WAR NEWS.

Taihape Daily Times, Issue 200, 20 September 1916, Page 3

WAR NEWS.

“CREME DE MENTHE.” THE BRITISH MOTOR MONSTERS. GERMANS SCARED AND ROUTED. SOME REMARKABLE STORIES. LONDON, Sept. IS. Mr Phillip Gibbs says: The British went over the parapets on Friday, exalted and excited by the smell of victory, and laughing as-they ran, because a new toy had inflamed their fancy. They were enormously cheered and amused by the new weapons, so dully described in official bulletins. The secret of these extrord’inary armoured motors had been jealousry kept for months, and all manner of marvellous powers had been attributed to them. They were proof agains-. bullets, bombs, and shell splinters, and took ditches like kangaroos. Actually they are like monstrously comical, enormous toads, but they did good work and scared the Germans dreadfully. Their utility was proved near Councelette, where the infantry were held up at a German redoubt in the ruins of a sugar factory full of machine guns, one of those deadly places which previously cost so many lives. Then over the British trenches in the half light of dawn, the new monster crawled to the rescue. The troops cheered and even laughed, with blood streaming down their faces. Creme de Menthe waddled forward over old Ger man Jrenches towards the redoubt. The enemy were momentarily silent, and then spasms of machine gun fire splashed Creme de Menthe’s sides,' but fell harmlessly. Creme de Menthe advanced upon the broken wall, leaned against it, and the bricks crashed down. The motor walked into the heart of the factory ruins, and poured a stream of bullets and trampled the machine gun emplacements, crushed the machine guns and killed the teams Infantry followed and occupied the redoubt. There were similar scenes at Highwood. Our men, for the time being, were driven back, then they had

the great joy of seeing several ‘tanks’ advancing through the wood on each side.

Wounded soldiers relate extraordinary stories, and declare the' tan.a broke down trees, mounted barricades and stamped out dug-outs. The Eoc were thoroughly scared, and ran about shouting as if demented. During) tin. attack on Martinpuich, machine guns held up the infantry on the outskirts of the village. Two tanks had already passed the British front line in the darkness, and now crawled to No Man’s Land and nosed the Martinpuich walls, testing the strength 01 the broken barns. Twenty minutes later the infantry were inside the lire, trenches of Martinpuich, the monster still waddling ahead. A hundred Germans, confronted by another tank, shouted for mercy. The tank led tnw procession of prisoners to the British lines. The first news of success at Flers was an airman’s wireless that a tank was walking up Flers High St., with the British army cheering behind. This was an actual fact. One of the motor monsters was there enjoying itself thoroughly, forcing the enemy to keep their heads again. The British hung out a large placard witn the words, “Great Hun Defeat. Special!” Meanwhile aeroplanes flew over the scared Germans fleeing) before the monstrous apparition pouring out a deadly machine gun fire.