Our museum recently acquired a rare example of an M1917 light tank. This First World War vintage tank played a small, but key role in the development of the Ontario Regiment’s tank skills at the start of the Second World War.

The Ontario Regiment returned to Camp Borden in mid-August 1940 after spending several weeks guarding prisoners of war in northern Ontario (see the September 2020 article). The armour situation had not changed while they were away. All of the Canadian Army’s armoured vehicles were at Borden as part of the Canadian Armoured Fighting Vehicles Training Centre (CAFVTC). The four armoured regiments in camp had to share the training centre’s total collection of fourteen Vickers Mark VIB light tanks and twelve Carden-Loyd carriers.

The root cause for the lack of amour, nearly a year after the declaration of war, was due to indecision by the Canadian government. The original belief was that armour would not have a role in this war. That view was destroyed by the success of German armour in the spring of 1940.

The lack of armour was temporarily rectified with the purchase of American-built M1917 light tanks that had been declared surplus and were in storage in the United States. For more detail on the purchase, see this article here: On 3 October 1940 the first of 236 M1917 light tanks arrived at Camp Borden by flatbed rail car from storage at Rock Island, Illinois and Fort Meade, Maryland.

It was clear that the tanks were totally obsolete by 1940 and would only serve for a short time until decisions were made about equipping the tank regiments with a modern tank. They were useful in the short term to train soldiers in the basics of tank warfare, including maintenance of an armoured vehicle, elementary tank tactics, gunnery and crew commanding.

The Ontarios got their first look at the tanks on 5 October when one officer and eleven other ranks reported to the CAFVTC to begin work on them. On the seventh of the month the Regiment initiated the construction of a tank park for their incoming vehicles.

The Ontarios drew their first eight tanks on 8 October and the Regiment’s drivers brought them to the Regimental tank park. The Regiment’s war diary gave a brief overview of the M1917s, including their obsolescence, and noted that, “They are, however, tanks and will be excellent for training drivers”. More tanks arrived over the next few days. The original plan was for each regiment to be issued forty tanks, but it is not clear if this was ever achieved.

Ontario Regiment tanks were identified by three white vertical bars painted on the turret side. While the tanks were the subject of many jokes and much frustration due to the constant breakdowns, morale improved with their arrival and the tankers’ skills gradually improved. The Ontarios estimated that for every half hour of use, the Renaults required 12 hours of maintenance and repairs.

The first use of the M1917s in the field took place on 16 October when the Regiment participated in a demonstration of an advance guard action. Fourteen tanks were originally planned, but only nine were running for the demonstration and several of these broke down during the exercise.

Initially, each of the Regiment’s squadrons had access to the tanks for a week on a rotating basis. This was changed in February 1941 when Headquarters Squadron was allocated five tanks and the fighting squadrons, seven tanks each. Training was carried on at the troop level.

In December the war diary noted that the tanks were difficult to start in the cold and training was curtailed. Some of the tanks were moved to a hangar to warm up. Another winter challenge was ice build-up on the sprockets and road wheels which put excessive strain on the tracks, causing them to break.

The residents of Oshawa were given a look at the M1917s on 15 February 1941. Two tanks and several wheeled vehicles were sent to the Regiment’s home city for a parade through downtown to support a War Savings Certificate campaign.

Due to the complexities of American neutrality, the 37-mm guns and ammunition were purchased separately from the main tank order and as such did not arrive until early 1941. A war diary entry in April notes that the ranges would be used soon, but there is
nothing to indicate that the Ontarios had the opportunity to fire the 37-mm guns.

The training with the M1917s was starting to wind down in the early spring. The Regiment’s focus was on preparations for the move to England in late June. A few days after their arrival there in early July the Ontario Regiment was issued Churchill Mark II tanks, straight from the Vauxhall Motors factory – quite an improvement from the M1917s.

Rod Henderson

Rod Henderson is the Regimental Historian of the Ontario Regiment. He served as a Sergeant in the Regiment and is the author of “Fidelis Et Paratus: The History of The Ontario Regiment RCAC”.