Tank Development From 1916 To 1918

M.P Robinson presents a photo essay on the earliest tanks

- M.P Robinson

To coincide with the release of our new Tanks in the Great War 1914-1918, the fourth volume in our ‘Armour in Theatre’ series, M P Robinson examines, through a series of photos, the development of the tank during World War I. Our artist Mark Rolfe also presents a selection of the many profiles contained in the book.

1 Artist Stanley Wood’s impression of a tank attack, seen in “The Tank in Action” of 1918. Besides its use as a combat weapon, the tank was also a propaganda tool used by the censored press to maintain civilian morale.

2 A heavily doctored photo used in a wartime news release. It has long been argued that the tank could have been a more effective weapon if its existence had been kept secret until a large number could have been used in an overwhelming attack to smash the German front. The reality was that the small initial orders and novelty of the tank as a weapon prevented the army from staking much on the new weapon until it had proven itself in smaller actions.

3 The Heavy Tank Mk.I, which first saw action on 15 September 1916 in the latter stages of the Battle of the Somme at Flers-Courcellette. Only fifteen of the forty-nine available Mk.Is made it into action at Flers due to mechanical problems and other factors, but those that engaged the enemy proved to be locally decisive, and promising weapons. While local tactical victories were achieved in the tank’s first battles, the British army had very little prepared to exploit them, and German counterattacks quickly recaptured any gains. This vehicle sports an anti-grenade roof, an early precaution against infantry weapons that was soon dispensed with.