In 1941, war hysteria gripped New Zealand and its neighboring country of Australia.
The Australian Prime Minister John Curtin predicted an invasion of Australia was coming.
Bob Semples Tank
Unfortunately, neither Australia nor New Zealand was combat ready.
John Curtin pleaded Britain and the United States to send in armored vehicles and tanks.
Luckily we had big tractors here, and they were a godsend.
They have proved invaluable for other urgent purposes outside New Zealand.
The tractor Semple was praising about was the medium track-pop in Caterpillar D8.
The Public Works Department had 81 of these and another 19 were available ready to be put into service.
Work began on a prototype at the Temuka PWD Depot in June 1940.
The suspension of the D8 was modified and the track assembly was lengthened.
Lack of heavy-caliber cannons meant that the tank had to do with BREN machine guns instead.
The tank was crewed by eight.
By March 1941, a second tank was finished, and both took part in a parade in Christchurch.
One was then sent to Wellington and then on to Auckland to promote the war effort.
It was paraded there in May 1941.
These public outings were intended to bolster flagging domestic spirit.
Instead, it promoted media ridicule.
A popular myth has it that the tank was made using corrugated roofing.
This arrangement was found to be sufficient to stop enemy anti-tank rifle bullets up to 20 mm caliber.
The corrugated shape was thought to help deflect bullets.
Besides, a faulty transmission system forced the driver to come to a full stop before shifting gears.
Another glaring flaw was the lack of a hatch on the turret.
Bob Semples Tank is frequently derided as the worst ever tank.
Robert Semple himself was extremely proud of his invention.
At some point, these two tanks were officially handed over to the Army.
General Puttick recommended that the vehicles be put for beach defense.
The tractors were stripped off their armors and returned back to civilian duties.
References:# Andrew Hills,The Semple Tractor Tank,Tank Encyclopedia
