In fact, this remarkable incident occurred during the First World War and can now be told after researchers pieced together the details from original newspaper articles of the period.

For the nine strong crew of the F41 Mark IV tank, it was their first combat in the new machines.

They were leading an attack, along with seven other tanks, launched early on the morning of August 22 1917, at the height of the Battle of Passchendaele.

Their target was a series of farm buildings which had been heavily fortified by the Germans but the machines swiftly ran into problems.

The entire Passchendaele campaign is remembered for the notoriously muddy conditions in which it was fought and seven of the machines became bogged down and destroyed.

A dramatic recreation of the siege of Fray Bentos during the Battle of Passchendaele.

The last tank, F41 - flippantly named Fray Bentos for the tinned meat firm - was able to stay on course until, as it approached one strongpoint, machine gun fire struck near the driver’s half closed visor, injuring both officers onboard, Captain Donald Richardson and Second Lieutenant George Hill.

Hill, who had been driving, fell, knocking the throttle and causing the tank to surge into a crater, where it became stuck.

It came to rest on a slope and, as it sank further into the mud, its two guns - fitted on either side - were rendered useless, one pointing to the sky, the other into the ground.

One of the crew, a private named Brady, went outside to unleash a beam designed to free tanks when they became stuck.

However, a nearby German position opened fire on the exposed tank - from F Battalion, the Tank Corps - killing him.

Another private, Trew, volunteered to try to get out, but Richardson did not allow it, and the siege of Fray Bentos ensued.

Shell and mortar fire rained down on the machine, and injuries mounted inside.

One gunner, Private Arthurs, was hit by shell splinters. The other gunner, Private Budd, was wounded when an attempt was made to restart the tank, causing it to slip. The movement caused one of the guns to strike the ground outside and the breach swung violently into him, crushing his ribs.

In a lull, another attempt was made to get out of the tank to try to free it, but it was discovered that Brady's body, and the heavy beam, had fallen across the main door, trapping the crew inside, as temperatures rose to around 30C.

However, the tank's position in the crater had at least made it hard for the German gunners to repeatedly score direct hits.

Meanwhile, the British crew were able to take the fight to the Germans, using one of their Lewis guns to break up two counterattacks being drawn up on the main British positions.

Richardson knew that eventually the British would shell the tank themselves to prevent it falling into German hands.

So after dark fell, one of the crew, Sgt Missen, volunteered to go back to the men's own lines to get word through that the machine was still manned.

The battle was still being fought and Richardson wanted to stay in no mans land in order to cause the enemy problems.

But that night, the Germans attacked. They were detected by Private Morrey, who opened fire with a Lewis gun. One German was able to open the door and was about to throw in a stick hand grenade, before he was shot by Richardson.

There were various attempts to blow up the tank with explosives, before the British were able to drive the Germans off with small arms fire.

Conditions in the tank worsened. Budd died of his injuries before dawn. Another soldier, Lance Cpl Binley, had part of his scalp removed by a shell splinter.

The men's water ran out, forcing them to start drinking from the tank's radiator.

Richardson, meanwhile, preserved morale by convincing his men they were hurting the enemy.

They did so again, when they saw a third German counterattack being formed for an attack on the main British positions.

This time, they were unable to bring the Lewis gun to bear, so sniped with the rifle, causing the group to scatter.

Their intervention, though, did bring a fresh round of machine gun and mortar fire and - after nightfall - another assault on the tank.

The crew saw the men approach from the direction of the British lines and did not know whether they were friend or foe. But a flare, fired from the British lines, showed that the men, who had closed to within 20 yards of the tank, were German.

Machine gun fire from the British positions helped drive off the attack and, from then on, regular flares were put up, to discourage further assaults.

As the siege continued through the third day, injuries continued. Trew's face was slashed by shrapnel, as he attempted to peer out of the tank. Only one of the crew, Morrey, was uninjured.

Rations had been exhausted and ammunition for the revolvers, rifle and Lewis guns were running low.

After a discussion with Hill, Richardson decided the crew should attempt to escape.

So after darkness fell on the third night, the men slipped out of the battered hulk.

The Germans did not interfere and the surviving men all made it safely back to their own lines, around 72 hours after they had began the assault.

When they got back to the British position, Richardson discovered that his men had brought their Lewis guns with them, as standing orders demanded.

The research was conducted by findmypast.co.uk, the family history website.

Debra Chatfield, a historian involved in the project, said: “At this point in the First World War, tank technology and warfare was incredibly new.

"Captain Richardson and Second Lieutenant Hill led a charge of eight tanks and theirs was the only one that survived attack by German artillery.

“It is astonishing that they managed to survive the initial attack, let alone 72 hours of attacks from German troops, especially when you consider that they only had basic weapons to defend themselves. The tank crew became the most decorated of the whole First World War, and it would seem, rightly so.

"This is just one example of the amazing bravery shown by so many during the First World War.”

The story also highlights the difficulties faced by early tank crews and how the new machines were not simply the "knock out" weapon many had hoped they would be.

Richardson and Hill were awarded the Military Cross, while the rest received other decorations.

Richardson had been a wholesale grocer in Nottingham before the war and held the agency for Fray Bentos canned meat. Later in the war, he fought at the Battle of Cambrai, in a tank named Fray Bentos II. That tank was put out of action and captured by the Germans, who took it to Berlin, where it was put on display.

His son served in the Royal Tank Regiment in the Second World War and was killed at El Alamein.