On This Day: September 6th - The Day of Little Willie

Some would say it was a big day for military history. This is the day that "Little Willie" came forth in 1915. What is Little Willie you might be asking? Little Willie was the first tank to ever roll on belt. It was produced in England and it weighed a whopping fourteen tons. So really, Little Willie wasn't so little. Of course Little Willie had some issues getting jammed in ditches and only moving two to three miles per hour but it would pave the way for more advanced tanks. So why would anyone think of creating one of these things? Well, during World War One much of the battles took place in trenches where navigating vehicles wasn't exactly easy. So the British said "hey!", why don't we invent an armored vehicle that can just ram right on through to the enemies' territory?

So what came after Little Willie was revealed on September 6th, 1915 you might ask? A second prototype of a tank and almost equally appealing tank named "Big Willie". It took a year longer before these tanks were actually ready to be used in battle. After touching up some details, the British introduced the Mark I line of tanks. The first battle that a Mark I was used in was the First Battle of the Somme. From this point on, people saw the prospect that tanks had to offer during war and they became more widespread. This is historically important because Tanks would later revolutionize the military, war and how war is fought.

"First tank produced." 2008. The History Channel website. 13 Sep 2008, 06:36 http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=52847.