutton and Company.
Glanfield, John (2006). The Devil's Chariots: The Birth and Secret Battles of the First Tanks. The History Press.
ISBN 978-0750941525
.

Harris, J. P. (2015). Men, Ideas, and Tanks: British Military Thought and Armoured Forces, 1903-1939. Manchester University Press.
ISBN 978-0719048142
.

Hobbs, David (2017). The Royal Navy's Air Service in the Great War. Seaforth Publishing.
ISBN 978-1848323483
.

Smithers, A. J. (1987). A New Excalibur: The Development of the Tank 1909-1939. Leo Cooper Ltd.
ISBN 978-0436475207
.

Stern, Albert Gerald (1919). Tanks, 1914-1918: the Log-Book of a Pioneer. London: Hodder and Stoughton.
Travers, Tim (2003). The Killing Ground: the British Army, the Western Front and the Emergence of Modern Warfare, 1900-1918. Pen & Sword Books Ltd.
ISBN 978-0850529647
.

[1] Smithers 1987, p. 21

[2] Glanfield 2006, p. 43

[3] Smithers 1987, p. 21

[4] Glanfield 2006, pp. 52-53

[5] Glanfield 2006, p. 58

[6] Smithers 1987, pp. 21-23

[7] Harris 2015, p. 21

[8] Harris 2015, p. 22

[9] Smithers 1987, p. 31

[10] Hobbs 2017, pp. 157-158

[11] Harris 2015, p. 26

[12] Stern 1919, pp. 48-49

[13] "No. 30460". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 January 1918. p. 370.

[14] "Wheels of Industry". archive.commercialmotor.com. Commercial Motor Archive. 2 December 1919. Retrieved 22 May 2020.

[15] Fuller 1920, p. 23

[16] Glanfield 2006, p. 230

[17] "No. 36116". The London Gazette (Supplement). 3 August 1943. p. 3486.

[18] Elliot, Catherine. "Fingask record 211 - Group Captain Thomas Gerard Hetherington". www.dundasfamily.co.uk. Retrieved 22 May 2020.

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