On April 30, the Rock Island Arsenal hosted a grand opening ribbon-cutting ceremony to display its Mark VIII Liberty Tank. For this historic event, one of three remaining Mark VIII tanks returned to where it was born and originally manufactured between 1919 and 1920.
Maj. Gen. David Wilson, commanding general of the U.S. Army Sustainment Command, said the restoration was monumental. “It is entirely an industrial marvel that was done with this vehicle,” he said. He said the Joint Manufacturing and Technology Center should have been leading the restoration because they essentially built the tank for the first time.
Gregory Lupton, Deputy to the Commander of the JMTC, described some of the challenges that presented themselves when trying to restore it to its former glory. “When we received this Liberty Mark VIII, it was in bad shape,” he said. The tank had a lot of work that needed to be done: rusty floors that had to be taken care of, numerous components that had to be removed, and hazardous lead paint that needed attention.
The Mark VIII Liberty Tank, also known as the “International” tank, was a result of the combined efforts of the United States, Britain, and France in World War I. Although the type never saw action because the war ended first, during the 1920s, it would become an essential training vehicle for the new tank corps of the U.S. Army. The interior was compartmentalized and the crew compartment separated from the engine. The tank was armed with two 57mm guns and five M1917 Browning machine guns.
John Adams-Graf, a military vehicles historian, evaluated the important place that this tank occupied in the history of armored vehicles. The tank represented one important milestone on the way of the U.S. Army’s commitment to creating a heavy tank component and also one of the first examples of international cooperation in the development of military weapons.
The renovation, which kicked off in 2021, needed a pretty dedicated team from the JMTC: “We had a lot of folks that were involved in renovating the tank, engineering, machinists, apprentices, our welders, and our fabrication shop,” noted Jamie Medinger, who serves as a division chief and Base Operations program manager at JMTC. Restoring the tank to its former glory finally, the team dealt with such problems as rust, lead paint, and missing components, among many others.
The significance this tank holds to the community is defined by Patrick Allie, director of the Rock Island Arsenal Museum. “This connects the Quad Cities citizens who built this tank in 1919 to the Quad Cities citizens that stepped forward to refurbish this tank,” he went on to say. After a year of restoration, the tank now symbolizes the landmark heritage of substantial military manufacturing within the region.
The Mark VIII Liberty Tank sits now permanently displayed at the corner of Rodman and Gillespie Avenues on Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois. This will serve as a reminder of the American people’s truly incredible industrial and military abilities.