Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1916-09-18
NEW ARMOR2D CARS
CROSS TRENCHES
British Motor Forts Break
Barb Wire Fences and Cut
Down Small Trees.
LOOK LIKE ARMADILL0S

LOOK LIKE ARMADILLOS
London, Sept l8.-Credit for the
new travelling land forts" which have
been used during the past few days
on the British front belongs to two
men, Lieutenant Colonel Ed Swinton
OF the intelligence department OF the
general staff and Major Stern. Lieu
tenant Colonel Swinton will be re-
membered as one OF the officers "eye-
witnesses" who wrote accounts OF the
early days around Ypres for British
newspapers. Major Stern is Va bust
ness man who has been for some time
in the employ Of the government,
British Front in France (Via Lon
dom, Sept. 1.-THE work OF the new
armored cars in cooperation with the
British infantry in their charges in
yesterdays successful attack is the
one theme of the talk throughout the
army today.
THE idea was so good when it was
offered" sad a staff officer, that we
had some built and the way they have
gone over the German trenches and
have enfiladed them with machine gun
fire is some return for the surprise
the Germans gave US with their gas
attacks in the first battle OF Ypres."
Evidently the British were able to
keep the building OF these cars en-
tircly secret and the first that the Ger
mans knew OF their existence was
when in the misty dawn yesterday
morning they came trundling across
shell craters and over tree stumps.
cutting down many small trees on,
their way toward the German
trenches. on to the second line and
even to the third line. The return to
earth OF the ichthyosaurus or dino
saurs spouting bullets from their nos
trils could not have been more amaz-
ing.
Look Like Armadillos.
tanks IS the slang word the army
staff has applied to these strange
creations Of machinery, but they look
less like tanks than anything else in
the world. y is hard to say what they
look like. They have been compared
both to armadillos and measuring
worms and to many other weird
creeping or crawling objects Of
natural history. A man OF wars tur-
ret crossing fields, IN and out OF gull
leys and through fences, would pre-
sent spectacle resembling their prog
ress:
During. the days preceding the at
tack, as they. moved up to the front
and the soldiers gazed at them, the
disabilities OF all ranks were tickled.
All sorts OF questions were pro.
pounded. Would the thing stand
when Il was hitched--and what was it
iedf winch was its tail and which ITS
head! At all events It was steel
jointed incarnation. OF military Sc
crecy, Spectators laughed at 1t, but
with true British sporting instinct
hoped it would at least have a sport
ing chance.
Last night wounded men back from
the line forgot their pain and what
part their battalion played during the
battle IN telling what the tanks did.
Notes were compared between the
action: OF our and your tank. Co.
operating with the infantry action by
pre-arrangement, the grotesque crea-
lures played the part set Tor them
under the control OF their invisible
Some soldiers said their battalions
had nothing more to do than har-
vesters, who gather sheaves, follow
ing a reaper and binder raked with
fire.
British army reports never had a
stronger passage than one saying that
100 Germans had surrendered to a
tank" unless ii was the one report
ing that the tank had been seen from
an aeroplane making its way through
the main streets OF the village OF
Fleres, followed BY cheering British
soldiers. A staff officer spoke of one
having stopped to browse" at the edge
Of a wood before continuing to ad-
vance.
II Is small wonder that ANYBODY,
who saw in action one Of these
armored motor cars-if car be an al
lowable name--should hold up his
hands. They have brought a new
element into the grim, monologious