A MUSEUM has received a unique artefact linked to the history of the world's first ever tank battles.

A tank crew ‘splatter’ face mask belonging to Corporal Walter H Stickler, who served in the crew of a Mark IV tank at the Battle of Cambrai during the First World War, has been donated to The Tank Museum, in Bovington.

At 6:20am on Tuesday November 20, 1917, the world’s first combined arms battle involving tanks took place at Cambrai in France.

It was during this battle that ‘splatter’ masks were first used, designed to protect tank crewS from the hot metal shrapnel caused by enemy fire.

Stickler Tank Crew Face Mask Stickler Tank Crew Face Mask (Image: The Tank Museum) Corporal Stickler was a gunner in one of the Mark IV tanks in the battle and received the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) for his part in the action.

He was awarded the medal for 'conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty' in an operation near Marcoing on November 20, 1917.

His tank came under fire of an enemy field battery at a range of 100 yards, yer undeterred, he continued to fire his 6-pndr gun, despite the fact that the tank had received a direct hit and was in flames.

Corporal Stickler took out an enemy gun whilst surrounded by the inferno of his burning tank, setting a 'splendid example to his crew,' the citation for his medal read.

Stuart Wheeler, historian at The Tank Museum said: “Donated items like this are important in helping us understand what conditions were like inside the first tanks used in battle, as well as telling the personal stories of the men who served in them.

"The narrow eye slits and chainmail would have added a medieval menace to what was already a de-humanising experience.”

Visitors to The Tank Museum in Bovington can see a ‘splatter’ mask belonging to Sydney Hadley, a commander in a Mark V tank during the second Battle of Cambrai in 1918, in ‘Tank Men’, one of the Museum’s powerful exhibitions which bring the story of tanks and tank crews to life.