1770
The caterpillar track, upon which the tank traveled, was designed
in its crudest form in 1770 by Richard Edgeworth.
1885
With the 1885 development of the internal combustion engine
a tractor was constructed in the U.S. by the Holt Company which
used Edgeworth's caterpillar tracks, again to enable movement
over muddy terrain. It was not adapted for military purposes
at this point.
1899
In 1899 Frederick Simms designed what he termed a 'motor-war
car' with an engine by Daimler, a bullet-proof casing and armed
with two revolving machine guns developed by Hiram Maxim.
1900f
It was dismissed by the British Army as of little use (Lord
Kitchener regarded it as "a pretty mechanical toy")
but development on it continued. Hornsby & Sons, produced
the Killen-Strait Armoured Tractor with a caterpillar track
made of a chain of steel links meshed together with steel pins. |
First World War.
The first official memo concerning the tank was sent out in December
1914, but a demonstration of the Killen-Strait vehicle (and its ability
to cut through barbed wire) to senior politicians did not take place
until June 1915.
Churchill (First Lord of the Admiralty) sponsored the setting up of
the Landships Committee to develop the new weapon in secret. The first
landship was therefore produced under Navy supervision and given the
codename ‘tank’ because the shape of the shell resembled
water carriers.The first tank was given the nickname 'Little Willie'
(soon followed by 'Big Willie').
Little Willie
 |
It
• had a top speed of 3 miles per hour on level ground
• traveled at 2 miles an hour over rough terrain
• was able to climb a five foot high obstacle
• could successfully span a five foot trench
• was immune to the effects of small-arms fire
• possessed two machine guns
• had a range of twenty miles
• it weighed 14 tons and
• carried 3 people in cramped conditions.
The prototype tank was ready by January 1916 and was demonstrated
to a high-powered audience. Lloyd George - the Minister of Munitions
- ordered production of the heavy Mark I (the lighter 'Whippets' entered
service the following year). They went into action in September 1916.
These early tanks proved notoriously unreliable - they often broke
down and became ditched, for example at Passchendale. Also the heat
generated inside the tank was tremendous and fumes often nearly choked
the men inside.
A Whippet.
 |
Their first success came at the Battle of Cambrai in November 1917
when twelve miles of the German front was breached, with the capture
of 10,000 German prisoners, 123 guns and 281 machine guns.
(However, the picture below
shows that they were still fraught with problems)
A tank at Cambrai.
 |
Meanwhile the Germans began to develop their own tanks,
though the first tank on tank encounter did not take place until April
1918.
In July 1918 tanks were used in a co-ordinated barrage with artillery
and warplanes to clear a path for advancing infantry and they were
increasingly used during the Allied advance that summer. In August
604 Allied tanks assisted a 20 mile advance (Battle of Amiens) on
the Western Front.
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 3,870. The
Germans produced just 20.
