The Battle of the Somme commenced with a vast British attack on 1 July 1916. On that first day of battle, the bloodiest in the history of the British Army, there were over 57,000 British casualties….
The First Tank Trials at Hatfield
Before the tank made its debut in France, the Mark I had to undergo trials and approval stages in Britain. These took place at Hatfield Park. …
Building the Mark IV
While historians mainly concentrate on tanks in battle, building armoured vehicles is equally fascinating. Learn how the most produced tank of the First World War was made….
The Mark V*
The Mark V* tank was created for one purpose – its extra length….
Mark V
On the 18th January 1918 the first Mark V tank was driven out of the Metropolitan Carriage, Wagon and Finance Company factory in Birmingham. Just 10 weeks later in early April 8th Battalion Tank Corps began training with the new tank at Humieres. It was a significant step forward from their old Mark IVs….
Action Debut of the Whippet Tank
On 26 March, 1918, the Medium A Whippet tank saw its first battle action, when it took a mass of German infantry by surprise….
The Battle of Cambrai: The Fascine
One of the adaptations added during the Battle of Cambrai was the fascine, enabling tanks to cross deliberately widened trenches. …
Tank Armament in The First World War
While tanks gave the infantry a huge amount of protection, tank armament was also key in their development during the First World War….
Using Petrol in First World War Tanks
For all their impressive power, tanks won’t work without fuel, which in the First World War meant petrol. This post takes a look at how this petrol was stored and used aboard British tanks….
Tanks On Trains In The First World War
Tanks in the First World War were very slow. There were no tank transporters so tanks had to go by train and, as the war went on, they were getting bigger and heavier….
German Responses to the Tank
Most of the articles on this blog look at the tank from a British perspective. In the end, though, it would be the effect they had on the Germans that would decide how useful a weapon they really were….
The New Mark IV
The first Mark IV tanks arrived in France in late April 1917, and were issued to units in May….
Experimental WWI Tanks – Part III
The third instalment in David Fletcher’s three part series examining the experimental tanks of the First World War describes such oddities as cranes, bridges, and rudimentary amphibious tanks. …
Experimental WWI Tanks – Part II
While the first instalment looked at early experimental tanks, this blog post examines vehicles created as a reaction to problems tanks were encountering in combat, such as the Invicta Roller and tadpole tail. …
Experimental WWI Tanks – Part I
David Fletcher’s three part series details many examples of experimental tanks created during the First World War and includes weird and wonderful vehicles otherwise lost in the mists of time….
Tank Men: Albert Baker
Another member of the first Tank Corps who is represented in the Tank Men exhibition is Albert Baker, the chemist who won two Military Crosses during the First World War. …
The Tail Assembly
The pair of tail wheels on a Mark I tank seem to fascinate most people; they are in fact the rump of the articulated Landship idea devised by Colonel Crompton….
Little Willie
While it is undoubtedly the oldest surviving tank in the world Little Willie was only ever a prototype, it was the only one of its kind ever built….
