"Elles' tank flag at Cambrai?" Topic

In 'The Ironclads of Cambrai' Cooper mentions that during the preparations for the battle Elles "insisted on the right to lead his men into the first real tank battle in history. And he intended carrying the Corps flag which he and Fuller had devised earlier – the brown, red and green flag which symbolized mud, fighting spirit, and fields for good going." (p92)

Can anyone direct me to an illustration of this flag?

Was it actually carried into the battle?

Thanks

I remember a comic in my youth had an article saying that the colours were chosen because they were the only fabrics in a shop they visited, and that the flag was carried on a walking stick.

link

It was carried into battle.

The colours stand for

" Through mud and blood to the green fields beyond. "

The flag was on a staff of sorts and mounted on his command tank. Lots of field grade officers carried walking sticks in WW1.

In the Blue Peter episode where they showed you how to make a Mark IV out of old matchboxes and corrugated card for the tracks, they also did the flag and modelled it proudly flying from the Blue Peter tank.

An excellent book on British tank development is John Glanfield's THE DEVIL'S CHARIOTS: Birth & Secret Battles of the First Tanks. Glanfield's intensive research has unearthed much new information on the events and personalities surrounding the development of the first tanks. B/w illust/tech specs/drawings, biblio, index. 1 vol, 336 pgs 2006 UK, SUTTON PUBLISHING
NEW-pb $20.00 USD
OMM Item: 190730

There is a chapter entitled First Blood that describes the first tank usage, but I didn't see any reference to the flag. Does include nice side drawings of about a dozen British tanks, plus an appendix with production nmbers in a chart. Got one copy left.

Dennis from OMM
onmilitarymatters.com

Thanks for the replies