New Zealand's first tank was built by one of it's own. In fact it was built by the Minister of War himself, Robert Semple.
Originally New Zealand was trying to get tanks from Britain, but this was now impossible as Britain was spread out over multiple countries. New Zealand then tried to get armored plating from the United States, but recovering from the attack on Pearl Harbor and building it's armor force, the U.S. could not spare anything. Mr. Semple then decided that they could use the many tractors across New Zealand and convert them into tanks. At the time New Zealand was worried about being invaded by the Japanese, which was valid threat. Mr. Semple's tank was built using existing materials and weapons available at the time. Hi first tank was armed with 5 Bren light machine guns, ran on a 167hp 6 cylinder diesel engine and had a top speed of 15 mph/24km/h. The armor was only around 1/2 inch/12mm thick and would only stop small arms fire. Many people berate Mr. Semple's tank, but I give him credit for building what he could out of what was available.


The Semple tank during testing.

Another view of the Semple tank.

An illustration of the tank.