Customer Reviews

British Mark IV Tank (New Vanguard, Vol. 133)

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David Fletcher's BRITISH MARK IV TANK tells of the Mark IV tank which worked against the Germans from 1917 to the end of World War I. It charts the first tank-versus-tank actions against the Germans, British technology, and displays rare footage of the Mark IVs used against the Allies. An excellent addition to any serious, in-depth World War I collection.

British tank expert David Fletcher follows up his successful British Mark I Tank 1916 (Osprey's New Vanguard 100) with an even better British Mark IV Tank (New Vanguard 133), adding more detail on British tank operations in the First World War. Fletcher describes the Mark IV as the "first main battle tank" and this volume provides an appreciable level of detail on the tank's technical details, its production, unit organization and use in combat. The author succeeds in packing a considerable amount of detail into this short format and in a manner that assures the reader that they are getting `real' information instead of recycled boilerplate. Although the author is does not mention this, his role as a curator at the Tank Museum at Bovington has allowed him a great deal of hands-on experience with British World War I tanks and he even drove one for a BBC documentary. Nevertheless, the author's expertise on this subject is apparent on every page.

The author devotes 5 pages to describing the technical details of the Mark IV tank and several pages and photos to how the tank was built. After discussing the expansion of the British Tank Corps, the author then outlines the Mark IV's baptism of fire in Flanders in 1917, as well as its possible role in the cancelled Operation "Hush" and in Egypt. About 6 pages are devoted to the Battle of Cambrai, the highlight for the Mark IV tank. Final sections cover mechanical improvements, the Mark IV's role in 1918 fighting (mostly as a supply tank) and post-war activities. The author even mentions the role of a Mark IV tank briefly resurrected for home defense by the Royal Navy in 1940.

The color plates depict a Mark IV with fascine at Cambrai in 1917, a Mark IV winch tank adapted for the cancelled amphibious operation on the Belgian coast, a supply tank, a Mark IV under construction, a captured Mark IV in German service and several other Mark IV scenes. The B/W photos throughout the volume are excellent. The author provides an index, but no bibliography or notes on sources used. Overall, this is a well-crafted volume with a good amount of information on this subject.

Book has a lot of good info on the mark IV tank that would be hard to find. What I didn't like is that the book doesn't go into detail about the drive train or how the tank was operated. It doesn't even mention that the tank is powered by a sleeve valve engine. Otherwise the book is excellent. Lot's of interesting pictures that you won't see on the internet. Definately worth the money.

BRITISH MARK IV TANK
DAVID FLETCHER
OSPREY PUBLISHING, 2007
QUALITY SOFTCOVER, $15.95, 48 PAGES, ILLUSTRATIONS, PHOTOGRAPHS


The Mark IV could probably be described as the first main battle tank. About 1,200 were built and they participated in virtually every British engagement on the Western Front from the early summer of 1917 until the very end of the war, plus one action in the Middle East. Apart from its mass production, the Mark IV was also the first tank to be built based upon experience with earlier tanks and the first to be used en masse in combat, in a battle actually planned around the tank. Even so, it could have been a far better machine had it not been for a serious clash of personalities. The Mark IV was based, mechanically on the prototype tank Mother, which in an ideal world should have been improved upon by 1917. The problem was the external conflict between the ideal and the expedient. Everyone agreed that the four-man driving system, introduced with Mother in 1915, was tiresome and inefficient, but what to do about it? Lt. Walter Wilson knew the answer, but Major Albert Stern, head of the Mechanical Warfare Department, overruled him. Lacking technical acumen, and unable to see the brilliant simplicity of Wilson's scheme. Stern ordered the first production tank to use the same system as Mother, while experiments were carried out to find the most effective form of transmission. The matter was decided in favor of Wilson's design in competitive trials at Oldbury in March, 1917, but that was too late to influence the Mark IV. Stern had unwittingly managed to delay the improvement of British tanks by a good 18 months.

The Mark IV was an up-armored version of the Mark I with all fuel stored in a single external tank (located between the rear track horns) in an attempt to improve crew safety. The sponsons could be pushed in to reduce the width of the tank for rail transportation. Rails on the roof carried an unditching beam. There were a total of 1,220 Mark IVs built of which 420 were Males, 595 were Females, and 205 were Tank Tenders which were supply tanks. The Mark IV Male carried four Lewis machine guns as well as the two sponson guns (now with shorter barrels). The Female had six machine guns of which two were operated by the gun loaders.

The first tanks were added, as "Heavy Branch", to the Machine Gun Corps until a separate Tank Corps was formed on 28 July 1917 by Royal Warrant. The 18-month gap gave the Germans time to develop a specifically designed anti-tank weapon for the infantry: an armor-piercing 7.92 mm bullet. Mark IV tanks were used in the Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele) in mid-1917, but without great success due to the mud. Nearly 460 Mark IV tanks were used during the Battle of Cambrai in November, 1917, showing that a large concentration of tanks could quickly overcome even the most sophisticated trench system. About 40 captured Mark IVs were employed by the Germans as Beutapanzer with a crew of twelve. During the Battle of Amiens in August, 1918, Mark IV tanks with the new Whippet tank penetrated the German lines in a preview of modern armored warfare. The first tank-to-tank battle was between Mark IV tanks and German A7Vs.

This book, BRITISH MARK IV TANK reveals the important role the tank played in the historic Battle of Cambrai in 1917 as well as the first ever tank-versus-tank actions against German A7Vs. In awe of British technology, the Germans actively captured, salvaged, and repaired Mark IVs for deployment against the Allies. Using rare photographs and detailed artwork, author David Fletcher explores the Mark IVs design and development, its variants and accessories , and brings to life its exciting deployment on the battlefields of World War I.


Lt. Colonel Robert A. Lynn, Florida Guard
Orlando, Florida

This is a nice little book for anyone interested in World War I and tank history. It covers some of the issues, details, and logistics of construction to using the tanks in battle. There are some good photos and some nice color drawings. The one minus in my opinion is there are no technical blue print type drawings or much else to give you an idea of the interior of these tanks.