Walking with Ghosts, - WW1 Tanks

A very brief history of Tanks in the First World War is given on the left side of this web page. On the right are thumbnail images of some of the Tanks which took part in the conflict. To find out more about the individual classes of tanks shown in the thumbnail images, simply click on the image and a new window will open up.
At the bottom of the page is a modern day British Army tank for you to compare with its predecessors.

At the start of the First World War, the British army’s hierarchy was dominated by officers from the various cavalry regiments that existed. The first engagement between the British and Germans had involved cavalry near Mons. This seemed to emphasise the importance of such regiments. However, trench warfare had made the use of cavalry null and void. The decimation of Cavalry troops in the face of withering machine gun fire required the development of an all terrain fighting vehicle – the codeword of which was ‘Tank’. The Germans, British, Austrians, Russians and French already had armoured fighting vehicles that could fight on ‘normal’ terrain. But these vehicles could not cope with trenches that were soon to dominate the Western Front. Caterpillar tracked vehicles were already in France as the British used them as heavy gun tractors. Tanks were therefore proposed and developed, using caterpillar tracks and armour, to be able to operate on the First World War battlefields across the sea of mud and open trenches. The name "Tank" first arose in British factories making the casings of the first battle tanks: the workmen were given the impression they were constructing tracked water containers for the British Army, hence keeping the production of a fighting vehicle in secret. The original specification for a Tank called for a vehicle that       Had a top speed of 4 mph on flat land       Had the ability to turn sharply at top speed       Could climb a 5-feet parapet       Couldcross an eight feet gap       Had a working radius of 20 miles       Carried a crew of ten men with two machine guns on board and one light artillery gun. The Mark 1 Tank was quickly modified to provide two basic types. A lighter, faster vehicle was designed for use in the cavalry role and a heavy armoured slow vehicle for use with the infantry. It wasn't until November 1917 that Tanks played any sort of crucial part in battle. On 20 November 1917 the entire British Tank Corps (consisting of 474 tanks) saw action at the Battle of Cambrai. In a sweepingly successful start to the battle twelve miles of the German front was breached, with the capture of 10,000 German prisoners, 123 guns and 281 machine guns. The first successful display of German tanks came on 24 April 1918, when thirteen German models, chiefly A7V's, engaged British and Australian infantry at Villers Bretonneux. By the time the war drew to a close the British, the first to use them, had produced some 2,636 tanks. The French produced rather more, 3,870. The Germans, never convinced of its merits, and despite their record for technological innovation, produced just 20.		Click on the thumbnail image for a new window to open, in which you can find out further information on the Tank. The Mk 1 Tank ("Mother") The Mk A "Whippet" Tank The Mk IV Tank German Tanks

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In order for you to be able to compare the type of tank used in the First World War with a modern day British Army equivalent, please select the image below;-

A Challenger 2 Tank

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