Tanks in Action.

Levin Daily Chronicle, 25 September 1917, Page 4

Tanks in Action.

| LONDON, August 20. j j The appearance of tanks operating I on ground whicli a few days ago was ) mainly under water is satisfactory testiI mony to the improvement of fighting , conditions in Flanders, writes a corres- , pondent at British headquarters. Tho German gunners were apparently completely surprised at the spectacle of I these ungainly objects travelling along i ground which one might suppose would ( engulf them. Yesterday's attack on the I Poel Capelle Road proved the great value of the tanks against tho present system of disconnected defences. That our casualties were small and the success so considerable in face of the concentrated machine-gun fire which was encountered is conclusivc tribute to the effectiveness of this weapon. Tho correspondent describes the latest feats of tho tanks in a British attack in the region of St. Julien. The uncouth monsters began to move in the ! darkness. Tho noise of the guns drowned their snorting as they took up prearranged positions. The enemy probably calculated that the ground was in too bad a condition for them to assist 4in tho attack. After reciprocal and violent bombardment our guns ceased, jj The enemy doubtless anticipated an ini! faritry advance, and continued his bom- ] bardment. Finding nothing happening (, ho stopped, and our guns reopened at j 1 longer range. There was more deliborI ate firing at dawn. Then the tanks | advanced, the infantry following. Tho t concentrations spread out fan-wise as ! they progressed, the object of the opt oration being to try and straighten out I the bend in our line, within which tho f Germans held several strong positions. | When the enemy saw the yellowish objects crawling rapidly over the broken ground lie began to fire wildly from his places of concealment, but the Germans generally fled before the tanks reached them. The infantry followed the tanks successfully ocupied tho triangle between Mont Busibon and Cockeroft, farms which had given a lot of trouble. The total depth of the advance planned was 50 yards, but the Germans from far beyond that depth fled . The whole affair was a complete vindication of the utility of the tank in this species of warfare.