Overview and place in the British program
The Tank, Mark II was a British heavy rhomboid vehicle derived from the Mark I and built primarily for training. The published defining distinction is that some of these training machines were sent into combat during the spring of 1917. Its outward similarity to an operational heavy tank cannot obscure the difference between its intended role and its resistance to enemy fire. Sources
Published accounts describe a production total of fifty: twenty-five Male tanks built by Foster & Co. and twenty-five Female tanks built by Metropolitan. Male and Female identify weapon arrangements, not different generations of hull design. The Tank Museum source cited in the accounts record twenty-six Mark IIs sent to France for Arras. Production, deployment, and actual participation in an engagement remains separate quantities. Sources
Mark II’s emergency combat use in 1917 is central to its history. The 1916 development chronology is distinct from that service record and from later tanks with similar designations. Sources
Why a training tank went to war
The Mark II emerged while Britain was expanding its tank forces after the Mark I’s first operations. Crews needed vehicles for instruction, units needed practice, and the improved combat design was not yet available in sufficient numbers. Training capacity and the supply of battle-ready tanks were related problems, but solving the first did not automatically solve the second. Sources
The account sets Arras within the Allied spring offensive of 1917 and describes British efforts to improve artillery, infantry, and tank cooperation. Tanks remained sensitive to ground conditions and mechanical readiness. The Mark IV’s arrival could not immediately fill every need, and Mark IIs became a short-term substitute in the field. Sources
The precise contract and month-by-month build sequence remains less securely established than the overall fifty-tank total. Later use of the surviving Mark II as a supply vehicle is documented separately: removal of weapons and the fitting of supply hatches describe a subsequent role, not the vehicle’s initial armament or proof of a large standardized conversion program. Sources
Hull, protection, and armament
The Mark II retained the rhomboid track arrangement associated with the first British heavy tanks. Its weapons were mounted in projecting side sponsons rather than a turret. This arrangement offered useful fire to the flanks but required the tank’s movement and heading to bring particular weapons to bear. Its general layout remained close to the Mark I rather than providing a wholly new answer to steering and crew workload. Sources
Descriptions of the Mark II as unarmored refer to its training construction and inadequate or unhardened protective plate, not to the literal absence of a metal hull. Accounts place the museum’s ten-millimeter figure beside collection notes emphasizing vulnerability. Plate thickness and ballistic quality are separate properties. Until a reliable material specification is established, the two cannot be combined into an assurance of combat protection. Sources
Male Mark IIs carried 6-pounder guns with machine guns, while Female tanks used machine-gun armament. Exact fittings, ammunition allowances, and sights varied or remain uncertain. The preserved museum vehicle does not establish what every tank carried at Arras. Sources
Powertrain, mobility, and experimental use
The technical account associates the Mark II with the Mark I-era powertrain and crew organization. Sources
Low speed, difficult control, heat, and breakdowns limited what the vehicle could accomplish outside a training environment. The physical ability to carry weapons and move across rough ground did not eliminate the consequences of weak protection or an unreliable approach march. A nominal maximum speed is not a measure of the tank’s pace through damaged trenches under fire. Sources
A group of five reported powerplant or transmission testbeds appears in the available evidence. That is a significant lead for the history of later British tank control systems, but the account itself does not present it as fully verified. The identity of each test vehicle, the installation tested, and the connection to subsequent designs remains uncertain before the group is published as a settled Mark II production subvariant. Test use does not add to the fifty built as though it represented fifty plus five new tanks. Sources
Mark II descriptions commonly give a 105 hp engine and an eight-man crew; these are published representative figures rather than a complete specification for every training vehicle. Sources
Arras, Bullecourt, and subsequent service
The operational account concentrates on Arras and Bullecourt. It describes tanks delayed or prevented from performing their intended tasks by breakdowns, difficult approaches, and enemy fire. The supplied Australian War Memorial notes emphasize the consequences of using vulnerable training tanks in an assault that relied on them heavily. This is not merely a story of disappointing vehicle performance; it is also a warning about the relationship between a plan and the actual equipment available to execute it. Sources
The figures in the sources are not entirely consistent. Accounts record a National Army Museum caption referring to more than fifty Mark IIs at Arras, which conflicts with the usual fifty-built total and the Tank Museum’s twenty-six sent to France. The article does not choose a new total or resolve the disagreement by counting nearby Mark Is as Mark IIs. Sources
C21, C26, Lusitania, and the tank identified as number 790 are individual unresolved questions. A source ambiguity between Mark II and Mark III, or between two catalogue references, remains unresolved until the underlying record is checked. Sources
The surviving tank at Bovington is described in the cited sources as having been modified for supply work after its combat service. Its preserved form therefore incorporates a history of changing use and later display. The family article can explain that history without presenting every visible feature as its original combat configuration. The available evidence’s museum-survival statements are dated source claims, not an undated census of every surviving early tank. Sources
Significance and evidence priorities
The Mark II’s importance lies in the transition from the first British combat tanks to larger-scale, improved production. It provided training capacity and an emergency battlefield resource, but those purposes were not interchangeable. Its limited run allows individual technical and service histories to be followed in detail when the evidence supports them. Sources
The source photographs support a mixture of wartime movement, a ditched tank, a preserved vehicle, and a sponson detail. The photographs show particular exterior or interior details rather than constituting a complete technical survey. Sources
Photographs and image credits
Background reading and references. Each photograph has its own source and credit.
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Sources and further reading
Background reading and references. Each photograph has its own source and credit.
- [TM-Mark II] The Tank Museum, "Mark II."
- [TM-Arras] The Tank Museum, "Battle of Arras."
- [TM-Mark I] The Tank Museum, "Mark I."
- [TM-Mark IV] The Tank Museum, "Mark IV."
- [TM-Building Mark IV] The Tank Museum, "Building the Mark IV."
- [AWM-C2086181] Australian War Memorial, collection item C2086181, Mark II tank track plates
- [AWM-C2086141] Australian War Memorial, collection item C2086141, Mark II tank plate fragment
- [NAM-C21] National Army Museum, "British Mark II tank C21, Arras, 1917."
- [IWM-Q6418] Imperial War Museums, object Q 6418, "Iron Duke" moving through Arras, 10 April 1917
- [IWM-Q3184] Imperial War Museums, object Q 3184, "Lusitania" of 1st Tank Brigade at Arras, 10 April 1917
- [Commons-Q6298] Wikimedia Commons, "MarkIITanksC21C26BattleOfArras1917.jpg."
- [Commons-Q6301] Wikimedia Commons, "The Battle of Arras, April-May 1917 Q6301.jpg."
- [Commons-Ditched790] Wikimedia Commons, "Mk II Tank Ditched at Arras13 April1917.jpg."
- [Commons-FlyingScotsman] Wikimedia Commons, "Mark II (Flying Scotsman) front-right 2017 Bovington.jpg."
- [Commons-Vickers] Wikimedia Commons, "Vickers guns in Mk II tank Bovington Flickr 4774438792.jpg."
- Trackpads historical compilation, 2026 (unpublished).