Description
Tanks were developed by the British Army during World War I and first used in combat during the Somme offensive in September 1916. Although the earliest tanks were incredibly slow (four miles per hour), cumbersome, and unreliable, the first sight of these moving, metal behemoths caused panic and alarm in the German Army. This humorous poster shows a professor half human, half tank teaching a British soldier the mechanics of the new land battleship. As tank technology continued to evolve, posters like this were created to lure young, mechanically-minded men into the newly-established British Tank Corps where they learned to operate, maintain, and, most importantly, improve this new form of war technology.
Details
- Work Date:
- 1919
- Medium:
- color lithograph
- Credit Line:
- Gift of Peter and Kathleen Wick, 1992 Conserved through the generosity of Thomas F. Aaron