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Giffard Le Quesne Martel

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Sir Giffard Le Quesne Martel
Lieutenant General Sir Giffard Martel, pictured here in 1942.
Nickname(s)"Q Martel"
"Q"[1]
Born10 October 1889[2]
Millbrook, Southampton,Hampshire,England
Died3 September 1958 (aged 68)
Camberley,Surrey,England
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchBritish Army
Years of service1908–1945
RankLieutenant-General
Service number6628
UnitRoyal Engineers
Royal Tank Regiment
Commands9th Field Company RE[3]
50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division
Royal Armoured Corps
Battles/warsFirst World War
Second World War
AwardsKnight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Distinguished Service Order
Military Cross
Mentioned in dispatches(5)[4]

Lieutenant-GeneralSir Giffard Le Quesne MartelKCBKBEDSOMCMIMechE(10 October 1889 – 3 September 1958) was aBritish Armyofficerwho served in both theFirstandSecond World Wars.Familiarly known as "Q Martel" or just "Q", he was a pioneering British military engineer and tank strategist.

Early life and military career

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Born into a traditional military family he was the son ofBrigadier-GeneralSir Charles Philip Martelwho was Chief Superintendent of Ordnance Factories. He married Maud Mackenzie on 29 July 1922 and they had one son.[5]

Martel entered theRoyal Military Academy, Woolwichin 1908 and wascommissionedas asecond lieutenantinto theBritish Army'sRoyal Engineerson 23 July 1909.[6]Martel was instrumental in the establishment of The Royal Navy and Army Bo xing Association in 1911[7]and was Army and Inter Services bo xing champion both before and after World War I.[8]

First World War

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A young Lt Martel (furthest right), October 1914.[9]

Martel deployed for theFirst World Warwith9th Field Company RE,serving in theGreat Retreat,First Battle of the Marne,First Battle of the Aisne,theBattle of Armentièresand theSecond Battle of Ypres.He commanded the 9th Field Company from October 1915 to July 1916.[3]

In 1916, as asapperofficer with direct experience of the first British use of tanks on theSomme,Martel was put in charge of recreating a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) wide replica of the British and German trench systems, complete withno man's land,atElveden,Norfolk,as part of atanktraining ground.[10]

There he developed a keen interest in tank theory believing them to be the future of warfare and in November 1916 he wrote a paper,A Tank Army,suggesting an army composed entirely of armoured vehicles. AsJ. F. C. Fuller'sGSO3the wide-ranging ideas set out in this paper profoundly influenced Fuller's thinking which at the time simply regarded the tank as no more than a useful adjunct to infantry on the battlefield.[11]Martel was also interested in the construction of wire net roads as deployed in the British Army's 1917–1918campaign in the Sinai and Palestineand their use in supporting tracked vehicles.[12]

In late 1916, Martel was onHugh Elles' staff atBermicourtin France assisting Fuller on the operational planning.[13]

In addition to his MC (1915) and DSO (1916),[14]in the course of the war Martel wasmentioned in dispatchesfive times.[15][4]

Between the wars

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After theArmistice with Germany,now amajor,Martel was able to combine his two interests of tanks and military bridging when he became head of theExperimental Bridging EstablishmentatChristchurch, Hampshire,which researched the possibilities of using tanks for battlefield engineering purposes such as bridge-laying andmine-clearing.[16]Here he continued trials on modifiedMark V tanks.The bridging component involved an assault bridge, designed by MajorCharles InglisRE, the Canal Lock Bridge, which had sufficient length to span acanal lock.[17]

Martel, who attended theStaff College, Camberley,from 1921 to 1922, also developed his new bridging concept at the EBE, the Martel bridge, amodularbox girder bridgesuitable for military use.[4]The Martel bridge was adopted by the British Army in 1925 as the "Large Box Girder Bridge".[18]A smaller version, the Small Box Girder Bridge, was also formally adopted by the Army in 1932 and copied by many countries, including Germany, who called their version theKastenrager-Gerät(K-Gerätfor short).[18]The United States created a copy, the H-20. The modular construction of the basic Martel bridge was also used for theBailey bridge.In 1954, theRoyal Commission on Awards to Inventorsawarded Martel £500 for infringement on the design of his bridge by the designer of the Bailey bridge,Donald Bailey.[19]

Martel also continued to pursue his interest in tanks independently. In 1925 he built, in his own garage, a one-mantankettepowered by a car engine and capable of a speed of 15 mph (24 km/h).[20]After a demonstration to theWar Office,Morris Commercial Carswas contracted to build four test models, the first of which was delivered in 1926. Carden Loyd Tractors[21]built a similar one-man machine, theCarden Loyd One Man Tankette.[22]

In 1927, eight more Martel tankettes were ordered to assess their potential role in forward reconnaissance. They were tested along with two-manCarden Loyd tankettesin manoeuvres with theExperimental Mechanized ForceonSalisbury Plainin 1927 and 1928.[23]

The idea for a single-man fighting vehicle was soon dropped as it became apparent that one operator could not control the vehicle at the same time as firing a weapon and the British Army requirement for a light tank, theLight Tank Mark I,was a development of the Carden Loyd tankette.[24]Morris Motors tried developing a two-man version of the Martel design andCrossley Motorsa further version - theMorris-Martel- in 1927 withKégresse rubber tracksbut after two prototypes were tested the project was abandoned.[25][26]

In 1928, the Tank and Tracked Transport Advisory Committee that Martel was a member of became the Mechanical Warfare Board which was to liaise with industry and to advise on technical matters relating to "mechanised transport".[27]In 1929, Martel was seconded to theKing George V's Own Bengal Sappers and Minersand then served as an instructor at theBritish Indian Army'sStaff CollegeinQuettafrom 1930 until 1934, after which he attended theImperial Defence College.[4]From 1936 until 1939, Martel served at the War Office, first as Assistant Director of Mechanisation, then from 1938 as the Deputy Director with the temporary rank of Brigadier.[28][2]

In 1936, he attended along with Wavell a large-scale tank exercise in the Belorussian Military District of theSoviet Unionin which large numbers of the SovietBT tankstook part. Martel pressured for a similar fast tank design to be investigated for addition to British tank brigades and convinced the General Staff to issue a specification for a cruiser tank.[29]

Martel was appointedGeneral Officer Commandingthe50th Northumbrian Division, Territorial Armyin February 1939 with the rank ofmajor-general.[30][31]The division had been converted from October 1938 to "motorised" with the whole of the infantry being carried by large lorries.[32]

Second World War

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After a tank demonstration nearFrensham,Surrey; Martel,Władysław Sikorski(Prime Minister of the Polish Government-in-Exile and C-in-C of the Polish Armed Forces), Winston Churchill, GeneralCharles de Gaulle(C-in-C of the Free French Forces) andWilloughby Norrie(GOC 1st Armoured Division), February 1941.

The 50th Division embarked for France on 14 September 1939 as part of theBritish Expeditionary Force(BEF). There, on 21 May 1940 during theBattle of France,Martel directed the tank attack on the7th Panzer Divisionin theBattle of Arrasin which the German frontline was driven back eight miles.[5][33]

Following the BEF's evacuation, Martel became the Commander of theRoyal Armoured Corpsin 1940 where he put his theories ofarmoured warfareto good use.[34][35]In March 1941, he gave themilitary attachéof the neutral United States inLondon,Brigadier General Raymond E. Lee, a report outlining his experiences and assessment of the German armoured tactics in France.[36]

In March 1943, Martel became the Head of the Military Mission to the Soviet Union.[37]He assessed the effectiveness of the Sovietorder of battleand tactics during a visit to the front line in theKursk-Oryolregion between 11 and 19 May 1943.[38][39]

His reports based on his visit to the Soviet front line and his discussions with theRed ArmyTank Directorate concluded that the Soviet battlefield experience would be far more relevant to armoured tactics in the forthcomingOperation Overlordthan that of the experience of the British Army in theNorth African campaign.Martel's intelligence-gathering and his clear and perceptive analyses of the Soviet military position were commended by his superiors at the War Office but with the arrival of the new and overtly anti-communist Head of RAF Mission, Air Marshal SirJohn Babingtonin September 1943 his working relationship with the Soviets deteriorated with a marked decline in co-operation. He was recalled, being replaced by Lieutenant-GeneralMontagu Burrowsand left Moscow on 7 February 1944.[40]Later that month, he lost his right eye as a result of a German bombing raid on London.[41]

Subsequent life

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Martel was knighted in 1943,[42]with theKnight Commander of the Order of the Bathfollowing in 1944.[5]He retired from the army in 1945 with the rank of lieutenant-general.[43][39][44]He stood unsuccessfully as theConservative Partycandidate for theBarnard Castleconstituencyin the1945 UK General Election.[45][44]

On his retirement, Martel wrote on military matters. He died at his home inCamberley,Surrey,on 3 September 1958.[46]

References

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  1. ^Mead 2007,p. 285.
  2. ^abThe Times,Saturday, 22 Jan 1938; pg. 7; Issue 47899; col G
  3. ^ab"The Balswins: A Family of Royal Engineers".RE Ubique.Retrieved3 March2024.
  4. ^abcdSmart 2005,p. 210.
  5. ^abc"Obituary, WORLD-FAMOUS EXPERT ON TANK WARFARE",The Herald,Glasgow, 4 September 1958
  6. ^"No. 28282".The London Gazette.24 August 1909. p. 6448.
  7. ^Tony Mason, Eliza Riedi (2010).Sport and the Military: The British Armed Forces 1880-1960.Cambridge University Press.ISBN9781139788977.Retrieved29 December2012.
  8. ^Hamilton, Nigel (1981).Monty: The Making of a General 1887-1942.McGraw-Hill Book Company. p. 352.
  9. ^Young, B. K. (March 1934)."The Diary of an R.E. Subaltern with the B.E.F. in 1914"(PDF).The Royal Engineers Journal (Contd.).48:16.Retrieved29 February2024.
  10. ^Christy Campbell (2008).Band of Brigands: The First Men in Tanks.Harper Perennial.ISBN9780007325856.Retrieved29 December2012.
  11. ^Azar Gat (2001).A History of Military Thought: From the Enlightenment to the Cold War.OUP Oxford.ISBN9780199247622.Retrieved29 December2012.
  12. ^LIDDELL: 15/12/13 1922–1925 – King's College London, Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
  13. ^Men, Ideas, and Tanks: British Military Thought and Armoured Forces, 1903–1939By J. P. Harris, pg. 80
  14. ^"No. 12947".The Edinburgh Gazette.5 June 1916. p. 994.
  15. ^"The Army Director of Personal Services"The Times,Saturday, 22 Jan 1938; pg. 7; Issue 47899; col G
  16. ^Corps History - Part 15 The Corps between the wars (1919-39),Royal Engineers Museum, 7 February 2007, archived fromthe originalon 1 May 2008
  17. ^"The Inglis Bridges".Think Defence. 9 December 2017.Retrieved31 October2021.
  18. ^abThink Defence (30 December 2011)."UK Military Bridging – Equipment (Pre WWII Equipment Bridging)".thinkdefence.co.uk.Retrieved8 May2017.Adopted by the Army in 1925 the Large Box Girder Bridge was adaptable and relatively cheap, able to carry loads of up to 40 tonnes, it remained in service until replaced by the Bailey.
  19. ^"Bridge Claim By General 'Used As Basis For Bailey Design'".The Times.26 July 1955. p. 4 col E.
  20. ^B T White,British Tanks 1915–1945,pg. 11
  21. ^named for its foundersSir John CardenandVivian Loydwho joined forces to make military tracked vehicles
  22. ^"British Tankettes, Carden Loyd One Man Tankette".Florida State University. Archived fromthe originalon 11 December 2012.Retrieved29 December2012.
  23. ^White, pg. 11
  24. ^"Martel, Morris-Martel One Man Tankette".Florida State University. Archived fromthe originalon 11 December 2012.Retrieved29 December2012.
  25. ^"Morris-Martel Two Man Tankette".Tanks! Armoured Warfare Prior to 1946.William A. Kirk Jr. Archived fromthe originalon 11 December 2012.Retrieved29 December2012.
  26. ^"Crossley Military Vehicles After WW1".Crossley Motors Ltd.Retrieved29 December2012.
  27. ^The Times,Tuesday, 20 March 1928; pg. 16; Issue 44846; col F
  28. ^The Times,Saturday, 8 Feb 1936; pg. 17; Issue 47293; col D
  29. ^Milsom, John; Sandars, John; Scarborough, Gerald (1976).Crusader.Classic Armoured Fighting Vehicles: Their History and How to Model Them. Cambridge: Patrick Stephens in association with Airfix. pp. 5–7.ISBN0-85059-194-5.
  30. ^"Changes in the Army"The Times,Thursday, 15 Dec 1938; pg. 22; Issue 48178; col A
  31. ^"No. 34600".The London Gazette.21 February 1939. p. 1209.
  32. ^"Motorized" T.A. DivisionsThe Times,Tuesday, 10 Jan 1939; pg. 6; Issue 48199; col F
  33. ^Mead 2007,p. 286−287.
  34. ^"Battle of Britain Brains Utilized",The Virgin Islands Daily News,7 January 1941
  35. ^Mead 2007,p. 287.
  36. ^Mahnken, Thomas G. (2009).Uncovering Ways of War: U.S. Intelligence and Foreign Military Innovation.Cornell University Press.ISBN978-0801439865.Retrieved29 December2012.
  37. ^"British General Sent to Moscow".Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.22 March 1943.
  38. ^Searle, D. Alaric (2007)."Uneasy intelligence collaboration, genuine ill will, with an admixture of ideology: the British Military Mission to the Soviet Union, 1941–1945"(PDF).pp. 12–13. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 31 October 2021.Retrieved31 October2021– viaUniversity of Salford.
  39. ^abMead 2007,p. 288.
  40. ^Stoker, Donald J. (2010).Military Advising and Assistance: From Mercenaries to Privatization, 1815-2007.Routledge.ISBN9780415770156.Retrieved29 December2012.
  41. ^Sir Giffard Le Quesne Martel (1949).An Outspoken Soldier:His Views And Memoirs.Sifton.Retrieved29 December2012.
  42. ^"No. 36033".The London Gazette(Supplement). 2 June 1943. p. 2424.
  43. ^MARTEL, Sir Giffard Le Quesne (1889–1958), Lieutenant-General – King's College London, Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives.
  44. ^abSmart 2005,p. 211.
  45. ^"UK General Election results July 1945".Political Science Resources. Archived fromthe originalon 25 May 2015.Retrieved29 December2012.
  46. ^"British tank expert dead",The Bulletin,Glasgow, p. 2, 4 September 1958 – via Google News

Publications

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Bibliography

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Military offices
Preceded by GOC 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division
1939–1940 		Succeeded by
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