The first tanks rolled across a battlefield on the morning of 15 September 1916, when British forces attacked the positions of the German 28th Reserve Infantry Regiment at Flers–Courcelette with 32 tanks in an effort to break the stalemate on the Somme. To honour the 100th anniversary of the memorable event, Claire Apthorp takes a look back over the evolution of tanks in the UK
Previous Mobile camouflage system. Courtesy UK MOD.
Big Willie. Courtesy Imperial War Museum
Challenger A30. Courtesy Imperial War Museum
M1A1 Abrams. Courtesy US Army.
M4 Sherman. Courtesy US Army.
Mark IV. Courtesy Imperial War Museum
Mobile camouflage system. Courtesy UK MOD.
Big Willie. Courtesy Imperial War Museum
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1915
The tanks that crossed no man's land into German territory on the morning of 15 September 1916 had grown out of an experimental prototype developed the year before by Fosters of Lincoln known as ‘Little Willie'. This vehicle was comprised of components designed and built by a number of industrialists, and drew on technologies advanced under previous projects. It was built on an unsuspended track frame and was fitted with a non-rotatable dummy turret with machine gun mount. It was 8m long, required two men to drive it – one for steering, clutch, gear box and throttle operation, another for the brakes – and four to operate the armament. It was protected with boiler plate and could travel no faster than two miles per hour.
