03 Battelfield Scene with British Tank Mark A "Whippet"

Fotogalerie

Starting from 15 September 1916, a new combat device started to appear in the battlefields: the tank. The first to use a tank with the effort to resolve the hopelessness of trench warfare were the British.

This new weapon was invented by two British designers, Ernest Swinton and Maurice Hankey. The stalemate of trench warfare instigated the idea of landships that was soon supported by the First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill. Eventually, the British army ordered one hundred armoured vehicles. They were first used in the battle of the Somme. Colonel Swinton recommended that tanks be employed in a large number at the daybreak. He required that the attack be not preceded by artillery preparation so that the terrain would stays relatively untouched rather than be overcome by clumsy armoured vehicles. However, during the attack, the tanks were scattered only several tens of them were used to support the infantry units. Therefore, the employment of these technically imperfect devices did not bring the desired result. However, in the future, tanks were decisive for the result of battles and wars.

The Medium Mark A Whippet was a British tank of the First World War. It was intended to complement the slower British heavy tanks by using its relative mobility and speed in exploiting any break in the enemy lines. In total, 200 pieces were produced.