We are celebrating the world of 1914-1918 or what became known as the First World War…..there were many first in this conflict…the first time an airplane was used in wartime…..this war also was the first time that the deadly machine gun was used….and the biggest deal was the first use of the armored tank in warfare.

Trench warfare made the development of the tank necessary…….

The British developed the tank in response to the trench warfare of World War I. In 1914, a British army colonel named Ernest Swinton and William Hankey, secretary of the Committee for Imperial Defence, championed the idea of an armored vehicle with conveyor-belt-like tracks over its wheels that could break through enemy lines and traverse difficult territory.

The tank a weapon that most armies use and most armies take for granted….but today’s tank had its beginnings in 1918 and believe it or not it made an auto maker famous…..

On 31 May 1918, the German army launches a sudden attack near the Forest of Retz near Ploisy in the north-east of France. It is the last year of World War One, and the Germans are desperately trying to beat the Western Allies.

A British blockade is crippling the German economy. Those back at home are suffering shortages of fuel and food. The German Empire faces starvation and defeat.

As the French units at Retz try to resist the onslaught, they are joined by reinforcements. Among them is a new tank: the FT. Compared to the giant, lumbering British tanks that have been used with mixed results for the past 18 months, these are tiny. There is only room for two people inside them.

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20180531-the-wwi-tank-that-helped-change-warfare-forever

May I say thanx for the visit and the read……

Class Dismissed