The Fort George G. Meade Museum will be going global when the Discovery Military Channel 13-part series "Weaponology" episode "Tanks" airs April 9.

A crew from Flashback Television Limited, a British company, visited the museum Feb. 10 to film segments for the upcoming episode using a Mark VIII tank and a M4A3 Sherman tank on display at the museum. The crew was able to interview Pierre Sprey, former civilian Pentagon weapons analyst, inside the Mark VIII and John Gibson "Gib" Semmes, tank commander during the Battle of the Bulge and other World War II operations, next to the Sherman.

Jim Greayer, director of the episode, said the team found the Mark VIII located here by searching the Internet. He added that approximately 70 percent of the filming is done in the United States. He said museums are usually very receptive to helping with the filming.

Barbara Taylor, museum exhibits specialist at the Fort George G. Meade Museum, said the Mark VIII is one of the showpieces of the collection.

"The Mark VIII has always been here," she said. The Army's tank training school was located at Fort Meade from 1919 until 1932 when it relocated to Fort Benning, Ga. The school was later relocated to Fort Knox, Ky.

According to museum records, the Mark VIII tank, sometimes referred to as the Liberty Tank due to its 12-cylinder Liberty engine, was a joint venture of the United States and Great Britain. It was based on the British Mark series of tanks. The Mark VIII was designed to be an "anti-machinegun" weapon capable of traversing a battlefield scarred by trenches, shell holes and debris while clearing a path for the infantry to follow.

By the time the first of these tanks came off the assembly line, World War I had ended. One hundred were made and used in training exercises throughout the 1920s and into the 1930s.

Museum records indicate that the Mark VIII was manufactured in 1920 at Rock Island Arsenal, Ill. It was assigned to the 301st Tank Battalion (Heavy), later redesignated as the 17th Tank Battalion (Heavy). Throughout 1921-1922, Maj. Dwight D. Eisenhower commanded the unit.

Taylor said the Mark VIII was used as a training vehicle as far as she knows.

Sprey called the Mark VIII "a tremendous rarity," and said it is a "feather in the museum's cap."

He also said the tank is "beautifully displayed." Taylor said the concrete pad supporting the tank was poured and the tank was lifted into place by cranes and then the rest of the room was built around the display.

Semmes, a 2nd Armored Division tank corps officer who trained at Fort Meade, saw action at the Siegfried Line and during the Battle of the Bulge during World War II.

He commanded a platoon of five M4A3 Sherman tanks. The tank was called the "Easy Eight" and had a crew of five -- a commander, driver, assistant driver, gunner and loader.

Semmes said the Easy Eight had a bumpy ride and it was cold and noisy inside during the Battle of the Bulge (Dec. 16, 1944 to Jan. 7, 1945). He said the job of the Easy Eight was to stalk and kill German tanks.

According to Semmes, the German tanks had heavier armor and the Allied tanks were lighter and more maneuverable.

Greayer asked Semmes if he would prefer to be more heavily armored or quicker.

"I would prefer to be quick," Semmes answered. "If you're quick, you can maneuver."

Semmes said he killed Mark IV and V tanks, but never killed the much heavier Mark VI.

He said gunners would aim at the tank treads or aim a shot so it would ricochet and be able to pierce the thinner armor under the belly of the opposing tank.

Semmes said the tanks relied on the infantry for protection, especially at night. He said opposing infantry could easily sneak up on a tank under the cover of darkness.

"We did rely on the infantry more than you can imagine," he said.

Semmes stayed in the Army for five years and attained the rank of first lieutenant. He was wounded three times. He suffered two shrapnel wounds during the Battle of the Bulge and suffered a third wound in action at the Rhine River.

The third wound was inflicted by a wooden bullet. Semmes said the bullet ricocheted off of a tank and struck him in the face. He said the use of wooden bullets showed that the Germans were low on supplies and ammunition.

Semmes said during his time in command he lost two men: Sgt. Tom Nabb from Georgia, one of his tank commanders, and a young man who had only been with the unit for about a week when he died on the Elbe River in Semmes' last battle.