TANKSgiving – Tanks and Armored Cars 1919-1939
Another gallery from a visit to Bovington ~
Avery Abernethy, 20 November 2017
The tanks used in World War 1 were monstrous beasts that stood well over the ground. Most carried machine guns or at best very light cannons. After 1918 the industrial powers realized that anti-tank guns (and even anti-tank rifles) could easily knock out a WW1 era tank because of its thin armor, weak engine, slow speed and very high gun profile.
Much of the interwar period saw the development of Armored Cars and light tanks. Armored cars were much faster than the WW1 era tanks (especially on roads) and carried either similar or heavier guns than WW1 tanks. Thus the armored cars were faster, lower to the ground, less expensive to build, easier to maintain, and had more firepower than a WW1 tank.
Many armored cars were developed immediately after World War 1 through the early 1930s. As they developed, they became lower to the ground.
The development split into three directions.
In one direction the gun was removed and it became a scout car. An example is the Dingo Mark 3.
