On 15th September 1916 at Flers-Courcelette a new weapon appeared on the battlefields of the Western Front - the tank. The 'male' version carried two 6-pdr naval guns and 4 Hotchkiss machine guns.
The Mark 1 was the first tracked armoured fighting vehicle to go into production and was a direct development of the experimental tank 'Mother' which was built and tested in the winter of 1915-1916. The type first saw action at the battle of Flers-Courcelette on 15th September 1916, but the action was not as great a success as had been hoped due to the difficult terrain and the crews' inexperience. the armament was fitted in side sponsons to maintain a low centre of gravity, the Male tank mounting two 6-pdr. naval guns and four Hotchkiss machine guns while the Female having four Vickers and one Hotchkiss gun. Production totalled 150. This model is based on the example on display in the Tank Museum at Bovington in Dorset.