THE FIRST TANK CREWS: The Lives of the Tankmen Who Fought at the Battle of Flers Courcelette - 15 September 1916

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Drawing on official records, contemporary newspaper reports, and family memories, provides insight into the tankmen who took the first tanks into action on the Somme battlefield in September 1916. Covers their recruitment, scant training, rapid deployment, and their premature use in battle in the first use of tanks on the battlefield. He then traces their inter-connected lives over the next two years as tanks played a key role in the defeat of the Germany Army in 1918. He also reveals the story of their return to civilian life and their often difficult struggle to build a family life. Includes 100 b/w photos and 16 color maps.