As a result the defense was stronger than just about anything that could be thrown against it, so much so that infantrymen spent most of their time cowering in trenches and bunkers. Artillery and machine guns, plentiful on both sides, were particularly effective against the main form of offense-the infantryman. The tank was invented to break the stalemate of trench warfare on World War I's European battlefields. This was the battle of Flers-Courcelette, and the age of the tank had arrived. It was like nothing they'd ever seen before. Giant metal-covered vehicles, as large as a barn, were slowly advancing towards their position, moving forward in a caterpillar-like motion and spitting cannon and machine gun fire as they came.
One hundred years ago today, on September 15th 1916, German soldiers looked out over the tops of their trenches and got a tremendous shock.
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