These gifts were unusualdecommissioned tanks.
Tanks were first rolled out in 1916, during the First World War.
Almost immediately they caught the publics imagination.
People were fascinated by this new piece of military hardware.
Its robust construction and seemingly impenetrable armor gave them a feeling of invincibility.
Mark VI Female tank in Ashford, Kent.
Photo credit:Peter Trimming/Wikimedia
The war was economically devastating to all parties involved.
It cost Britain$47 billionequivalent to $1.2 trillion in 2019s value.
All this money came from taxes, international loans, through the sale of war bonds and donations.
Raising money was an essential part of the war effort.
Only the tank in Ashford was spared.
Ashford’s tank was unique in another sense.
Unlike the other war-ravaged tanks, this one was never used in combat.
British tanks used during World War One were classified into male and female tanks.
Male tanks were those armed with six-pounder guns, having calibers ranging from 40 mm to 58 mm.
Female tanks were those equipped only with machine guns.
Mark VI Female tank in Ashford, Kent.
Photo credit:Ad Meskens/Wikimedia
Ashford’s tank was a Mark IV female training tank.
In 1929, the tank was converted into an electric substation.
The tank stopped being an electric substation in 1968.
The tank arriving at its destination.
