As a result of demonstrations given with the first experimental model, the firm of Morris Commercial Cars were asked to make a number of these small tanks which were later christened tank ettes. The main idea was to endeavour to use commercial com ponents as far as possible so as to reduce the cost and thus enable large numbers to be used. The first models had many defects but they served to launch the idea and to raise interest in this new development. A little later the firm of Carden Loyd Tractors came forward with proposals which they had had in mind for some time. Their original idea was a low unarmoured one man machine but this proved to be impracticable and they then developed an armoured two man tankette. Their early models had many me chanical defects but these were gradually overcome and later models were very successful. At the end of 1927 the term tankette was replaced by light tank and the Vickers tank was renamed as a medium tank. In their present form these light tanks weigh about 2 tons and cost about 1500. They can travel 20 m.p.h. on good going, can cross most small ditches and natural obstacles, can move along tracks and pass between trees in some woods.
Mechanized Warfare.—From the moment that tanks arrived in France during the World War there arose a demand from other arms for assistance from vehicles of this nature with track trans mission. Artillerymen required track vehicles for the forward transport of some of their guns, the administrative services re quired track vehicles to enable them to maintain supplies across shell stricken areas, and the whole subject was grouped rather loosely under the name of mechanical warfare. The various ways in which mechanically propelled vehicles can be used to assist an army can be divided, for the sake of clearness in discussion, into strategical, tactical and administrative mechanization.
Strategical mechanization is used to enable a commander to move troops over long distances with great rapidity, e.g., if the necessary vehicles are available, a complete Division can be moved m. in 24 hours, and if the vehicles are of a cross country type, the move may be carried out across country where the enemy has endeavoured to impede progress by the use of exten sive demolitions.
Tactical mechanization is used to enable the men to fight on the move and behind armour on the battle field, e.g., the tank, the armoured car, and the gun on a self-propelled mounting.
Administrative mechanization is used to assist the administra tive services in several ways, e.g., mechanized artillery need far less weight and bulk in petrol than a corresponding unit in forage, and this greatly aids administration by reducing the demands on shipping. Vehicles with a cross country capacity may enable the Staff to feed troops over an area in which ordinary lorries and horses would be quite unable to cope with the work.
Considerable progress has already been made with strategical mechanization. For a long time attempts were made to use track vehicles for this purpose, and considerable difficulties were en countered, but more recently the six-wheel lorry was invented, and the development of this vehicle has overcome nearly all the troubles. In the British army a start has already been made in mechanizing the fii st line transport of infantry battalions with these vehicles, and there is every chance of their commercial employment, which means that the army will be able to draw on civilian resources for mobilization. This would pave the way for a considerable extension in mechanizing first line transport, and thus overcome the main objection to strategical mechanization, for although there has never been any great difficulty in collect ing buses and lorries for the rapid transport of dismounted men, the movement of their first line transport has represented a serious difficulty in the past. By the use of six-wheel lorries, the first line transport can travel with the buses, and the whole unit can move considerable distances at high speed. There are, of course, some forms of tactical mechanization which bring with them strategical mobility, but the necessity of carrying armour reduces this mobility in a large degree. Strategical mechanization offers very considerable advantages to the commander of a force. It renders no actual assistance to the infantryman in an attack on the battlefield, but it may enable a commander to move one or more infantry divisions with great rapidity to the flank or rear of the enemy position and so achieve his object without the use of any armoured fighting vehicles at all.
Administrative mechanization is closely wrapped up with the progress that is being made with strategical mechanization. The six-wheel lorry brings with it a great saving in financial expendi ture in peace time, and in war it would enable a large reduction to be made in the tonnage which has to be transported by rail or sea to maintain a force, compared with the amount that would be required for a similar force using horse transport, because the necessary quantities of petrol and oil would be far smaller in both weight and bulk than the corresponding amounts in forage. In addition, a commander with an adequate number of six-wheel lorries at his disposal can face an advance through an area over which an enemy has retreated and demolished all communication, with the knowledge that he will be able to maintain his troops with the necessary supplies and munitions.