Existing comment:
Return of Mobility:
The war dragged on with the only visible results being the casualty lists -- which continued to climb. Efforts to overcome the trench failed. Days of artillery bombardment followed by massed infantry assaults fell apart in the face of machine guns and enemy counterattacks. The Entente and the Central Powers both looked to technology to bring an end to the military statement on the Western front. Mobility had to return to the battlefield and the answer was the tank.
The French and British both independently developed tanks. In January of 1915, First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill suggested development of "special mechanical devices for taking trenches" to overcome entrenched machine guns. Using the American Holt caterpillar tractor as a model, the first British tank, Little Willie, appeared on September 19, 1915. It was not a success, but a new prototype "Mother" worked, and went into mass production as the Mark I. The Mark I entered combat in September 1916. Symbolic of the tank's naval heritage, the Royal Navy provided the first crews.
France undertook a parallel effort to build an armored combat vehicle for trench warfare. They were trying to develop self-propelled artillery. In 1915, Eugene Brillie, an engineer working with Schneider & Company, designed an armored tractor that moved on caterpillar tracks. Brillie returned to France and developed an armored vehicle based on the "Baby Holt." Further development on tanks reflected the views of Col. Eugene Estienne. He believed that the first combatant to field a self-propelled 75mm gun capable of traversing any ground would win the war. Schneider tanks went into production in early January of 1916. They were followed by the development of the Renault light tank, the first turreted tank. |