15th Sept 1916

[antarmike]

The first use of effective Tanks by the British.

 

 

Haig had ordered 150, but couldn't decide wether to deploy the first few delivered immediately, or wait until all 150 were at the Somme.

 

In the event, the launch was bizarre: the tanks were spread along the front line and attacked in "penny packets" - deployed in small groups.

 

Of the 49 delivered, 31 broke down before or just after the attack started; of the 18 that rolled into action that morning at a stately three mph, six bogged in the cratered ground, eight were hit by shellfire and two caught fire.

 

But the remaining two broke through; one captured a strongpoint and the other waddled through a nearby village, behind German lines. A British biplane reported back "a tank is walking up the high street of Flers with the British army cheering behind it".

 

90 years on the Tank has come a long way in effectiveness, survivability, mobility, and killing power.