Burnham

Yeah, yeah, it's rough and rugged.

Burnham Military Camp, eh?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Ooh.

It's funny.

Yeah

... down in Burnham.

I remember...

The intention was to mass produce the superstructures and disperse them around the country so that, in case of invasion, they could be rapidly bolted onto existing civilian tractors and rushed to the front lines.

But when the first prototype of the tractor tank was finally demonstrated to the New Zealand Army at Burnham Military Camp in December of 1940, they were, shall we say, less than impressed.

The ungainly little vehicle, which would not have looked out of place in a Mad Max movie, was heavy for its size, ponderously slow, only managing a top speed of 12 kilometers or 7.5 miles per hour, and being saddled with a civilian tractor gearbox, had to stop completely in order to change gears.

Its tall superstructure also made it dangerously unstable on rough terrain and vulnerable to enemy anti-tank fire, and tended to vibrate violently, making it extremely difficult for the gunners to aim their weapons accurately while on the move.

It was made by the will and consent of the military.

Indeed, while today the Popsimple tank is widely remembered as one of the worst military vehicles ever created, the Army's evaluation at the time was far less damning than you might expect.

In October of 1941, the tank was put through extensive trials at Burnham Camp, witnessed by Major General Edward Puddock, Chief of the New Zealand General Staff.

Though he acknowledged that Bob Semple Tank had numerous shortcomings, he nonetheless stated that the arrangement of the turret and of the machine guns was ingenious and efficient.