Mark V – WWI Heavy Tank

About the Mark V – WWI Heavy Tank:

Breaking through the stalemate of trench warfare, the British Mark V heavy tank represented a breakthrough in armored warfare. In the First World War, the Western Front had devolved into stalemate, and the belligerents hoped that tanks might surmount the trenches and prove pivotal. Nevertheless, failed tank attacks, breakdowns, and increasingly wide trenches blunted the armored threat. Yet, improving on the faults of its predecessors, the Mark V debuted in 1918 and began to restore the infantry’s faith and hope in tanks. At the Battle of Hamel, the first Mark Vs supported Australian troops in a successful attack. Shortly thereafter, Mark Vs aided the Allied breakthrough at Amiens, in an armored thrust that foreshadowed the tank warfare of the next global war.

There were several variants of the Mark V, but the ‘male’ version featured two 6 pounder QF guns and bristled with machine guns, requiring a crew of eight. At 29 tons, the behemoth surprisingly could be driven by one crewman, featuring simplified controls and a powerful engine. It had a cupola for the commander, with signaling flags and a rear-facing machine gun, and carried an un-ditching beam to help the tank avoid getting stuck in the mud. Over 500 were built, and the Mark V was a harbinger of a new age of warfare.