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(The History of the tank in the First World War)
By Major Clough Williams-Ellis MC and A Williams-Ellis
Reviewed by Andy Callan
Originally published as early as 1919, in the "Country Life" series of Military Histories (!!!) this enterprising reprint by the Military Library Research Service has all the freshness of the first edition. The authors' enthusiasm and pride in this British invention are apparent from the first page to the last and their self deprecating modesty in the foreword is misplaced. Because for something published within twelve months of the end of the war this is as good a single volume history of the Tank Corps as anyone could have been expected to produce.
The coverage is broad indeed, from the history and evolution of the early tanks, through training to operations and the often harsh tactical lessons that had to be learned and re-learned as the Germans developed their counter measures to this revolutionary weapon. Accounts of pre-action and after-action activities are not neglected alongside detailed accounts of tanks in battle that are clearly informed by interviews with eyewitnesses. A minor criticism is that these would have benefited from the addition of some extra maps to this reprint. As it is, the diligent reader will have to refer to other sources to help make sense of the battle narratives.
The introduction, by the wartime commanding officer of the Tank Corps, is a fascinating insight into the initial thoughts of a WW1 general who (uniquely) chose to personally lead his men into battle (at Cambrai). He is reluctant to be drawn into any grand conclusions about the overall contribution made by the Corps, judging things
"not yet sufficiently remote in time either to be clear themselves, or to be distinctly placed in a picture itself still
unclear".
Nevertheless, he does draw an analogy with developments in pre-war rugby tactics and if the following words are somewhat redolent of Blackadder's General Melchitt then they are, nonetheless, an authentic voice from their time.
"Whether the parallel of the Tank Corps to the extra three-quarter is a completely true one history will record in due season. What, however, we may claim is that the
fourth three-quarter, after a nervous start, in which perhaps he was sometimes out of his place, nevertheless on more than one occasion got away unmarked ; and that he ran straight even when he was being heavily tackled and drew the oppostion for his side ; that he went down well to the rushes of the German forwards ; and that, finally, he more than once handled the ball in the great combined run which took his team from within its own twenty-five over the opponent's goal
line".
By contrast, the authors draw confident conclusions about the tank's role in the Allied victory and its value in future wars. But it is the book's closing words which are perhaps the most prescient (and poignant) :-
"Within the period of a generation, a time may again come when we shall have to defend our lives and liberties. We lead the world in the design and manufacture of tanks. Let us not abandon that lead in the production and use of a vital weapon...The tanks are accustomed to win. Do not let us throw away a fine tradition of victory.
Of all that in our agony of striving we gained by the way, let us lose nothing".
A valuable reprint of a rare book. Highly recommended.
The Tank Corps
by Major Clough Williams-Ellis & A Williams-Ellis
Published by Military Library Research Service 2004
ISBN 12-9049951-12-0
Price £30.00
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