Big Williie and The Battle of the Somme
After the Little Willie prototype, a new tank was made called the "Big Willie". The tank was rhombus shaped and had guns mounted to the sides of its hull. The first model of the tank came out on September 8th, 1915. At first the caterpillar tracks kept falling off or breaking, but government officials still believed in the new weapon. Lieutenant W Wilson and William Tritton later made a new and improved version of the tank on September 29th, 1915 and held a meeting discussing what the specifications of the tank should be. The specifications said that it should have 10mm armor on the front and 8mm armor on the sides, they should have a crew of eight, have 57mm guns mounted on the sides, and have a top speed of 4mph. On January 16th, 1916 Wilson and Tritton adjusted the new tank to fit the specifications. Winston Churchill then tried to convince General Douglas Haig how useful the new weapon could be and he approved. On September 29th, 1916 the "Big Willie" went through its first major demonstration and on February 2nd Kitchener Lloyd George and McKenna the Chancellor of Exchequer attended another demonstration. By February 12th, the Ministry of Munitions ordered 100 of the new Big Willie tanks. After February 12th, Ernest Swinton worked hard on developing fighting techniques and tactics for the new weapon. Swinton saw that the tank would be good for supporting infantry that was trying to break German lines.
In April, Haig told Swinton that he needed tanks and crews for June 1st, the beginning of the Battle of the Somme. Haig's request was almost impossible to do. There were no new tanks being made and no experienced crew to operate them since it was a new weapon. After the failure of artillery at the Battle of Verdun and the Battle of the Somme, the General Headquarters ordered the new weapon into use by September 15th, 1916. The first of the tanks arrived in Europe on August 30th but the crews had problems because they didn't know how to work the tank or what to do because they had no practice. On September 15th, 36 tanks made a masse attack at the Battle of the Somme. Although some broke down and got stuck in the mud, a new era of weapons had begun.
In April, Haig told Swinton that he needed tanks and crews for June 1st, the beginning of the Battle of the Somme. Haig's request was almost impossible to do. There were no new tanks being made and no experienced crew to operate them since it was a new weapon. After the failure of artillery at the Battle of Verdun and the Battle of the Somme, the General Headquarters ordered the new weapon into use by September 15th, 1916. The first of the tanks arrived in Europe on August 30th but the crews had problems because they didn't know how to work the tank or what to do because they had no practice. On September 15th, 36 tanks made a masse attack at the Battle of the Somme. Although some broke down and got stuck in the mud, a new era of weapons had begun.