Tank
The tank is an armour-plated vehicle moving on caterpillar tracks and armed with a large gun. It was the answer to the tactical necessity of finding an offensive weapon capable of breaking through an enemy front. It can move over any type of ground surface. It made its first appearance on 15 September 1916 when the English used it on the battlefields of Flanders during World War I. In World War II the Germans formed divisions of armoured tanks with which they were able to make enormously successful lighting strikes I Poland, Belgium, France and Russia. There are many types of tank, including the Mark, the Panther, the Sherman, the T34, the Patton, the Centurion and the AMX. Did you know… …that the tank was first invented by the English, who kept its manufacturing secret by having each component build in a different factory? The tanks were packed in cases and the rumour was put about that they were water tanks on their way to Africa. The English name has come into use in many languages. …that the tank played such a decisive part in the German defeat in World War I that when the fighting was over the Germans said that they have been defeated not by Marshal Foch but by Marshal Tank? The elephants used by Hannibal in his struggle against the Romans could perhaps be described as the ancestors of the modern tank. But the blind force of these beasts was difficult to direct and sometimes rebounded on the army using them. The picture here shows a strange Roman war machine. Two little huts, each mounted on four wheels, were fastened together and pushed along by means of a tree trunk. It was a type of battering ram used against the enemy army, and in its day was an effective and devastating weapon.
War chariot invented by Leonardo da Vinci Tanks were a decisive weapon in the two world wars of this century. Preceded by an artillery barrage, armoured tanks with their caterpillar tracks would move in and occupy enemy trenches. From 1914 onwards the tank played an important part in warfare. This picture shows the powerful gun mounted on a revolving turret, the armour plating and caterpillar tracks. Although the tank was originally developed as a weapon of war, as time passed and technical progress continued some of its features were applied to agriculture and to public work. He is a tractor with caterpillar tracks.
