Ref.: MBOX-72006
MK II Female British Tank, Arras Battle period, 1917 As the Mark I showed many limitations, the next batch of 50 tanks (25 females and 25 males) were built at Foster & Co and Metropolitan for training purposes only. There were some claims about their unhardened steel plates, but all seems to show that the Mk. IIs were regular Mk. Is with a few modification for training purposes. Some 20 were sent to France for advanced training and those left remained at the Wool training ground in Dorset. However in 1917 there weren’t enough tanks operational for the offensives planned in April 1917 near Arras, and twenty surviving Mk. Is and all the Mk. IIs remaining in Britain were put in action (despite some protests), suffering high casualties, mainly due to the new armor-piercing bullets the Germans employed.