KentOnline

bannermobile

News

Sport

Business

What's On

Advertise

Contact

Other KM sites

CORONAVIRUS WATCH KMTV LIVE SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTERS LISTEN TO OUR PODCASTS LISTEN TO KMFM
SUBSCRIBE AND SAVE
News

The First World War tank that everyone in Ashford knows ... but knows not why.

By: Alastair Irvine

Published: 07:00, 25 April 2014

Updated: 19:44, 25 April 2014

It’s one of Ashford town centre’s most iconic landmarks.

The Mark IV tank, No 245, sits under a specially constructed covered area in St George’s Square.

Hundreds if not thousands of people pass it each week, and it’s admired by visitors to the town.

But few will know why it’s there and how it got there.

Well, the answers are outlined in the latest in our series of Great War Stories – on pages 30 and 31.

mpu1

We tell the detailed story of how on August 1, 1919, the tank arrived by rail at Ashford station.

It was met by a Tank Corps crew, who drove it along Station Road, through the High Street and to St George’s Square at a maximum speed of 3.7mph, to the delight of the crowds in the town centre who watched the slow journey.

It’s been there ever since.

More by this author

sticky

© KM Group - 2024