<p>The tank was born to break the deadlock of World War I's Western Front, where trench-based defence in depth, barbed wire, machine guns and artillery, led to immense loss of life. Initially dogged by mechanical unreliability and early misuse, post-First World War development of technology and tactics saw the Germans open World War II with the devastating Blitzkrieg in which armoured divisions led the way. Tanks dominated the battlefields' of W...