David Fletcher, Medium Mark A Whippet. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2014. Illustrations. Images. Index. 48 pp.



As I have been getting back into modelling recently, I thought I would occasionally share the odd review of new products that I buy. This could be more often than usual given that I left most of my modelling supplies back in the UK when I relocated to Australia. Given this, I thought I would start with a book review. As regular readers will know, I recently started building the MENG Medium Mark A Whippet, and when I bought this kit, I also bought David Fletcher’s Osprey book on this vehicle.

Fletcher is the doyen when it comes to British armour development in the 20th century. For many years he worked at The Tank Museum in the UK and has published widely on the subject. This little volume published by Osprey Publishing covers the development of the Whippet tank during the First World War. The Whippet emerged because of a need to have a faster moving tank that could exploit breakthroughs on the Western Front. Broadly speaking, tanks emerged because of the need to try and return a degree of mobility to the battlefield and break the stalemate that had emerged on the Western Front from late-1914 onwards. However, the first tanks developed by Britain were heavy, cumbersome machines with slow speeds. They were not capable of exploiting any breakthrough that might emerge. As such, the Whippet was developed. However, as Fletcher notes, it is not clear who initially requested this capability (p. 4).

A captured British Whippet tank in German service, c. 1918. (Source: © IWM (Q 88140))
Fletcher’s book appeared in Osprey’s New Vanguard series and was published in 2014. It is laid out in the now familiar New Vanguard layout of 48 pages with images and illustrations. The illustrator for this book is Henry Morshead. As is standard with the New Vanguard series, the book includes a cutaway image (pp. 22-3) showing the internals for the Whippet. This would be a useful starting point for anyone courageous enough to build an interior for with the MENG or Takom kits. Fletcher walks the reader through the development of the Whippet and outlines its operational history from its arrival on the Western Front in late 1917 through the battles of 1918 and its post-war usage. Fletcher also notes that the Whippet was exported to several countries including Japan. However, despite the title, the book is not limited to just the Whippet but also covers the other medium tanks developed by Britain during the First World War. This description is ably supported by a wide variety of images, though it would be nice to know the sources for these pictures. It would also be nice to have a select bibliography at the end of the book. For many, Osprey books act as a gateway to the subjects covered and it would be good to highlight some more works that people could, if so inclined, go and read.

Overall, this book, as we have come to expect from Osprey, is an excellent little introduction to the Whippet tank and its use in the First World War.

Header Image: A British Whippet tank on the road near Demuin, c. 1918 (Source: © IWM (Q 56422))

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