OUR TANK MUSEUM

AT THE REQUEST OF READERS, WE ARE BEGINNING TO PUBLISH MATERIALS FROM THE TM MUSEUM ON THE HISTORY OF TANK DEVELOPMENT.

...The morning of September 15, 1916, for the German soldiers stationed near the village of Flers-Courcelette, on the banks of the Somme River, seemed to promise nothing unusual.

On April 24, 1918, the great German offensive in the West was in full swing.

The unsuccessful design of the “Schneider” and “Saint-Chamond” tanks forced the French to seek a new solution to the problem.

In 1918, not only the British and the French, but also the Germans had already gained experience in the use of tanks.

The First World War had ended. On its battlefields light, medium, and heavy tanks had been used. And yet some specialists felt that even this variety was not enough.

In England, tankettes did not become widespread; they were used only as machine gun carriers and tractors. These vehicles received significantly greater development in countries that purchased licenses for their production.

We have already talked about tanks that had both separate propulsion systems — wheeled and tracked (see "TM" No. 10 for 1979).

One could say that the flamethrower is almost the same age as the tank: it began to be used in battles just a year before tanks had their combat debut.