Stunning colourised images of tanks on the battlefield during the First World War reveal the power of some of history’s early armoured vehicles, and the brave soldiers who first used them.
The photographs illustrate the dynamic realities of the war, with one showing legendary Lt. Col. George S. Patton standing in front of his 1st Tank Battalion and a French Renault tank during the summer of 1918.
While a young lieutenant, George S. Patton, Jr., became interested in tank warfare and pushed it so successfully that he was assigned to establish a tank school after the United States joined the war in April 1917. By the time World War II came around, Patton was a tank warfare expert, according to National Archives.
Known as ‘Old Blood and Guts,’ Patton died of injuries received in a car crash in December 1945 and is buried with his men in a cemetery in France.
Above: A Renault FT (M17) tank during the First World War (1916). It is one of a series of colourised photographs shedding new light on the devastating power of some of history’s early armoured vehicles
Another picture shows two tankmen, above, in an open tank Renault ft-17 in France, 1918. Prior to the war, which lasted for four years between July 28, 1914 and November 11, 1918, motorised vehicles were still relatively uncommon
Armoured vehicles were developed to be able to travel over difficult terrain, cross trenches, resist small-arms fire and to capture enemy positions by breaking through no man’s land
A British tank crossing the trenches in Flanders, Belgium is shown above. The fascinating photos were expertly colourised by electrician, Royston Leonard, of Wales, who said that adding colour to black and white pictures modernised them
The British Army cleaning out tanks while on the Western Front, June 22, 1918. Initially called ‘landships’, they became known as tanks after factory workers at William Fosters and Co. in Lincoln likened them to steel water tanks
At Cambrai, France, German soldiers load a captured British Mark I tank onto a railroad, in Nov 1917. Ironically, it was actually the Germans who would go on to use tanks to greater effect in future conflicts, with the Panzer division often dominating the battlefield in the Second World War
British Army tanks moving with support forces when fighting in France in 1918. The tank was not ready for deployment until 1916, and even then it was considered hasty by the French who felt their use in limited numbers had cost the Allied forces the crucial advantage of surprise
The first ever tanks, built to overcome the terrain that ordinary military vehicles could not pass, were unleashed onto the battlefield for the first time during the battle of Flers-Courcelette on September 15, 1916.
Still in their design infancy and plagued with mechanical errors, only 32 of the 49 tanks shipped to The Somme took part in the initial assault and only nine made it across no-man’s land.
Their introduction signalled a new, deadly era in modern warfare that would swing the pendulum in the Allied forces’ favour in the harsh, deadlocked trenches of Northern France.
In misty conditions, this is a soldier’s view of Britain’s then new terror weapon. The first ever tanks, built to overcome the terrain that ordinary military vehicles could not pass, were unleashed onto the battlefield for the first time during the battle of Flers-Courcelette on September 15, 1916
Lt. Col. George S. Patton, Jr., 1st Tank Battalion, and a French Renault tank, summer 1918. He was officially assigned to develop a tank programme in the US Army on November 10, 1917. Shortly afterwards, he established the first Army Tank School at Bourg
During the First World War, this British tank was captured by the Germans. Incredible colourised tank photographs show in a new light the devastating power of some of history’s early armoured vehicles and the brave pioneers who first used these revolutionary vehicles
A German A7V Sturmpanzerwagen in Roye, France on March 21, 1918. The advancement of tanks during the First World War was a response to the draw that had developed on the Western Front
The fascinating photos were expertly colourised by electrician, Royston Leonard (55), from Cardiff, Wales, who said that adding colour to the pictures would modernise them.
‘Tanks are a part of modern armies the world over – this set shows them right at the beginning when they were first used in battle,’ he said.
‘We see the change on the battle field from old style war, to a fast moving one, changing warfare forever.’
The advancement of tanks during the First World War was a response to the draw that had developed on the Western Front.
Prior to the war, which lasted for four years between July 28, 1914 and November 11, 1918, motorised vehicles were still relatively uncommon, and their use on the battlefield was initially restricted, especially with heavier vehicles.
This tank is ploughing its way through a trench and toward the German line near Saint Michel, France, 1918. The Royal Navy helped spearhead the development of the tank. There were two types of tanks, male and female versions. The male version had two quick firing 6-pounder naval guns attached while the female carried five machine guns
Infantry passing one of the new armoured cars on their way to the front line (1918), above. Plans for a vehicle that could overcome the arduous terrain had been considered during the early days of the war, but none had come to fruition. It was left to Winston Churchill, the First Lord of the Admiralty, to establish the Landships Committee in 1915, to tackle the stalemate
Tanks showing some of their abilities during King George V’s visit to the Army’s headquarters in France, in 1918. Stunning images illustrate the dynamic realities of the First World War, including British tanks seen crossing the trenches in Flanders, Belgium, and a long queue of soldiers lining behind a tank
British Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig started on July 12 with artillery barrages, and had planned to launch the offensive on July 31. He commanded the British Army when it achieved arguably its greatest victories, those over the Germans on the Western Front during the First World War (1914-18)
Another picture shows two tankmen in an open tank Renault ft-17 in France, 1918, and a tank ploughing its way through a trench and toward the German line near Saint Michel.
A British tank can be seen crossing the trenches in Flanders, Belgium, and a long queue of soldiers lining behind a First World War tank.
On August 23, 1914, the French Colonel Jean Baptiste Eugene Estienne, who created the French tank arm, declared ‘the victory will belong, in this war, to the one of the two belligerents who will be the first to succeed in mounting a 75-millimetre gun on a vehicle capable of moving in all types of terrain’.
Royston said: ‘The first tanks were slow and would break down constantly, which was hell for the crew, but they worked to turn the battle.
‘They did not know how to use them and it would take about a year after their first use to iron out problems with the tanks and their correct use on the battle field.’
In the First World War, tanks had first appeared at the Battle of Flers-Courcelette in September 1916. Tanks played an very important role during the war as they increased mobility on the Western Front and eventually broke the stalemate of trench warfare.