A THRILLING STORY

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 204, 23 May 1919, Page 7

A THRILLING STORY

DUEL BETWEEN TWO TANKS

EXCITING CONFLICT AT THE OPENING OP A BATTLE

When tank met lank there surely came a tug-of-war. Such tin encounter is described by Arthur Blakcsley in the "Illustrated World." Noise does not frighten one on the battlefield, he says, but intense quiet does. liven a bi£ bombardment of "whees," "whizz-tangs," and "coal-boxc-s" cannot get a soldier's nerve like the ghastly silence that sometimes comes just before dawn. This silence seemed especially real to Mr. Blakesloy at Seicheprey, ami it was tho prelude to an exciting conflict, described as follows:—

We bad to set four tanks up to tho staging—star-shell cnniouliage—just ninety yards behind tho Yankee firing-bays. I hoard tho Leviathan and Mary Ann— the two tanks that preceded us into position—start, aud though they lumbered out through tho darkness at less than threo miles iui hour I waited in anxious expectation , for the German fitar-shelle that would tell us that their approach had been discovered. It seemoa as if their exhausts made moro racket than all the brass iu Soiisa's band. When the Vampire—our caterpillar fort —got under way I was certain that the Kaisev, back in Potsdam, must be wakened from his doped dreams of conquest. Of course it all sounds so much worso from the inside of a "Willie."

When we arrived, however, and crawled out to snatch n few minutes' rest before zero- hour, you would have thought that tho array of ditches and wire that showed faintly in the dim moonlight were furrows on an abandoned farm, for all tho signs of human occupancy you could hear or see. It was ominous to me. Shorty Messick named it,.though none of us agreed with him at the time. "I'll bet," said he, "the Boehes are going to start a push, too!" . That his guess was absolutely correct mattered tremendously,; inasmuch as it pave opportunity for one of the strangost duels that ever occurred on the . Western front—a battle of tank against tank, in which horse-power counted as much as the projeotiles fired. These steelclad giants had met before, and doubtless have met since, but never at grips as at Seicheprey, to the best of my knowledge. Aβ Iwas firing a sis-pounder for tho, Vampire, I saw all that occurred. And what a duel it was! . i

The battle must have heen something of a mutual surprise. I know that our officers did not anticipate the Boclie push, and from results I am certain that they did not expect us. Promptly at 4.45 a.m. their batteries, started. Our zero was to have teen five o'clock, but when the German guns began their concert a hurry-up order went around, and wo were off. Nose to Noso, Up we tilted over the para.net, and banged down.with our nose in the mud. Neither side was sending up flares, becamso of their own attackers, so it was dark as midnight in .Africa. The flashes of explodins M.E. in the trenches we hud quitted and in the Hun ditches far ahead, punctuated by tho comma-like flicker of rifle and machine-gun fire, were the only lights to guide our driver. As a result we floundered straight into our own wire. A way had been prepared, and this we had to find. Out we backed, :ho rusty barbs scratching on our steel side 3. Two more fuitile attempts were made before the gate wag located. We Kad wasted time and were behind schedule. Our driver threw the Vampire into high gear, and ut risk of an accident that vould put us hors de combat for the ri<rht we reeled along into shell-craters-and soft mud, but always floundering cut somehow.

" Now I could locate tho line of German trenches, and filtering through the wiro in little groups came tho Germans. They were not visible as so many shapes to me, 'but they fired as they came. Suddenly there came a terrific shock, throwing m 6 forward against my gun, and the Vampire stopped as though she had encountered a stone wall. "Are we hit?" I yelled in futile question; the din was so terrific from uur engine that I scarcely could hear my own words, Twice our driver raced the engine, '. Twice he let in the clutch suddenly,- ihinking to surmount the obstacle in uur path. Each time we stopped dead. Whilo I was puzzling over this— there are no cliffs in that particular sector of No Man's Land against which we could have run—a sudden glare shone iu my eyes! The obstacle, whatever it was, carried an enormous searchlight A half-second later our own light went on, and then, to my horror, I beheld our antagonist, one of the gigantic, German tanks, nose on against us! A Real Inspiration. 1 think that both 01 us were completely stunned for several seconds. Then I saw the gun in their top turret depress and fire. An explosive bullet burst jiwt behind the crew of the secondary gears! 1 awoke with a start. The big enemy tank carried one, at least, of. the antitank rifles, firing high-poiver -exploding bullets made to pierco armour! I whirled the vertical lover, depressed my lar as possible, and Jet go. liie shot cannoned off their roof ex. ploding, but doing not a particle of damage. Again ami again 1 tried, but with no more success. The truth began to dawn upon me; mine was the only gun wo carried that could do execution against a German tank And my gun could not be depressed sutliciently to register a square hit.

The only possibility of success lay in drawing oil' iar enough so that wo could get them in the side. J. jumped down and forward. The driver was slouched in his seat, dead! An explosive bullet had finished him. 1 jerked him out of the seat,, and grabbed Lieutenant M .our commander. I had no intention of standing on ceremony. I pulled him over into the driver's seat, and yelled the terrible story in his ear. lie understood, and threw the Vampire into reverse. As we backed away, however, and 1 went back to my gtnn the Hun tank gave us no chance. They followed us, keeping out of 'range. .. All would have been over for us had not --Lieutenant M— been seized with ii real inspiration. As we backed over a shell crated he stopped. The second the nose of the Boche came up from tho crater after us he threw the Vampire into low gear forward. Our angular noso slid straight under the nose'of the Hun tank, forcing her into the air. She was in our range wo were immune from her fire!

Like a madman I gave it to her through her floor. Aβ shell after shell tore into her she tried to back away, but always Lieutenant M —- advanced, forcing.her up all of the time; Then she switched tactics and tried to slither over us, but wo stopped that by reversing. All tho timo my six-pounder was knocking her to bits. Suddenly the Hun tank stopped. A tremendous explosion tore her sides nut, shaking us as if an earthquake had happened. Then came he toll-tale flare of her petrol. I knew our battle was won.