A British Mark IV tank advances across the red field, star and crescent moon of a Turkish flag under a chain of grey and yellow clouds. Entitled Entente-török fegyverszünet, Entente-Turkish Armistice, it refers to the British-Turkish Armistice signed on October 30, 1918, that took effect on October 31. Original watercolor postcard by Schima Martos.

Entente-török fegyverszünet



Entente-Turkish Armistice

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On September 15 and 25, 1916 in the Battle of the Somme, the British used thirty-six in advances on the villages of Flers, Martinpuich, and Courcelette. They were most successful in Flers where seven tanks led the attack, and three made it through the village with the infantry behind.

Before the infantry assault on April 9, 1917 to begin the Battle of Arras, the British conducted a five-day preparatory bombardment that included new ammunition designed to better cut barbed wire. Sixty Mark I and Mark II tanks were available, and distributed among the army corps and along the battle front.

In the Battle of Cambrai, the tanks were first used as the British Tank Corps advised, in large numbers and heavy concentrations. On November 20, 1917 380/381 tanks, most of them gigantic Mark IV tanks, reached their objectives on the first day, but there was no plan or reserves to exploit their success.

The French first used tanks in the Nivelle Offensive launched on April 16, 1917, the large heavy Schneider tanks. They later built the smaller, lighter two-man Renault tank that was also used by the American army, and fielded several hundred in 1918.

Germany ordered tanks in significant numbers only in the summer of 1918, too late for their offensives of that year. In March they had only ten A7V tanks.