Now all roads lead to France and heavy is the tread
Of the living; but the dead returning lightly dance.
Edward Thomas, Roads

Sunday, May 17, 2015

Weapon of War: The British Mark IV Tank


1 comment:

  1. I wonder if everyone who reads this will know the difference between a male and a female tank.

    The male tanks carried a 6-pdr gun in each sponson, for attacking enemy strong-points such as machine-gun posts. They did also carry machine-guns, but with a limited field of fire, and therefore were vulnerable to being over-run by infantry. The female tanks therefore were to protect the male tanks, and had two machine guns in rotating turrets in each sponson, plus another in the driver's cab. In reality, the female tanks were more useful most of the time, but there were some things only a male could do though not without a female's assistance. (Don't take the analogy too far....).

    It's not entirely true that the Mark IV was mechanically similar to the Mark I, though they had the same engines. The Mark I was steered by a set of wheels that were towed behind it - highly inefficient. The Mark IV introduced differential tracks as on a modern tank except that it required a steersman to assist the driver by engaging the gearing. The Mark V was the first type to be capable of being driven by one man.

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