WW1HeavyHeavy TankUnited Kingdom

Mark III

In service 1917 - 1918

A training-only batch of fifty rhomboids built between the Mark II and the much-improved Mark IV.

Built byMetropolitan Carriage, Wagon and Finance Company

Photograph pending. No clearly licensed photograph of this vehicle was found.

Development history

The Mark III was ordered alongside the Mark II as an interim type while the Mark IV was designed. Fifty were built with thicker sponson plating intended but rarely fitted, and the type was used almost entirely for crew training at Bovington and Wool rather than at the front. Its value was in producing trained crews for the Mark IV battalions that fought at Messines and Cambrai. No complete Mark III survives.

Variants

One canonical record, 2 recorded variants.

  1. Mark III Male

    1917

    Two 6-pdr guns in the sponsons, as on the Mark I and II.

  2. Mark III Female

    1917

    Machine-gun sponsons in place of the 6-pdrs, used for training crews.

Notable actions

  • Training service only