The Images of War series is based on lavish illustration, using rare
photographs from wartime archives, but each book also includes a great
deal of textual information in concise captions and extended captions,
with longer overviews linking the photographic record. This book
matches the highly successful series and the author is a highly
experienced former defence intelligence specialist with a long list
of top selling books to his credit, highly recommended.
NAME: Images of War, Armoured Warfare in the First World War 1916-1918 FILE: R2416 AUTHOR: Anthony Tucker-Jones PUBLISHER: Pen & Sword BINDING: soft back PAGES: 144 PRICE: £14.99 GENRE: Non Fiction SUBJECT: WWI, World War 1, World War One, First World War, armoured warfare, trench warfare, Western Front, tanks ISBN: 1-47387-298-7 IMAGE: B2416.jpg BUYNOW: http://tinyurl.com/jkawlq7 LINKS: Current Discount Offers http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/sale DESCRIPTION: The Images of War series is based on lavish illustration, using rare photographs from wartime archives, but each book also includes a great deal of textual information in concise captions and extended captions, with longer overviews linking the photographic record. This book matches the highly successful series and the author is a highly experienced former defence intelligence specialist with a long list of top selling books to his credit, highly recommended. In this publication year, the tank is 100 years old. It revolutionized the stalemated trench warfare for which the First World War is notorious. The Western Front combatants all used tanks before the end of the war, but this new weapon was created and introduced by the British and deployed in much greater numbers than were available to the other Allies, or to the Germans. Of those tanks deployed by the Germans, many were captured British tanks that were superior to the German attempts to manufacture armoured vehicles. This innovative new weapon owes much to the Royal Navy and in many respects was an armoured vessel that happened to float across the Flanders mud on tracks. The development process was fraught. The combustion engine was still in its early days and finding a suitable engine, building a gearbox and steering system, and constructing a track system that could withstand the mud of the front and bridge the trenches was no small feat. Mounting guns was fairly straight forward, using sponsons already familiar to the naval technologists. The first tanks took on what became a classic WWI rhomboid shape and fascines were soon mounted above the tracks, ready to be dropped into the larger trenches to bridge the gap. Inevitably breakdowns were frequent and the Germans acquired tanks that had suffered mechanical failure, or run out of fuel. Tactics had to be learned from experimentation, as with any innovative new weapon. Traditionalist commanders had to be convinced and adequate numbers of tanks had to be built and sent to the front. Initial deployment benefited from the enemy's shock and fear of this terrifying weapon that was immune to the machine-gun that had previously been king of the trenches. Then, both sides learned from mistakes, developed an understanding of the tank and its limitations, developing weapons that could counter it. The book provides direct comparison between the different types of tanks fielded. The British design proved sufficiently successful that it went through a series of versions, each broadly similar in appearance and layout. The Germans produced a ponderous and vulnerable machine that was built in small numbers. The French developed two-man tanks that introduced the turret with a canon and/or machine-gun. Although the tank, particularly the rhomboid British classic, is the armoured vehicle that most readily comes to most people's minds, WWI also saw armoured cars deployed. Their wheels were a limiting factor when faced by deep mud and trenches, but they were faster and more capable on drier ground and roads. In fact they predated the tracked tank and the first armoured cars were home-made adaptations when RNAS officers, sent to France to fly against the Germans, took their own vehicles over and had crude armour plate added by their ground crews and machine-guns added. This encouraged more professional development and Rolls Royce produced a very successful armoured car that was used in the Middle East. To the tank and armoured car was added the armoured truck and these served in modest numbers in France.