About the book: 2000 / Supplement to the magazine "MODEL CONSTRUCTION" On September 15, 1916, they took part in the battle of the Somme River the first 32 British tanks. “The tank is moving along the main street of the village of Flers, and the British soldiers are following it in a good mood” - this message from the British pilot was widely circulated by the press. The new type of weapons, together with aviation and automatic weapons, was destined to radically change the nature of combat operations, the weapons system and the organization of armies. The Times war correspondent wrote in the article “Land Fleet”: “It is possible that before the war is over, both we and the Germans and our allies will build new monsters, larger and more terrible than these; it is possible that we will see battles of entire fleets land dreadnoughts and monitors; but there is no doubt that in this matter we are the first. Now this devilish machine belongs to us and only to us." However, very soon other countries began to lay claim to authorship in the creation of the tank, and in 1919 the question of priority was already dealt with by a commission of the British Parliament specially approved by the king. She established that the creators of the tank were, after all, the British..