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The real windfall came after the Battle of Cambrai in late 1917, when a special command was set up to recover and repair as many as possible of the Tanks found there on the battlefield: eventually some 30 Mk IV:s were made servicable again - not without effort, as many were very badly damaged, and all were plundred in some way. Most of the repair work was done in a special site in a former factory in Charleroi. Only captured Mk IV:s was reused in this manner. The German had encountered the French Schneider and S:t Chamond, but considered both these as inferior designs. At the same time, they actually considered producing a copy of the MK IV. Mostly Female Mk IV:s were pressed into German service, as it was hard to find a replacement for the British gun. Eventually a captured Belgian 57mm gun was fitted into the sponson of some of the Male tanks. For the female tanks, most of these were equipped with Lewis guns, rechambered to take German ammunition. A few were equipped with German MG 08:s, but these were rare. Some units fitted an AT Rifle instead of the MG in the Drivers Cab. Also, they often fitted the same Cab with an extra hatch. The unditching rail were removed on some. Otherwise, and with the exception of new markings and camouflage, they left the MK IV:s as they were. A number of Sturm-Panzerkraftwagen Abteilungen were equipped with these captured Mk IV - Beute meaning "Booty". The first use of captured Mk IV:s in combat came in late March 1918, during the big German Spring offensive, when they supported an attack on British positions northwest of S:t Quentin. After that, they were employed in most major Battles until november 1918. Some of these Mk IV:s were used in the internal fighting in Germany after the war, some soldiering on until 1920, when they were finally scrapped in compliance with the Versailles Treaty. My Model is of course built from the excellent kit by EMHAR, with only some small modifications: new MG:s (except for the cab MG), no unditching rails, applique armour on the rear (protecting the motor and gas tank) and a exit hatch on the cab. Click on the thumbnails below to see more views of this model:
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The
German Army was quite slow in taking on Tanks, and the only of their own designs
that was ever used in combat, the A7V, was produced in less than 20 copies. In
fact, most tanks used operationally by the Germans during WW1 were British in
origin, but captured, refurbished and used against their former owners.
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