THE MOSQUITO TANKS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 27, 26 October 1918, Page 3

THE MOSQUITO TANKS

TYPICAL EXPLOITS

ECONOMY IN MEN AND

MATERIAL

It is so iraro in the present war to see a war picture of the sort that is conjured up by popular imagination that the encampment of tho mosquito tanks is worth describing, writes the "Morning Post's" correspondent from the French front. Tents of all shapes and sizes have been pitched wherever there was a site. .The horses belonging' to a mounted unit which happeiw to bo quartered with 'he tanks are tethered in all sorts of unexpected places, and camp dogs, little friends oi nil the world, roam about at their pleasure. Hero audi-there are bivouac fires and men lying round them resting while a meal is being prepared.

The tanke had just come out of action, and the officer in command of them demonstrated to us their extreme flexibility. In front of them was a deep trench of about normal width, and a tank was put straight at it. The first time one sees a tank exhibiting its cross-country qualities it is an awe-inspiring spectacle.' As the forepart reaches the open gulf or the trench it real's up like a horse, until it appears' to be standing on its tail. Thero it seems to hesitate, and then suddenly it falls forward with a crash, pitches and tosses in reaction to the fall, and claws itself forward on tho from part of tho "caterpillar." One can easily appreciate the terror caused by it in action as it advances noisily and apparently invulnerable to the firing either of a hail of machine-gun bullets or shells from the quick-firing guns, To drive a tank across country, quite apart obviously from driving it in action, requires nerve and a certain amount of special training, as when it is taking obstacles there has to bo a nice adjustment of the clutch, and as an elementary knowledge of mechanics would show, the coupling of a fas! petrol motor to the f-ngine of the weight of a tank forces the driver to handle his motor delicately and with sympathy.

Trying the Machine. ■I-was given an opportunity, however, of verifying the statement that on ordinary ground it was exactly the same as driving a motor-car. The officer in charge invited me to try the machine for myself, and neither he nor the mechanics thought it necessary to give mo any information about it beyond pointing out that by pulling tho lever to the right one turned tho oar to the right, while pulling the left lover one turned it to the left. As I found for myself, there was no reason for any other information. One accelerates the engine to start perhaps rather more than with an ordinary car, and on lotting-in the clutch the machines goes forward as sweetly and smoothly as an ordinary touring car. Changing 6peeds I found-somewhat more difficult, because the tank naturally tends to stop more quickly than a car does. Turning even on the first timo of trial presents no difficulties, though it gives a curious sensation, as, instead of tho tank moving jn a curve, it starts turning on its centre, the turning movement ceasing immediately and abruptly when the lever is released.

Perhaps I can best express the simplicity of the drive by stating tho.* it is easier to teach a pupil to drive a tank than it is to teach him to drive a motor-, car, one reason for this being that, except when one actually wants to turn, one has nothing whatever to do with one's bonds, The men in tho service aro for the most part volunteers, particularly the older ones, but in the, young classes coming up for service mechanics are naturally often diverted to tho tanks. Tho captain in command called up two of the men who had been in action at Juvigny, and who had particularly distinguished themselves. They told us of one man who had tho good fortune to como on the Germans when the latter were preparing to counter-attack. Ho opened fire on them, massed as they wero, putting between three and...four hundred of them-out of. action. His tank then continued its victorious career and eilonced some thirty enemy machineguns. As a tank costs some thousand pounds, and requires only a crew of two, it can bo realised how great an economy in men and material is effected by their uso, not to mention tho fact that tanks frequently make it possiblo to take positions that could not bo captured by other means;

tank Men as Fighters. Even when a tank breaks down, as had happened in the case of' both tho men to whom the captaiii introduced us, it does not necessarily follow that tho usefulness of its crow.is ended. One,of tho men in question was 6lightly wounded when his tank failed to proceed. In such conditions a mechanic is justified in standing by his car. He, however, preferred to take a rifle and leave- the tank. He found himself with a group of Americans, whose officer had been wounded, and, taking advantage of his prestige as handyman and tank-driver, he took command, despite the difficulties of the language. He seems to have been a sort of, Castor and Pollux to . the American unit, appearing as a bolt from the blue, not clad m shining armour but with a rifle and wearing grease-stained mechanic's overalls. In the course of tho Odyssey of that company-his experience of battle proved invaluable. Amongst other exploits they captured a Gorman machine-gun, and. here tho thorough training of the Americans told, for one of them knew all about the weapon and used it to good effect against tho enemy. The second of the men had also aban'doncd his tank. Early in tho engagement his mechanic was wounded, so they apparently changed places, and the tank, continuing its advance, fell into a ditch, where it was surrounded by half a dozen Germans, who promptly attacked thei orew. 'Meanwhile the man had been slightly wounded, but he got tho better of his opponents nnd took one of them prisoner. The man was telling us tho story, but tho captain interjected to explain that the Hun was twice the tank-man's size. "Otii. mon capilaine," the man answer<"j, ""inis moi. i'nvais men revolver." Together the tank-man and his cantivo worked back to the American line. Dressed as tank-men are, he was not recognisable as French, and he only achieved safety by joining with the Hun in putting his arms above his head and crying, "Kamerad I"