The Development of the Tank
Through World War I

The Quest for Mobility,
Firepower, and Shock of Impact

The British Develop the Tank

by Russ Lockwood
www.magweb.com

Oddly enough, it was the British Royal Navy, not the Army, which led the way in tank development.

A few days after the war started, Rear Admiral R. Bacon, at the time a General Manager for Coventry Ordnance Works, maker of naval guns and turrets, proposed a road-transported 15-inch howitzer. The design, with eight-foot driving wheels in back and two rollers in front (like a typical steamroller), carried a bridge in front that would be lowered across trenches. In October, First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill asked whether it could be modified to carry men. In November, an experimental machine was ordered, and by February 1915, it showed enough promise to order 30. In May, Bacon's machine was tested, but rejected as a better alternative soon emerged.

When the initial German hook around Paris failed after the battle of the Marne, both sides conducted "the race to the sea." Trench warfare had not started yet. Churchill approved a small diversionary attack on the coast at Ostend on August 27, 1914 by a brigade of marines and a squadron of the Royal Naval Air Service. Although this little force was hastily withdrawn three days later amid mounting German pressure, Commander C. Samson in charge of the RNAS squadron didn't like the idea of a retreat back to England, and used the excuse of a slight haze to land at Dunkirk and try to keep the French from abandoning the port.

During its three days ashore, Commodore Murray Sueter, Director of the Air Division of the Admiralty, asked Samson to conduct a reconnaissance to Bruges, Belgium with armed cars. Two were immediately dispatched and returned without incident. Then the unit was withdrawn.

Still, the beginning of an idea emerged. Long-range car patrols were soon standard RNAS procedures from its base in Dunkirk. On September 4, a shootout with a car full of German officers brought up the subject of armor plating. Churchill slowly came to the conclusion that placing an air squadron on the French coast would help defend against German Zeppelin raids. On September 5, he laid out a proposal to maintain aerial control of an area 100 miles around Dunkirk with aeroplanes and "sufficient armed motor cars and personnel." By December, covered motor cars with revolving turrets were appearing in the RNAS. However, with the race to the sea over and trenches now covering the front from Switzerland to the English Channel, the opportunity for such wide ranging warfare closed. By summer of 1915, the Dunkirk Armored Car Force was disbanded and its cars turned over to the army except for a small experimental element retained by the Navy.

In November 1914, Flight Commander T. G. Heatherington of the RNAS Armored Car Division presented Sueter with a proposal for a Land Battleship--a monstrous contraption similar to that of Wells' War of the Worlds. This 100-feet long, 80-feet wide, and 46-feet tall machine would have an 800hp submarine diesel engine, 40-foot diameter Diplock pedrail wheels, three turrets with two 4-inch guns each. It was turned down in February, 1915 as being too vulnerable to artillery fire. Another Heatherington proposal, a demonstration of diplock wheeled armor car in February 1915, also went nowhere.

Enter Swinton

Lt. Col Ernest Swinton (right) of the Royal Engineers was sent to the front at the outbreak of the war as a War Correspondent. With the Marne over and the Allied counterattack stopped, the Western Front settled into trench warfare--something he reported on in articles dated September 21 and 25, 1914. By October 20, he was back in London for a meeting with his boss, Lt. Col. Maurice Hankey, who was also Secretary of the Committee of Imperial Defense, and pitched the idea of a machine based loosely on a Holt Tractor and the H.G. Wells' Land Iron Clad. On the 21st of October, they were joined by Captain T. G. Tulloch, a gunnery expert and the fellow who proposed the tractor and trailer design in 1911. Swinton also pitched the idea to General Fowke, the Chief Engineer on October 22.

Hankey took the idea to Prime Minister H. Asquith, who encouraged the development of a vehicle with caterpillar tracks, armored plating, and machine guns to cross trenches, squash barbed wire, and fire at the enemy--if the War Office would sign onto the project. According to a November 11, 1914 letter from Swinton to Hankey, Fowke had been impressed enough with the proposal to order some prototypes "may be for purely tractive purposes, or for bursting in against positions as suggested."

Hankey disclaims he thought up the idea of the tank and gives credit to Swinton. But Hankey did write a long letter on December 28, 1914 which, in part, noted that in the history of warfare, special devices were made to overcome entrenched defenses. As far as trench warfare was concerned, he put forth an idea about a barbed wire crusher: rollers propelled by an armored tractor with caterpillar tracks and a machine gun.

On January 4, 1915, Swinton returned to London for a meeting with Director of Fortifications Major-General G. Scott-Moncrief, suggesting that a cadre of experts conduct experiments with trench crossing machines.

On January 5, 1915, Churchill wrote to Prime Minister Asquith in support of Hankey's proposal, noting it "would be quite easy in a short time to fit up a number of steam tractors with small armored shelters, in which men and machine guns could be placed, that would be bullet-proof...The caterpillar system would enable trenches to be crossed quite easily and the weight of the machines would destroy all wire entanglements."

A few days later, a committee was formed to examine the feasibility of the project, and witnessed a demonstration of Holt tractors on the 13th. On January 19, 1915, the first official recognition of a tank appeared in a memo headlined "Land Ships," proposing two types: a Land Cruiser with quick firing guns, a searchlight, and machine guns, and a Land Destroyer with lighter armor and only machine guns. In a rainstorm on February 17, a Holt tractor pulled a truck filled with 5,000 pounds of sandbags (the weight of armor, guns, etc) across a field. It trampled the wire, but bogged down in the trench. On the 26th, the Committee reached a negative conclusion about the entire project.

The Landship Commmittee

Churchill, in deference to the numerous ideas floating around, decided on February 19, after meeting with Heatherington and others, to form the Landships Committee "to carry forward in one form or another of the project in which I had so long believed." Under the chairmanship of Tennyson d'Eyncourt, Director of Naval Construction, the Committee was formed on February 20, 1915, and met for the first time on February 22.

The Committee consisted of d'Eyncourt, Heatherington, and Col. W. Dumble. Heatherington brought along Lt. R. Macfie, a member of the RNAS and knowledgeable about caterpillar tractors, and Dumble brought in Col. R. E. Crompton, an expert in mechanical transport.

D'Eyncourt selected two types to pursue: a wheeled version smaller (15-foot wheels) than the monster Heatherington originally envisioned, and a small caterpillar-tracked version. However, the Committee was sidetracked into an armored infantry carrying vehicle. Miniature models of the two were shown on March 20, and on March 26, 1915, Churchill authorized 70,000 pounds sterling towards the construction of 12 tracked and six big-wheel versions of the APC. The wheeled version was to be produced at Foster under Tritton. The tracked version was to be produced at Foden, later at Metropolitan Carriage, and still later at Foster! By May 7, the order for 12 tracked version was reduced to two, and later cancelled. By June 8, the Big Wheel design under Tritton was cancelled.

On June 1, Swinton reappeared with a manifesto outlining the use of "Machine Gun Destroyers" followed on June 15 with a memo setting forth general design goals, and a June 29th memo with even more design goals. On June 30, a new caterpillar system was demonstrated, and yet another system in July.

On July 24, Foster received a contract for a tracked vehicle with the new Bullock track system, to be designed by Tritton and Wilson. On August 11, construction began on the vehicle, with the bulk of the tank atop the tracks. The turret would hold a 2 pounder gun. This was nicknamed "Tritton" (later "Little Willie") and suffered from high center of gravity, which caused instability. Wilson took a more radical approach with the tracks going around a larger hull. This 28-ton design was nicknamed "Wilson," although it later became known as "Centipede" and finally as "Big Willie." The guns were carried on the side in sponsons.

By August, Swinton was posted in London as Deputy Secretary to the Committee of Imperial Defense and was able to push his agenda of tank development. On September 19, Swinton held a preliminary inspection of the Tritton prototype, but rejected it as inadequate to the task. He was then shown a full-size wooden mock up of the larger machine -- "Big Willie" -- that conformed to the latest Army specifications.

Part of the problem revolved around inadequate British metalurgy techniques, especially when it came to the suspension and tracks of the machine. Wilson, who already devised the initial transmission and steering designs, used a higher quality steel to come up with a sufficient track design on September 22.

At a September 29 conference chaired by Swinton, the Committee released specifications calling for 10mm of armor in the front, 8mm on the side, and 6mm on top. The crew would be eight men, the speed increased to 4mph, and 6 pounder (57mm) guns would be the main armament. Production of the two prototypes continued. On Christmas Eve, another conference set up organizational responsibilities.

By January 1916, the prototypes were finished, and on the 16th, "Big Willie" ran on its own tracks for the first time. On the 29th, Tritton, Wilson, and company conducted the first preliminary trials on a "steeplechase" course. "Big Willie," at 31 feet 3 inches long, 8 feet high, and 13 feet 8 inches wide, crossed parapets, trenches, marshy ground, and barbed wire entanglements without a hitch. The eight man crew consisted of a commander (1), gear changer (1), driver for each track (2), and two gunners for each sponson (4).

On February 2, 1916, the tank was officially presented to War Minister Lord Kitchener, Minister of Munitions Lloyd George, First Lord of the Admiralty Arthur Balfour (Churchill's successor), Chancellor of the Exchequer R. McKenna, now Rear Admiral Sir Murray Sueter, a number of generals, and others. This trial was also a success, including an impromptu demonstration of the tank crossing a 9-foot wide trench instead of the official requirements of crossing a five foot wide trench. Although Kitchener dubbed it a "a pretty mechanical toy," the others were most impressed, including Sir William Robertson, Chief of the Imperial General Staff. Balfour insisted on going for a ride. Sueter remarked, "we ought to order 3,000 at once."

On the 8th, the King visited for a demonstration, went for a ride, and declared "it would be a great asset to the Army possessing a large number [of tanks]." However, when the paperwork went through on February 11, 1916, only 40 of the machines were ordered. Swinton, however, argued for 100, which the Army Council accepted and George signed the paperwork, with 25 machines to be produced by Foster and 75 by Metropolitan Carriage. The Tank Supply Committee was formally inserted on the organization chart under the Ministry of Munitions. "Big Willie" received a new official designation, the Mark I, while the original prototype earned the nickname "Mother."

In April 1916, Swinton argued that the "Destroyer" tank needed defensive firepower, as the 6 pounders were ineffective in that role. He proposed a "Man Killing" tank to be armed with four Vickers machine guns (two in each sponson) instead of the 6 pounders. These new tanks were dubbed the "female" version, while the original 6 pounder version was dubbed "male." George agreed and the order was increased to 150 tanks, half female and half male.

In June of 1916, Tritton started work on an ambitious prototype nicknamed the Flying Elephant. This 100-ton behemoth was to be invulnerable to shell fire with armor two to three inches (50-75mm) thick and with two sets of tracks: one outer set and one shorter inner set located in the middle underside of the tank. The idea was to prevent "bellying", that is, getting hung up on tree stumps and other obstructions that lifted the tracks off the ground. A 57mm gun and six machine guns would form the armament. By January 1917, the prototype was almost ready for trials, but due to expense and the proven concepts of the Mark Is, it was abandoned.

Armored Car Section of the Motor Machine Gun Service

The unit was called Tank Detachment, but due to wartime secrecy, it was immediately changed to Armored Car Section of the Motor Machine Gun Service. In May 1916, the official name was changed to Heavy Section, Machine Gun Corps.

Swinton became its first commander, although only as far as training the new force. Despite previous efforts on creating tank doctrine, once the fledgling unit reached France, it would be turned over to a new commander--Major Hugh Elles, an officer in the Operations Branch under Commander in Chief Douglas Haig. Elles had performed the initial inquiry into the tank on behalf of Haig, who had read a memo from Churchill extolling the virtues of armored vehicles.

The "Heavy Section" was originally proposed with a TO&E of 15 companies, each with two sections of six tanks. The War Office rejected the battalion-style organization and called for six companies of 25 tanks each. With 28 officers and 255 men to the company, the total organization of Heavy Section was 184 officers and 1,610 other ranks.

Heavy Section set up shop near Thetford, Norfolk, which included a section of Lord Iveagh's Elvesden estate. A cordon of security was set up, rail lines laid, and the story planted about a new explosive under development at the "Elvesden Explosives Area." A practice battlefield was created by three battalions of Pioneers under the direction of Captain G. Le Q. Martel of the Royal Engineers, later to become Brigade Major of the Heavy Section. This 1.5 mile training battlefield comprised British support and front trench lines, a No Man's Land of craters and such, and four lines of German trenches.

On April 14, 1916, Swinton met with Haig, who asked how many tanks would be available for the upcoming Somme offensive. On the 26th, Swinton replied that none would be available by June 1 or even July 1, although a handful could be ready by August 1.

Two companies' worth of men were moved to Elvesden in June, although only the original "Mother" prototype was available for training. At the end of June, six tanks arrived, and the pace of tank arrivals accelerated through July, allowing all six companies to come to Elvesden for training. On July 21, Lloyd George (now War Minister after the death of Kitchener), representatives of GHQ, and others witnessed a company-strength attack demonstration.

After the carnage of the Somme Offensive in July, Haig wrote asking for some of the tanks, if nothing else for morale purposes. Swinton argued against it, citing the need for mass and more training. George wrote back to Haig saying that while 150 tanks could be ready for September, about 350 would be ready for the new year and give additional time for training. Haig wanted them by September 15, when his new offensive would be pressed.

C and D company were duly sent in late August and early September, coming together at a concentration point near Bray-nur-Somme, although D company was under trained. A Company arrived at a rear area training center on the 14th, too late for the upcoming offensive. Worse, instead of 150 tanks, deployment of only 50 tanks (with 10 in reserve) would be in small two- and three-tank subsections scattered across the 7-mile wide offensive area and parceled out to various divisions instead of concentrated into a single armored punch.

More Tank Development

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