Australian Army Museum of Western Australia > Records

World War 1, Europe, Western Front, Mk IV Tank,1918

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1918

Overview

Mark IV male tank. The Mark IV Male initially carried three Lewis machine guns – one in the cab front and one in each sponson and a QF 6 pdr 6 cwt gun in each sponson, with its barrel shortened as it had been found that the longer original was apt to strike obstacles or dig into the ground. The sponsons were not mirror images of each other, as their configuration differed to allow for the 6 pdr's gun-layer operating his gun from the left and the loader serving the gun from the right. The guns had a 100 degree arc of fire but only the starboard gun could fire straight ahead. The Female had five Lewis guns but no 6-pounders.

Historical information

The Mark IV was a British tank of World War 1 introduced in 1917. It benefited from significant developments of the Mark I tank (the intervening designs being small batches used for training). The main improvements were in armour, the re-siting of the fuel tank and ease of transport. A total of 1,220 Mark IVs were built: 420 "Males", 595 "Females" and 205 Tank Tenders (unarmed vehicles used to carry supplies), which made it the most numerous British tank of the war. The Mark IV was first used in mid 1917 at the Battle of Messines Ridge. It remained in British service until the end of the war,

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-32-P1900.357

Item type

Photographs

Themes

War and Conflict
War and Conflict > World War 1

Inscriptions and markings

In the aftermath of the German spring offensive on the Western Front, the first tank-to-tank battle was between Mk IV tanks and German A7Vs in the Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux in April 1918.

Year

1918

Australian Army Museum of Western Australia

Organisation Details
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