The specificity of using caterpillar tractors, in large use by the army for towing artillery guns, led to the rejection of this idea by the War Office at first, and its adoption and development by the Royal Navy. Supporting them was the “Landship Committee”, headed by Sir Winston Churchill. Also very important were Major Walter Gordon Wilson and Major General Swinton. He designed the “Little Willie”, a prototype for testing many features later used in the “Mother”, the prototype for the first British operational tank, the Mk.I, and later the “Whippet”, the first British light tank. One engineer in particular had a tremendous impact on the tank development in Great Britain, William Tritton, Managing Director of Fosters. Wells’ steam and pedrail wheels from the famous “The Land Ironclads” of 1903 were in the minds of most politicians and officers.
While the Germans managed to find a way to use elite infantry (the Stürmtruppen) for assaults, both the British and the French started thinking of a way of delivering infantry literally to the enemies trench entrance, dealing with casemates and machine-gun nests, and protecting infantry in no-mans land. Obstacles like the bombed landscape, the deep muddy ground and barbed wire also contributed to slow down any assault and render it virtually impossible without immense casualties.
As early as 1915, marching into the open was seen as suicidal. Just like the French, the British commanders saw all of their offensives pinned down by relentless enemy machine-gun fire. List of towns and cities visited by WW1 tanks during Tank Week WW1 Vehicle Article ArchivesĪustin AC * Gun Carrier Mk.I * Lanchester AC * Little Willie * Pierce Arrow * Rolls Royce AC * Tank Mark II * Tank Mark III * Tank Mark IV * Tank Mark V * Tank Mark IX Breaking the Stalemate
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