Tank Warfare. The Story Of The Tanks In The Great War: Tank Warfare. The Story Of The Tanks In The Great War Paperback – 13 Feb. 2009

Tanks were an invention of World War 1 – or The Great War, as it was known to the British. In 1916 the fighting on the Western Front had become totally static. The machine gun ruled on the battlefield and any attempt at gaining territory by frontal assault invariably resulted in slaughter of infantry on an unimaginable scale. The generals dreamed of the breakthrough to end the war, and it remained a dream for these gentlemen and a quick and merciless death to their underlings.A few far-sighted officers on the British side had for a while promoted the idea of re-introducing armour in land warfare; a concept not in use since medieval days. Some kind of vehicle was needed, motorized and with a shield of armour to protect itself and its crew. It was quickly realized that it must be on caterpillar tracks, in order to obtain the cross-country ability required to pass all the obstacles to be found on the battlefield. The result was the well-known lozenge-shaped machine of which the British ended up building fairly large numbers.Many books have been written on the WW1 tanks, both immediately after the war and also in modern times. F. Mitchell served as an officer in the Royal Tank Corps during the war and was in action in several of the major engagements fought by the Corps. He published his book in 1933. The book deals with the history of the tanks and their use, from the first inventions in 1915 to the Armistice in 1918. Mitchell provides close-ups of what it was like to sit in a tank, and describes with equal ease the more grand tactical and strategic considerations of the war. His book is filled with amusing details and stories – without ever falling into the trap of presenting the war as rosy in any way. It was life and death – mostly death.He is British in the best of traditions; his book is filled to the brim with wit and poignant observations, not always very kind to the War Office or the Army General Headquarters.The tanks were a mixed success, they were plagued by mechanical problems, frequent bogging-downs and their interior was characterized as a “regular pocket-hell” due to the heat, noise and fumes from the engine exhaust and the guns when fired. The crews, however, invariably showed a devotion to duty and a heartfelt desire to help the poor infantry, and when successful, the tanks could achieve miracles, overrunning enemy lines at very low cost in human lives. As mentioned by Mitchell: in one morning one tank with a crew of 8 achieved results in numbers of destroyed enemy guns, prisoners taken and ground gained, which under normal circumstances would have required the efforts of an entire infantry division.Mitchell’s book is easily the best book on WW1 tank warfare that this reviewer has read. His book has a freshness and pace that none of the old classics, nor any of the new books, can match.