TRIBUTE TO THE "TANKS."

Taranaki Daily News, 14 October 1916, Page 10

TRIBUTE TO THE "TANKS."

AMAZING M'AXOEUVKES. London, September 28. A correspondent at headquarters in France writes that one of the armored "'tanks'' did the most valuable work. It penetrated JTorval village, and returned unscathed. Apparently all the Germans dive into their dug-outs and hiding places when one of the "Willies" appears. "[ saw the whole herd resting in a hollow. They looked like meadow cows, 1111 incredible nightmare of Jules Verne's most fantastic imaginings—huge, shapeless bulks, resembling nothing ever seen 011 earth. Tliev were like vast antediluvian beasts, painted in reptilian colors, invisible 011 the dun background of dry autumn grass and bare soil. "I was permitted into a tank to inspect the incredible details of its vitals. I watched the great things grotesquely manoeuvring, their strange antics causing laughter till one's sides ached. One wondered whether it was a preposterous joke or a serious contribution to modern warfare. They lined up in the twilight. It was an appalling and hideous spectacle as they wheeled off in single file, and heaved up their huge bodies from the hollow like a great string of mammoths marching to the battle front. It is now certain that the Germans found them the most serious opponent. The German troops were horrified when they first saw them. They discharged ma-chine-gun and rifle bullets, which only struck sparks off the sides of the awful beast. The tank came on, sat complacently astride the trenches, and then machine-gunned in every direction.

"Sometimes the Germans surrendered before the infantry came up. Then the leviathans ambled on, seeking more work. They were invaluable at strong points, thrusting in where unprotected infantry could not, smashing in woods, and trampling down undergrowth, climbing over broken-down barricades, contemptuous of machine-gun and rifle fire. Airmen joyously relate seeing the monsters waddling in the open country far from the front line placarded, 'Great German Defeat—Special Extra!' They went to many points unaccompanied, and rendered invaluable service at the High Wood, brushing down the tree trunks on the defenders.

"They did more military service in an hour than the Zelleplins since the war started."

Mr. Beach Thomas, Daily Mail correspondent, writes: —"All the Army is talking of the tanks, and praising the men inside them, . They went into the hottest parts of the battle. The guns attacked them wherever possible, and shells struck the new machines, killing some of the occupants."