British Mark I male tank Somme 25 September 1916

''The Tanks That Broke the Ranks Out in Picardy'' (also known by the shorter title of ''The Tanks That Broke the Ranks'') is a

1916 Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that had been stored and cooled. * ...

song written jointly by

Harry Castling Henry Castling (19 April 1865 – 26 December 1933) was an English lyricist of music hall songs. Biography Castling was born in Newington, London, the son of a street musician. He began writing songs in the 1890s, often collaborating on both ...

and Harry Carlton.

Overview

The song celebrated the introduction of the

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...

which was first used by the British in 1916 as part of the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...

. The song tells the story of a brigade of tanks on the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

, passing obstacles with ease. It references many prominent German military leaders of the day, including Kaiser Wilhelm,

Alfred von Tirpitz Alfred Peter Friedrich von Tirpitz (19 March 1849 – 6 March 1930) was a German grand admiral, Secretary of State of the German Imperial Naval Office, the powerful administrative branch of the German Imperial Navy from 1897 until 1916. Prussi ...

Paul von Hindenburg Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg (; abbreviated ; 2 October 1847 – 2 August 1934) was a German field marshal and statesman who led the Imperial German Army during World War I and later became President of Germany fro ...

and Prince Wilhelm. It is written to the jaunty tune of a music hall hit of a few years earlier, " The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo". The song was popular during

Christmas pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

performances at the end of 1916.

References

External links

1916 recording of the song
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tanks That Broke the Ranks Out in Picardy 1916 songs British songs Songs of World War I Songs about France Songs about Wilhelm II