The World’s First Tank-on-Tank Battle Foreshadowed Armored Wars to Come

By Sebastien Roblin,The National Interest

One hundred years ago, on the evening of April 23, 1918, a thousand German artillery pieces unleashed high-explosive shells and mustard gas around the French town of Villers-Bretonneux. Imperial Germany had launching a last-ditch Spring Offensive in the sector around Amiens in an attempt to defeat French and British forces before U.S. reinforcements could tilt the balance of power against them.

The French village had the misfortune of being situated on a high plateau which offered a good observation point for bombardment of Amiens. British and Australian troops had repelled an initial German attack in the first week of April after a six-day battle.

The morning of April 24, three shadowy shapes loomed out of the fog of dust and poisonous gases kicked up by the bombardment. Three strange rhombus-shaped behemoths made of brutally angular dark grey armor plates riveted together at the seams emerged from the murk, spitting bullets and cannon shells.

This was an A7V, Germany’s first home-built tank.

The keels of the 36-ton vehicles were armored in 30 millimeter of steel and resembled the ironclad warships of the U.S. Civil War. A stubby 57-millimeter cannon protruded from the monster’s prow, while three MG08 Maxim machine guns poked from each side of its seven-meter-long hull. The top-heavy vehicles were prone to tipping over, and could manage nine miles per hour on roads, or half that cross-country.

The lead A7V was named Nixe (“Mermaid”) and she was commanded by 41-year-old 2nd Lt. Wilhelm Biltz, an accomplished chemistry professor in civilian life. Biltz had to manage a standard crew of 18 inside the cramped vehicle. Rolling ahead alongside attacking infantry, Biltz’s vehicle destroyed several Australian machine gun nests and overran infantry entrenchments.

Altogether 13 A7Vs in various sectors were deployed to various sectors in support of four German infantry divisions leading the morning assault. They overran a five-mile wide gap held by the Australian 8th Division and seized Villers-Brettoneux.