Topics in Chronicling America - Tanks in World War I

Tanks: New Weapons of War. “Hurdling trenches, crawling over shell craters, and walking through forests unhalted by intense gunfire, the tanks cannot be stopped by anything less than a direct hit from shells of considerable caliber,” reports The Ogden Standard of October 21, 1916, 4 p.m. City Edition. Read more about it!

The information and sample article links below provide access to a sampling of articles from historic newspapers that can be found in the Chronicling America: American Historic Newspapers digital collection (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/). Use the Suggested Search Terms and Dates to explore this topic further in Chronicling America.

Jump to: Sample Articles

Important Dates:

• September 15, 1916. The first British tanks, developed from American tractors, are sent into action.
• April, 1917. The first tanks developed by France are used.
• September 12, 1918. American tank units first enter combat at St. Mihiel.

Suggested Search Strategies:

• [Try the following terms in combination, proximity, or as phrases using Search Pages in Chronicling America.] tank, caterpillar, tractor, land cruiser
• It is important to use a specific date range if looking for articles for a particular event in order to narrow your results.

Sample Articles from Chronicling America:

• "First Picture of Destructive British "Tank" War Car," Evening Public Ledger (Philadelphia, PA), Sept. 19, 1916, Image 1, Page 1 , cols. 2-1.
• "To the Rescue in a Land Cruiser," The Ogden Standard (Ogden City, UT), October 21, 1918, 4 P.M. Edition, Page 19, Image 19, col. 6.
• "Seven French Tanks in Action," New-York Tribune (New York, NY) , July 8, 1917, Page 43, Image 43, col. 1.
• "Tanks Rate First Among New Weapons for War," The Washington Times (Washington, D.C.), August 12, 1917, Page 4, Image 4, col. 1-6.
• "Peaceful Tractor Evolves Into Tank," The Evening Missourian (Columbia, MO), March 30, 1918, Page 3, Image 3, col. 3-4.
• "German Tanks Have Land Cruisers Which Carry Flame Throwers," Evening Public Ledger (Philadelphia, PA), April 2, 1918, Postscript Edition, Page 7, Image 7, col. 2-3.
• "U.S. Tanks To Worry Germans," El Paso Herald (El Paso, TX), July 19, 1918, Home Edition, Page 3, Image 3, col. 3.
• "The Tank Road to Victory Opened," New-York Tribune (New York, NY), August 18, 1918, Page 8, Image 26, col. 1-4.
• "Learning to Treat 'em Rough," New-York Tribune (New York, NY), August 25, 1918, Page 8, Image 2, col. 1-8.
• "Tanks in Lead in First U.S. Drive on Foe," New-York Tribune (New York, NY), September 14, 1918, Page 1, Image 1, col. 5.