WITH FIFTY TANKS.

Taranaki Daily News, 5 March 1917, Page 5

WITH FIFTY TANKS.

NEW MACHINES TWICE AS LARGE. While trench raids an,d artillery bombardments are the order of the day on the western front, the impression is universal that this is but a passing lull, which is being employed in diligent preparation for further great events. From the enemy has now eome a striking appreciation of the formidable character of our tanks. The three English army corps which, says the war correspondent of the Frankfurter Zeitung, attacked in the battle of the Ancre had a very large number of tanks at their disposal. The seven divisions which attacked are said to have had at least fifty tanks with them. Their size, armor, and armament have considerably increased. While the old model was not more than 18ft long, the new is about 36ft. An artillery observer who had them under observation through his periscope confirms this. He added that it took the monsters five minutes to turn. Their reason for turning was that it was impossible for thein to" cross the swamps of the battlefield. This is true of them all, and for the present they are stuck and cannot be made useful. These tanks are fron. 33ft to 30ft long, 12 to lg broad, and six to seven high. They are covered with 12in armored plate. They have a turret at each end and at each side, as well as two cupolas on the top, each of which contains two 4in guns. The other | turrets contain machine-guns—eight ill 1 all. There are loopholes in all the tinrets. The vehicle is steered by a rudde, ■\vijth two high and very heavy wheels. The crew number 15 to 20. They would be very dangerous instruments of war if the present state of the churned up ground were not such an obstacle to them. It may be assumed that v. e shall tie able to protect our soldiers by special means against these leviathans as effec- , tive as we did after the surprising appearance of the first tanks in September.