I’m specifically looking at the British use of tanks on the Western Front throughout the war, and would like to learn more of the first hand experiences of tank crews or infantry that fought alongside them.
I have used the Imperial War Museums online collection to a good extent but a lot of their sources that look useful have a great big “Media not available online” stamp. Also worth pointing out is that I’m in the UK.
Thanks for any help!
Are you a member of a university? If you are, then Hathitrust is a valuable website that contains many complete scans of primary sources. It has lots of memoirs by WWI tank crews.
Here are just a few you can find on Hathitrust:
D.G. Browne, The Tank in Action
Albert Stern, Tanks, 1914-1918: The Log-Book of a Pioneer
William Watson, A Company of Tanks
Another good memoirs (though not on Hathitrust) is D.E. Hickey's Rolling Into Action: Memoirs of a Tank Corps Section Commander.
I also highly recommend Wilfred Bion's War Memoirs. Bion was a very famous postwar psychologist who commanded a tank section during the war and produced an excellent account of his experiences, which is fairly easy to find given his later fame. Best of luck in your research!