US Medium Tanks of the 1920s

I recently came across some archival footage which gives some glimpses of some quite rare US medium tanks developed in the 1920s. The footage features the M1921, the T2 Medium Tank and a Christie Tank.

*An M1921 Medium Tank (US National Archives)*

The US tank arm subsequently abandoned the various medium tank designs they’d been working on and shifted towards cheaper light tanks. Always special finding archival footage, hope you enjoy the video.

Check out our other videos on early tank here

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Assembling the Browning M1917

We recently reached 7,000 subscribers (thanks guys) so what better way to celebrate than some original archival footage of the Browning M1917 in action.

111-h-1162-r3_5Mbps reel 2_Trim Browning M1917 assembly & firing_Moment.jpg — M1917 in action (US National Archives)

I found the footage in the US National Archives’ digitised collection when doing some research. It was filmed in April 1918 by the US Army Signal Corps.

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Bibliography

Manufacture of Ordnance Materiel 1917-1918, US Army Signal Corps, US National Archives’, (source)

Tank vs Building (1917)

I’m this short video a British MkIV heavy tank ploughs through a series of wooden buildings during a 1917 demonstration.

The tank crashes into the first building

The MkIV was a ‘female’, machine gun-armed, tank that weighed in at around 27 tons. Designed to support infantry, it had a top speed of just 4mph.

The tank pushes over and crushes another wooden-framed building

In this footage the tank does not have its guns mounted as it runs through a succession of wooden framed builds, as British and American officers and men look on.

Don’t forget to check out our series on World War One tanks here.

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Car vs Train (1919)

Following on from last week’s episode on massive US Railway Guns, I thought we’d stay with the railroad/railway theme but stepping away from our figurative Armourer’s Bench for a moment to appreciate some really incredible contemporary footage.

While I was doing research for our earlier video on the M1918 Ford Light Tank, I came across this amazing footage filmed by the Ford Motor Company in 1919. It shows what appears to be a Ford Model T Touring car being hit by a train. The result, as expected, is carnage.

The footage, which is clearly staged, was filmed for a traffic safety film by Ford in 1919. While the scenario might be staged, the results certainly are not.

If you enjoyed the video and this article please consider supporting our work here. We have some great new perks available for Patreon Supporters.

Bibliography:

Traffic Safety and Ford Automobiles, US National Archives, (source)

How Many Men Does it Take to Flip a Tank?

fc-fc-2610_Trim_Moment1 — Ford employees attempt to flip over an M1918 Light Tank

While I was doing some research in the US National Archives’ catalogue, for footage of the Ford M1918 Light Tank, I came across this snippet of film. As we saw in our earlier video on the M1918 the tank struggled to deal with some terrain. In this video we see that at one point the prototype 3-ton tank managed to flip over completely! Which begs the question, how many men does it take to flip a tank?

Any guesses?

fc-fc-2610_Trim_Moment3 — A still of the front of the upside down tank

….The answer appears to be around 20! The tank was relatively light, weighing in at 3 tons, but I still don’t think think I would have been one of them men pulling the tank’s track towards them!

If you’d like to know more about the Ford M1918 Light Tank you can find our full video and article on its history here.

Sources:

Original footage found here: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7419865

Music: New York Blues – Pietro Frosini (1917) https://www.loc.gov/item/varsrs.e50454/

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