Glimpses of The Great War, "The Monsters"

The first encounter with a war tank, the account of an anonymous German soldier.

" my blood froze in my veins. Crawling along the battlefield punished by artillery were two mysterious monsters. The Monsters approached slowly - trepidando, staggering, swinging - but no obstacle could stop them, they always advanced with a supernatural force. Our machine guns and hand grenades simply didn't affect them. They were able to easily crush our crews in craters, then cross the German front line and exit to the village of Flers, where they stayed for some time. The British Infantry that followed them took possession of the village, and the machines overthrew the road-Tilloy road."  (A Primeira Guerra Mundial)

The British produced the world's first tank, tracked and armed armoured vehicle, to enter combat. Beginning with the Mark I which entered service in August 1916. It was first used in action on the morning of 15 September 1916 during the Battle of Flers-Courcelette, part of the Somme Offensive. With the exception of the few interim Mark II and Mark III tanks, it was followed by the largely similar Mark IV, which first saw combat in June 1917. The Mark IV was used en masse, about 460 tanks, at the Battle of Cambrai in November 1917. The Mark V, with a much improved transmission, entered service in mid-1918. More than two thousand British heavy tanks were produced. Manufacture was discontinued at the end of the war.

Mk IV drawing