The Great WarThe Tank

An introduction to;• New technology• Modern warfare

• The successes and failures of the Tank

New technology was vital to the soldiers in the Great war

• In your pairs discuss and write down your ideas

1. What role does technology play in modern warfare today?

2. What technology do you think is important in modern warfare. List as many items.

3. What technology do you think was available to the soldiers fighting in WW1

Vehicles in war

• Discuss• How do you think vehicles were used in the Great

war?1. Transportation of troops2. Movement of resources3. Ships4. Cars5. Trains6. Planes

Early Battle Tactics

• The Old British elite who had experience in battles across the empire believed that the war would be over by Christmas in 1914. They also believed that the war would be won by their cavalry units that had proven effective in countries like India, North Africa and South Africa.

• One battle near Mons proved cavalry to be effective however the changing nature of the war and the onset of trench warfare proved these tactics outdated and hopeless.

1. Discuss why you think cavalry charges became ineffective in WW1?

Early stages 1915

• Lieutenant-Colonel Ernest Swinton was the first to support the idea of the tank. In 1914, he had proposed the development of a new type of fighting vehicle

• Tank tracks or caterpillar tracks had been used on the western front for some time in order to mount machine guns.

• Armoured vehicles were used on the front too but only suitable for “normal” terrain.

• The development of a tank was not given support as the General staff regarded them to be “suspicious things”

“Little Willie” the first tank

The development

• The production of the tank was kept under the highest of secrecy

• It took over 10 attempts of engineers Wilson and Tritton to demonstrate an effective Tank to the General staff and the Prime minister.

• Its main weakness was the track system that often failed and struggled in the tough terrain.

The Tank "Big Willie“ Mark 1

• 10-mm frontal armour and 8-mm side armour. • Crew of eight • The large guns would be 57-mm naval guns mounted on

the sides. • Speed of 4 mph. • "Big Willie" ran with these specifications for the first

time on January 16th 1916.• Originally named “land ship” it was changed to the

“tank” because of its resemblance to a steel water tank

What was the Mark 1 like inside?

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/interactive/animations/mark_one_tank/index_embed.shtml

• Describe the Mark 1 tank in your own »words

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezBSURCMe-o

Tank Tactics

• Discuss1. How would you use the Tank in the field of Battle?2. How would you use it to best suit trench warfare?

• Swinton was very keen that both tanks and infantry worked in co-operation.

• However, in the early days, it remains clear that even Swinton saw the tank as supporting the infantry in their efforts to break the German front lines as opposed to the tank being a weapon that could do this by itself.

• “It seems, as the tanks are an auxiliary to the infantry, that they must be counted as infantry and in an operation be under the same command."

Trial by fire

• The first use of tanks on the battlefield was the use of 49 British Mark I tanks at the Battle of Flers-Courcelette (part of the Battle of the Somme) on 15 September 1916, with mixed results.

• 1st Battalion, The Scots Guards were ordered to fight along side the tanks

• many broke down, but nearly a third succeeded in breaking through.

• Of the 49 tanks shipped to the Somme, only 32 were able to begin the first attack in which they were used and only 9 made it across "no man's land" to the German lines.

Today’s Lesson

• Heading -- Understanding the importance of tanks in WWI

• LO’s – describe and explain the importance of the tank in WWI

• Understand the conditions the tanks required for success

• SC – Understanding written work and detailed note taking

Too soon?

• The tanks had been rushed into combat before the design was mature enough

• Churchill believed they should have not been used until perfected

• Number was small but their use gave important feedback on how to design newer tanks, the soundness of the concept, and their potential to affect the course of the war.

• The French were also unimpressed with the poor management of the new weapon.

• They felt the British had sacrificed the secrecy of the weapon while employing it in numbers too small to be decisive.

Battle of Flers- Courcelette

• September 15/ 1916• “Mother” aka “Big Willie” aka Mark 1 is first

used in battle• 8 men required• Max speed 3.7 mph• Average travel distance 35-40 km

Battle of Cambrai

• The earliest successful use of tanks came in the Battle of Cambrai in 1917

• They made an unprecedented breakthrough but, as ever on the Western front, the opportunity was not exploited

• Broke through enemy Lines creating a gap for the infantry to advance through

Result – Although the tank made great progress the infantry failed to take advantage of the gap and keep the new land

Watch and Listen

• What was it like in a tank??• http://

www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/what-was-it-like-in-a-ww1-tank/12726.html – Make a spider diagram:

– Conditions in a tank – dangers --uniforms

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/interactive/animations/mark_one_tank/index_embed.shtml

Why would a tank commander wear on of these?

How did tanks cross the trenches?

• At first tanks could not cross trenches• With the creation of the Mark 1 tanks were

more stable, faster and longer• Tanks were armed with barbed wire cutters• They could also use their tracks to flatten the

wire for advancing soldiers• Fascines were carried by each

tank

Limitations

• Slow speed• Vulnerable to a direct hit • The inside was extremely unpleasant; as ventilation was

inadequate • The air was heavy with poisonous carbon monoxide from

the engine and firing the weapons, fuel and oil vapours from the engine and cordite fumes from the weapons.

• Temperatures inside could reach 50°C. Entire crews lost consciousness inside the tanks, or collapsed when again exposed to fresh air

Describe in as much detail as possible, there was a great need for new technology on the western front during WW1 4 marks

• As the stalemate on the Western Front continued, so the drive to find a weapon that could break this lack of mobility became more intense. The Germans, British, Austrians, Russians and French all had armoured fighting vehicles that could fight on ‘normal’ terrain. But these vehicles could not cope with trenches that were soon to dominate the Western Front.

Source Question

A possible response• The terrain on the western front was becoming worse

and worse making it difficult for normal forms of transport to pass through.

• The stalemate that existed between the two trenches was increasing more difficult to break through.

• There was a increase in the number of causalities suffered by the armies.

• Current methods and tactics were proving ineffective• Officers had failed to break the Germany lines during

the “big push” at the Somme and other Battles

Complete the work sheet – Battle of Cambrai

• Read and complete the questions about the Battle of Cambrai

• 20 November-7 December 1917

• Once complete ensure that you have finished the tank questions in the textbook pages

Questions

• How much did a WWI tank cost to produce??– Little Willie cost roughly £5000 or £276,000 today