Technical specifications:

Weight: 27 to 28 tons

Length: 8 metres

Width: between 3.2 metres and 4.11 metres according to model (male tank or female tank)

Height: 2.49 metres

Engine: Daimler 105 h.p.

Fuel consumption: somewhat less than one gallon to the mile

Speed: between half and 5 km (3.1 miles) per hour according to where situated

Armament:

              Male tank: 2 short cannons and 3 Lewis machine guns

              Female tank: 5 Lewis machine guns

Crew: 8 men: a driver, a crew commander/front machine gunner, 2 gunners (cannons), 2 rear machine gunners, 2 speed regulators/ ammunition suppliers

Clearing of obstacles:   

             Height: about 1.35 metres

             Width: about 3 metres

             Range: a maximum of 38km.

Flesquières

Flesquières is a small village in the Cambrai area, some 70km south of Lille and 10km from Cambrai. It was the site of fierce fighting during the Great War.

Situated behind the largest fortification ever built in Europe, the Hindenburg line, and close to a natural ridge, Flesquières was an important German stronghold. As the terrain had not been heavily bombarded, Field Marshal Douglas Haig, Commander in Chief of the British forces, decided it was suitable the deployment of the tanks on a large scale south of Cambrai. Their mission was to break through the Hindenburg line to enable the infantry and cavalry to storm the area’s highest point: Bourlon wood.

November 20, 1971 was a victory for the Allies, but one place was still holding out: Flesquières. In the wake of the fighting, the village’s slopes were littered with tanks, and many young British soldiers lay dead. The Germans still occupied the village.

It was rebuilt under the direction of Pierre Leprince-Ringuet. Born in 1874, a graduate of the National School of Fine Arts and a winner of the Prix de Rome, he was a renowned architect =. He directed the construction of the theater and the Archbishop of Cambrai’s residence. In Flesquières itself, he undertook the construction of the chateau and the church. For this Marcel Gaumont co-operated with him. He was the artist who designed the reliefs’ entrance on the main and the statue of Notre Dame de Grâce.

In this village, the tank Mark IV also known as Deborah can be discovered. This impressive machine is a reminiscence of the past conflict. Deborah was a British tank destroyed during the 1917 fighting abandoned and gradually forgot. It was to come to life again in November 1998, thanks to a few dedicated historians.