Now this is the story of the Stockport battle tank.
I can be fairly confident that it was made sometime after 1918 which could stretch to the following year.
After 1920 I doubt that there was as much interest in a piece of crested china with a war theme.
By then the country had put the conflict to rest and if the china companies were still churning out war pieces, the items would have been of war memorials like our own Cenotaph while the rest of the factory switched back to key rings, miniature replicas of Blackpool Tower and Ann Hathaway’s’ cottage.
But for the four years of the war, crested war china was everywhere from model tanks to aircraft and battleships.
And to make the piece just that bit more marketable, they were sold with the name and coats of arms of towns and cities.
So you could buy the Stockport tank and the Manchester tank along with HMS London, and HMS Liverpool.
Such was the headlong pursuit to turn out such collectables that one company produced a battleship carrying the name Manchester even though the navy had no such battleship during the Great War.
I had no idea just how many of these souvenirs were turned out but of course they one of the ways people at home could identify with the war and with a loved one who was serving in the armed forces.
This one belonged to David Harrop who has an extensive collection of crested china along with memorabilia from both world wars and the history of the post office.
But this one is the biggest and has that additional comment on the side about the signing of the armistice which I will make it just that bit different.
Location; Stockport
Pictures; the Stockport battle tank circa 1919, from the collection of David Harrop
After 1920 I doubt that there was as much interest in a piece of crested china with a war theme.
By then the country had put the conflict to rest and if the china companies were still churning out war pieces, the items would have been of war memorials like our own Cenotaph while the rest of the factory switched back to key rings, miniature replicas of Blackpool Tower and Ann Hathaway’s’ cottage.
But for the four years of the war, crested war china was everywhere from model tanks to aircraft and battleships.
And to make the piece just that bit more marketable, they were sold with the name and coats of arms of towns and cities.
Such was the headlong pursuit to turn out such collectables that one company produced a battleship carrying the name Manchester even though the navy had no such battleship during the Great War.
This one belonged to David Harrop who has an extensive collection of crested china along with memorabilia from both world wars and the history of the post office.
But this one is the biggest and has that additional comment on the side about the signing of the armistice which I will make it just that bit different.
Location; Stockport
Pictures; the Stockport battle tank circa 1919, from the collection of David Harrop
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