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It was not until 1916 that tanks were first introduced into battle - before that armoured cars were being used, which had none of the off-road capabilities of the tanks. It was the 15th of September, 1916, that the first British tanks were used in battle. The reasons they were used at this time were basically because of lots of testing, to make sure it would work, and also the fact that attack at the Somme was losing the power to keep going. Early that morning, tanks were sent out, with infantry behind, to raid the German trenches. Of the first attack, one tank, a D1, was sent out, and an enemy trench gained. The tank was then hit by a shell, and was disabled. Of the main attack, three of the six tanks got bogged, one broke down, and the other two continued towards the enemy line slowly, supporting the infantry, although the infantry did move ahead, away from the protection of the tanks. The tanks had been successful in the regard that they had scared the Germans, and they had not been disabled immediately, however some were disappointed. Concerns raised included the view slits - they were too thin to be able to see much while moving, and they were targets for enemy gunshot; and the exhaust - it made too much noise and the heat could have set alit the fuel tank. Another issue raised was the amount of mud that got into the treads and blocked them up. The first French use of tanks was on April 16, 1917, and went much worse than the English attack. While there were more tanks involved, many of them broke down, and those that did reach the enemy lines had no support. This resulted in them having to retreat again. Problems discovered here included the temperature - way too hot for any human to operate safely, as well as the vibrations - guns came out of their holdings. The French tanks also didn't have the ability to cross trenches as the British one could. Another problem (or success from the Germans point of view), was the discovery that the armour piercing bullet could go through the walls of tanks. As a result of these problems, several improvements were made - the modification of the tracks so as to not pick up as much mud, and the addition of an 'unditching beam', which was a piece of would, that would run along with the tracks when necessary to give it an extra bit of grip. Probably the biggest use of tanks within the war was the battle of Cambrai, in November 1917, when British infantry and 400 tanks crashed through the Hindenburg line with great success. The attack caught the Germans by surprise in the early morning, and first bombarded the line with shrapnel, gas, etc. Then the tanks began to move forward, crashing through the wire, and leading the infantry and cavalry through. The tanks used fascines to fill the trenches, and the men behind used these to cross. All was going well until the attack met the German Fortified position of Flesquieres, where the tanks could not continue, and many ran out of fuel. The cavalry was forced to retreat, and a week later the Germans counter-attacked, driving the British back to where they started. In the war the British ended up using 2 350 tanks of 13 types, the French 4 000 small vehicles, and the Germans only 20 tanks in total. The tanks saw success, but they were still very much in an experimental stage, and improved greatly later on.
During World War I (1914-1918) the British invented and implemented the first working tank. The name tank came when the British shipped them to battle's in crates marked "tanks" trying to cover up what they really were. The first battle in which tanks were implemented was the Battle of the Somme, on September 15, 1916, when the British used 49 tanks with disappointing results. Little more than a year later, however, in November 1917, 400 British tanks penetrated German lines near Cambrai, capturing 8000 of the enemy and 100 guns.