BNPS.co.uk (01202 558833)<br /> Pic: TheTankMuseum/BNPS<br /> <br /> 'Mother' the prototype Mk 1 tank undergoing trials at Burton Park near Lincoln.<br /> <br /> Shellshocked - Red-faced boffins rediscover the worlds first tank shell...in one of their own display cabinets !<br /> <br /> A search was instigated after a staff member unearthed a decades-old handwritten catalogue that listed the long forgotten round as part of the Tank Museum's collection.<br /> <br /> The historic projectile was eventually rediscovered in a cabinet full of shells of different calibres without its significance being noted.<br /> <br /> The 6lbs shell was fired from the prototype Mark I tank during its first trial at Burton Park in Lincolnshire on 20 January 1916, after two members of the Landships Committee had a bet that the revolutionary machine would fall apart. <br /> <br /> After a 2 hour search of the Park the fired round was retrieved for posterity before becoming lost in the museums vast collection.
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