Features
Richard Pullen reports on the two-decade struggle to bring a World War One tank to life
pictures Richard Pullen & Stijn Butaye
The first generation of World War One tanks are very rare machines today. The massive, rhomboid vehicles were created to break the trench deadlock, but once the job had been done, they were obsolete and replaced by a new generation of armoured fighting vehicles. Eventually, only a handful remained on display in military museums around the world, and very few of those were kept in running order. Now, over a century later, even those Mk IV and Mk V tanks that are capable of being driven have been retired for their own protection and so that they can be displayed to remind visitors of the sacrifices of World War One well into the 21st century and beyond.
