The Mark VIII ‘Liberty’ Heavy Tank was a joint venture between the United States and the United Kingdom. This mild steel prototype was assembled at the Locomobile Company of America of Bridgeport, Connecticut, and tested in October 1918. (US National Archives)
It is, as several writers have commented, somewhat ironic that the nation that produced the most tanks in World War II and which provided much of the technology that underpinned the first steps into armoured warfare was so slow in adopting the tank itself. The early histor\ of US armour is a story full of missed opportunities and, at times, almost comic incompetence, but also one of innovation, bravery and drama. Between 1917 and 1920 there were two parallel, yet quite distinct, aspects to the story: the better-known American Expeditionary Force (AEF) Tank Corps, established in France and equipped with British and French tanks, and the less well-known US Tank Corps. It is this latter organisation and the wider story of tanks in the United States from 1917 until 1920 that is the subject of this Armour in Profile.