battle in wwi where tanks were first used

Named Mephisto by its crew, this 30-tonne tank was part of an advance towards the French town of Amiens, resulting in the capture of Villers- Bretonneux and the temporary retreat of Allied forces. The A7V’s were involved in the first tank versus tank action. The German tanks were engaged in actions at such places as Villers-Bretonneux, a small French village that was recaptured by Australian soldiers at the cost of 1,200 lives. Crewed with 18 men, the cumbersome war machines clambered into action in April 1918. In late 1917 the German Army produced 20 A7V Sturmpanzerwagen’s which were deployed in combat the following year.

After completing my honours degree, I worked for a number of years as the collection manager before joining the archaeology program as a curator in 2015. I joined the museum’s Cultures and Histories program as a volunteer and became a full time assistant collection manager in 2008, after completing a Bachelor of Arts (Archaeology double major) with the University of Queensland. At times captured British and French tanks were reconditioned for use by the German Army.I am the archaeology curator in the Cultures and Histories Program, responsible for researching, curating and sharing the Queensland Museum’s archaeology collections. They saw limited service on the Western Front in 1918.

Of Germany’s A7V Sturmpanzerwagen only 20 were ever built for use in war. The images below show early British and German tanks.The Germans began developing tanks after the British first used theirs during the battle of the Somme in 1916. They were first developed by the British, who went on the manufacture thousands of these trailblazing vehicles. Tanks were developed during the course of the First World War in an attempt to help break the stalemate. Hundreds of thousands of men and women on both sides lost their lives. In this situation the rival armies dug trenches both to defend the territory they controlled and to launch attacks to try to capture more land. However, a stalemate set in along the Western Front in Belgium and France. Initially, it was believed that the First World War would be over within a few months of its declaration.

Battle in wwi where tanks were first used