The Daily News. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1916. THE LATEST BELLIGERENT MACHINE.

Taranaki Daily News, 22 September 1916, Page 4

The Daily News. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1916. THE LATEST BELLIGERENT MACHINE.

The latest and most awe-inspiring device for gaining victories in warfare is the marvellously ingenious "Tank," or armored motor fort on wheels, which figured largely in the recent successful offensive of the Allies at Courcelctte, where the infantry was held up at a German redoubt in the ruins of a sugar factory full of machine-guns—one of those deadly places which have cost so many valuable lives, Apparently the secret of Britain's latest weapon of attack had been well kept, for the advent of these weird and powerful mechanical monsters evidently came as a great surpr'se to the Geriiuns, who have made a

fi 11 p art of the concealment of machineguns in positions tliat will enable tliem to indict the greatest damage. The description of this monster crawler, the credit for the construction of which is due to Colonel Churchill, cannot fail to have aroused the keenest interest of all classes of the community. These machines are said to resemble track-lay-ers, their enormous power lying in their own rails, which are automatically picked up after being used, the wheels not

touching tin; ground. They are constructed of steel, liave engines of 120 horse-power, and weigh IS,OOO pounds. Their effectiveness can be estimated b;; the German comment tliat they were "invented 'because of the enemy's terror of German machine-guns." Tt so happens that the idea of making these forts on wheels was put into shape a long time ago, and the framework has been made in America, over a thousand being sent from there to England, where the armor and equipment are supplied Tt would, of course, be out of the question to expect these machines to withstand heavy artillery fire, nor is that

any part of their programme. Before they move forward the way is cleared as far as possible by the Britisli bombardment of enemy positions, and then they lumber forward over rough ground, trenches, shell craters, while nvlien obstacles are met with such as the sugar factory mentioned above the motor puts it 3 weight against the walls with tlie added momentum produced by 120-horse-power engines, and crashes through brick walls as if they were tlie wooden

sides of a barn. Machine-gun ■'bullets that hit these machines are so much waste, for they fall harmlessly away. At the same time they send forth a hail of 'bullets on the enemy, dealing death and destruction in their onward crawl. The vivid and graphic description of the initial operation of these "tanks," supplied by Mr. Philip Gibbs, reads like one of Jules Verne's stories written in years gone by, only instead of being creatures of a vivid imagination they are startling realities, fraught with immense import 011 the issue of the war. Only a few

have come into use, and there are over a thousand that can be equipped for service. Gas and liquid fire, the inventions of the barbaric Huns, are powerless against these powerful armored forts, which cannot fail to nave struck terror into the hearts of the enemy. They are ideal instruments for coping with Germanic war methods, and though Mr. Lloyd George advises that we must not expect over much from them, we shall be more than gratified if they can continue to accomplish such great feats

as those which marked their initial activities. The Germans have at last 'been forced to recognise the Allies' strength, and they are groaning under its application. The military correspondent of the Frankfurter Zeitung seems to he appalled at the lingo slaughter of German troops, and is moved to ask how long it will last. The answer to that query is that it will continue to the end of the war; it will even increase. Germany is now partaking of her own medicin?, and instead of swallowing; it manfully is raving and spluttering. What, then, will be her condition when her power of resistance is at its last gasp? It is to that eventful period they are drifting, and to hasten matters to a climax is the Allies' policy. We therefore hail with the greatest satisfaction any and every aid that can ho obtained, and these wonderful "tanks" will undou'bted-

ly prove a potent factor in defeating the enemy finally and conclusively. Not only are they excellent engines of destruction, but their presence inspires and eiiecrs the troops, causing them to smile even when the blood is streaming down their faces. So far as can be seen at present they have come to see the war through, and they are as -welcome to the Allies as flowers in spring.