The Mechanised Metropolitan Constabulary

The City of London's Metropolitan Police was one of the earliest forces to introduce a Mechanised Constabulary Division. The first mechanically-assisted Constables took to the beat only fourteen years after the Met's founding. In this, as with the adoption of advanced detection methods and psychological profiling, Scotland Yard was to prove ahead of its time, blazing a trail for police forces around the world to follow.
The arrival on the capital's streets of the fearsome contraptions was met with dismay by London's criminal underclasses. Nothing put a quicker stop to a tavern brawl or unlicensed political assembly than the stomp of one of the "Automatic Peelers", as the Mechanised Constables became known.
The burgeoning middle-classes also regarded the new-fangled police machinery with trepidation. Letters of complaint arrived regularly at the offices of The Times, raising the issues of startled horses and ladies of gentle nature being overcome by the mere sight of the mechanical behemoths. Questions were asked in the Houses Of Parliament, with the Prime Minister quizzed at length over the damage done to flowerbeds in Hyde Park by a Constable in powered pursuit of a vagabond.
Despite these concerns, the Mechanised Constables became a common sight on city streets throughout the Empire, and eventually a reassuring symbol of the maintenance of order.

The Imperial Ambulatory Hussar

The Ambulatory Hussar was hailed as a triumph of Imperial engineering and design upon its introduction. However, the reputation of this fighting machine was to descend into infamy following the shameful use of mechanised troops against a peaceful political meeting in St Peter's Field in Manchester in 1869.

This engraving from the Times shows the strength of the national outcry over the use of the troops. The Prime Minister was shouted down by Opposition members in the House of Commons during an emergency debate, and the Press was highly-critical of Imperial Army Command for allowing "the deployment of armoured titans against a legitimate assembly of the very people they were sworn to protect".

Further images of this infamous mechanical contraption may be viewed here.

Toenjes Firefighting Apparatus

The men of the 6th Brigade of the Woodbury Fire Department were lucky to count amongst their number one Willhelm Thomas Toenjes.

The son of an engineer, Toenjes was an inveterate tinkerer from an early age, even dismantling the family automobile one rainy afternoon aged only seven. Upon joining the Fire Department in 1868, he became keen to apply his skills to his new profession and a number of innovations from the Toenjes family workshop were tested in various emergencies.

The most successful of Willhelm's developments (and without doubt the most famous) was the Firefighting Apparatus, pictured above. This mechanised perambulator, featuring a large reservoir of water attached to a steam compression cell, allowed firefighters to tackle blazes in buildings of up to three stories in height.

The many lives saved in Woodbury by Toenjes and his colleagues using the Apparatus soon brought the attention of the national press. A campaign was launched by the New York Times, demanding that all Fire Departments in the United States be equiped with Toenjes' invention.

Soon the Apparatus became a common sight across America, with adapted versions of the equipment seeing use with other emergency services (including, surprisingly, the Coast Guard).

Interested readers are invited to view further photographic images of the Firefighting Apparatus with Willhelm Thomas Toenjes at the controls.

Kaiser Willhelm's "Iron Stride"

The silver-plated "Iron Stride" mechanical walker was famously used by Wilhelm II at the 1889 review of Prussian troops in Konigsberg. Mounted atop this impressive contraption, the Kaiser gave a belligerent speech during which he criticised the "sinister machinations of foreign powers" and warned that Prussia would not stand for interference in the "legitimate pursuit of her interests around the world".

Coupled with the rapid build-up of Prussian Mechanised Infantry forces, this speech was to cause widespread consternation in the Imperial press. Editorial demands were made in The Times for Imperial forces to be used to "put the Kaiser back in his place".

With hindsight, it is clear that the Kaiser's statements, now known as the "Iron Stride Speech", was one of the earliest sparks to light the long, slow-burning fuse which was eventually to lead to war.

Recently-unearthed photographic images of this famous mechanical walker may be viewed here.

B17 Walking Fortress of the US 7th Cavalry

In 1845 the seccession from Mexico of the territory of Texas, and its subsequent annexation by the United States, was to spark a bitter conflict. The war was to rage throughout California and northern Mexican territory for months, with neither side gaining the upper hand. However, the Battle of Monterrey was to see the tide begin to turn decisively in favour of US forces.

Initially unable to penetrate the walls of the numerous Mexican fortifications around the town, US commanders, increasingly-desperate to secure a morale-boosting victory, were to bring the newly-developed B17 "Walking Fortress" into the fray. Although untested and ponderous, the B17 was to prove practically unstoppable. Armed with chain-driven ripsaws and Gatling Cannons, they were to breach the walls with relative ease, inflicting horrific casualties on the Mexican defenders and creating a terrifying reputation.

Further photographs of this fearsome engine of war, many in colour, may be viewed here.

Steam Stevedore

As the carrying capacity of merchant vessels increased, and the bustling Imperial docks and air-yards became busier and busier, a growing emphasis was to be placed on developing more efficient methods of handling cargo.

The Birmingham-based engineering firm run by Doctor Herbert Honeydew was to quickly dominate the growing market for power-assisted stevedoring. The model pictured in this advertisement of the time shows the most common Honeydew model, the Mark 6. Larger, more-powerful models were to see employment in the deep Cavorite mines of Southern Africa as well as in their established role as dockyard workhorses around the world.

Doctor Honeydew was famous at the time for personal appearances in his company's advertisements, always seen at the controls of the machinery. This was in response to safety concerns raised during the early adoption of power-assistance following a number of unfortunate operator fatalities.

The good Doctor was also notable for his pacifist beliefs, refusing to develop military versions of his reliable and popular machines, despite the obvious opportunity for considerable financial gain.

Newly-unearthed colour photographs of the Honeydew Mark 6, piloted by the Doctor himself, may be seen here.

The Iron Fusiliers - Imperial Armoured Infantry

It was only with the abolition of the Board of Ordnance in 1891 that artillery and armoured infantry fell under the control of the Imperial War Office. Technical innovation, stifled under the notoriously-conservative Board, was to become a hallmark of Imperial Army Engineers in the following years.
One of the most famous developments of the time was the so-called "Iron Fusilier"; a steam-powered armour, giving the soldier inside great strength and excellent protection.
Despite the many advantages, and some proven (although admittedly small-scale) success on the battlefield, armoured infantry was never to become as widespread in Imperial forces as amongst Continental armies, notably the Prussian. The reasons as to why are many and varied, but it could be argued that such development fell foul of a deep-seated suspicion of mechanised warfare amongst senior Imperial officers. General Gascoyne, the flamboyant Cavalry commander, once remarked that he "would rather ride into battle astride a mule than be canned like a pilchard in one of those contraptions".
The particular model pictured is the Richards Version 2, and more illustrations may be perused at the reader's leisure here.

Sturmpanzer Shrittmaschine "Mecha 3"

With the introduction of the Mark 3 in 1885, the Prussian Mechanized Infantry became a real force to be reckoned with on the battlefield.
Whilst previous models of these walking-machines had been widely ridiculed by military commentators as both cumbersome and unreliable, the considerably lighter and faster Mark 3 was to prove itself agile and sure of foot on even the roughest terrain.
The stunning Prussian successes in the short conflict with Vulgaria in the Winter of 1886 were due, in no small measure, to the introduction of the Mark 3 and the lack of any established tactics to deal with the "Mechs" or "Mechas", as the walking-machines became popularly known.
The rapid increase in Prussian Mecha numbers was to become a particular worry to the Imperial Army Command in London and further poisoned the already uneasy relationship between Prussia and the Empire.
The interested reader is invited to peruse a larger collection of photographic images of the Mecha 3.