WW1 Tanks: British Mk IV and German A7V
Tanks were a gamechanger in the WW1 battlefield. Designed to smash through the stalemate of trench warfare, the first tank ever fielded, the Mark I entered service in August 1916, and was first used in action on the morning of 15 September 1916 during the Battle of Flers-Courcelette, part of the Somme Offensive. After this success, new tanks would be developed to further improve their performance in battle.
British Mk IV
The most iconic tank of WW1, the Mark IV was a more heavily armoured version of the Mark I and went into production in May 1917. Fundamental mechanical improvements had originally been intended but had to be postponed. The main change was the introduction of shorter-barrelled 6-pounder guns. It had all its fuel stored in a single external tank (located between the rear track horns) in an attempt to improve crew safety. The sponsons could be swung in on hinges in to reduce the width of the tank for rail transportation (previous models required partial disassembly to fit within the loading gauge). Rails on the roof carried an unditching beam. A total of 1,220 were built: 420 males, 595 females and 205 tank tenders, which were supply tanks.
The Mark IVs were used successfully at the Messines Ridge in June 1917, where they outpaced the infantry on dry ground, but in the Third Ypres of July and August, they found the swampy ground difficult and were of little use. About 432 Mark IV tanks were used during the Battle of Cambrai in November 1917.
(source:British heavy tanks of World War I - Wikipedia)
German A7V
Developed in response to the introduction of British and French tanks, the A7V was Germany’s attempt to make their own design. Throughout the war, German soldiers had captured and repaired many British tanks and used them as their own. Studying these captured tanks, the German War Ministry formed a committee, under the auspices of its Allgemeines Kriegsdepartement, Abteilung 7 Verkehrswesen (“General War Department, Section 7, Transportation”),to investigate tank development.
What they would come up with was the A7V, which would then be fielded near the end of 1917. The A7V would become infamous as it took part in the first tank duel at Villers-Bretonneux in 24 April 1918.
Three A7Vs (including chassis number 561, known as Nixe) taking part in an attack with infantry incidentally met three British Mark IVs (two female machine gun-armed tanks and one male with two 6-pounder guns) near Villers-Bretonneux. During the battle, tanks on both sides were damaged. According to the British lead tank commander, Second Lieutenant Frank Mitchell, the female Mk IVs fell back after being damaged by armour-piercing bullets. They were unable to damage the A7Vs with their own machine guns.
Mitchell then attacked the lead German tank, commanded by Second Lieutenant Wilhelm Biltz, with the 6-pounders of his own tank and knocked it out. He hit it three times, and killed five of the crew when they bailed out. He stated that he then went on to rout some infantry with case shot. The two remaining A7Vs in turn withdrew. As Mitchell’s tank withdrew from action, seven British Whippet tanks also engaged the German infantry. Four of these were knocked out in the battle, and it is unclear if any of them engaged the retreating German tanks. Mitchell’s tank lost a track towards the end of the battle due to damage from an exploding mortar shell and was abandoned. The damaged A7V limped back to the German lines, but eventually broke down. It was later destroyed by a German demolition squad, to prevent it being captured and re-used by the Allies.
(source:A7V - Wikipedia)
