Also, september 15th, it is 90 years ago the first tanks were deployed in the last stages of the battle of the Somme.
Someone sent me a link to an article in the Sydney Morning Herald about an Australian tank pioneer, Lancelot Eldin de Mole, who claimed prior art to the British tank invention. He came up in 1911 with an idea for a "travelling caterpillar fort".
The SMH article has more details and photos of a model de Mole made of his invention; it actually looks more modern than the British 1915 tank, having its track laid on road wheels!
http://blogs.smh.com.au/mashup/archives//006310.html