Part 3/11:
Prior to the war, factories specializing in agricultural machinery, such as Holt and other firms producing traction engines, had developed tracked vehicles powered by diesel engines. These existing technologies demonstrated that tracked vehicles could cross difficult terrain—an essential feature for battlefield vehicles.
Ernest Swinton, a British military officer and war correspondent, was instrumental in advocating for a new type of armored vehicle. From May 1915 onward, Swinton and his team discussed the need for machines capable of supporting infantry, transporting soldiers, and defeating machine gun nests. Initial ideas included small, heavily armed vehicles designed to traverse the barbed wire and debris-ridden landscapes of the Western Front.