Anniversary of the first tank

The first tracks turned 90 years ago

By PH Staff / Tuesday, 6 September 2005 / Loading comments

First-ever tank

Today is the 90th anniversary of the first test of the first-ever tank prototype. Developed by William Foster & Company for the British Army, tanks were called land ships by The Admiralty. To preserve secrecy, at first they were called water-carriers, which was then shortened to tanks.

While a number of the combatants in World War I were working on the development of a vehicle that could withstand artillery and infantry fire while crossing the uneven terrain of the trenches, Great Britain was the first to succeed.

Lightly armed with machine guns, the tanks made their first authoritative appearance at the Battle of Cambrai in 1917, when 474 British tanks managed to break through the German lines. Problems with reliability caused considerable attrition rates when trying to get the tanks moving and into combat. Only very mobile tanks such as the Mark I and FTs performed reasonably on the heavily pock-marked, shelled ground. The Mark I's rhomboid shape meant it could navigate larger obstacles, especially long trenches, better than many modern armoured fighting vehicles.

The tank would eventually make the trench warfare of World War I obsolete, and the thousands of tanks fielded by French and British forces made a significant contribution to the war.

The Allies began using the vehicles in increasing numbers throughout the rest of the war. After World War I, European nations on all sides continued to build tanks at a frantic pace, arming them with even heavier artillery and plating. This competitive stockpiling came to a lethal head on the battlefields of World War II.

One of these in the rush-hour would really be useful...