12/05/2026
A Mark II ‘female’ tank pictured during incline trials near Merlimont, France on May 1, 1917. The tank is equipped with wooden “spuds” on the tracks for weight distribution and traction.
These photos were taking during trials in anticipation of Operation Hush, a rather interesting Allied amphibious operation planned to occur along the Belgian coast between Nieuport on the Yser River and Middelkerke further up the shoreline during the second half of 1917.
The operation called for a seaborne landing of five British infantry divisions (supported by tanks) in a three-pronged assault behind German lines along the Yser. It was to coincide with advances made simultaneously during the Allied offensive in Ypres (what became the Battle of Passchendaele).
The tanks, along with the infantry and necessary equipment and weaponry, were to be landed on the beaches between Westende and Middelkerke via specially-designed pontoons towed by Royal Navy monitors. The landing beaches featured a concrete seawall with an incline of approximately 30° over which the tanks would have to climb (hence the field tests in these photos), and ramps and the wooden “spuds” would help them accomplish this. The “spuds” in particular were to help the tanks gain better traction on the beach.
The combined tank-infantry force would subsequently push inland to establish a beachhead and destroy heavy German artillery positioned in the area. This effort would be supported by British infantry pushing eastward from Nieuport through Westende to link up with the landing force, whereupon a unified front would be established to push deeper behind German lines.
As mentioned above the operation was predicted heavily on developments of the Ypres offensive, particularly that the British Fifth Army pushing across the Yser reached a predetermined area stretching between Roeselare and Torhout. Evidently the situation in Ypres did not go as planned and the amphibious operation was cancelled before it ever occurred.
