Images of War, Armoured Warfare in the First World War 1916-1918

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.