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After much stalling and many delays the new vehicle was eventually put together, the actual construction done by the firm of Fosters in Lincoln, who had experience in building heavy tractors. The firm used many of the standard components used in their tractor production, and a 105 h.p. Daimler engine. The tracks were of american design and the body was made in boiler plate. The thought was to equip the vehicle with a centrally mounted turret, equipped with a 40mm gun. It never came this far, as the first trials with the new viehicle - starting on september 10 1915 - showed that the running gear was not up to the job: whenever they attempted to cross a trench the tracks sagged or detached all together. The designers scurried back to the design boards, and came up with a much improved track. However, this did not solve another basic problem, namely the unstable and top-heavy nature of the vehicle. This called for a complete redesign: out came the MK I, with had completely new romboid tracks, but retained a large number of mechanical features of this very first tank, nicknamed "Little Willie", after the German Kaiser. |
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shows the vehicle after the first track redesign, and is made up from the Matador kit, with only some small modifications: the headlights were removed, and replaced with plastic ones, drilled out to take a "lens" of white glue.
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Weight Maximum Armour Maximum Road Speed Armament Crew |
The Worlds first tank was made in Great Britain, and was designed by a committé headed by Lieutenant-Colonel Ernest Dunlop
Swinton, an engineer, writer and veteran of the Boer War, who already in 1914 had proposed the construction of a
"power-driven, bullet-proof, armed engine, capable of destroying machine
guns, of crossing country and trenches, of
breaking through entaglements".
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