Battle of Flers-Courcelette, British Mark I debut The battle of Flers-Courcelette, began on September 15, 1916. This battle was intended to reap the fruits of all the hard work that has been done so far. A victory could shorten the war; a failure could certainly prolong it. Over ten Divisions belonging to the British 4th Army and Reserve Army would advance together against German lines. It was an operation whose scale would have been unthinkable for the British Expeditionary Force just a year earlier. It also meant an important step forward in the way the British targeted an offensive, using armoured cars for the first time. The management of the tank has been the subject of numerous controversies, but it is evident that it was the result of the imperative need to have some kind of armored vehicle to be able to cross no man's land, sweep the wires and assault the German reds using the weapon he was carrying equipped. Many tests were carried out before the appearance of the Mark I ...