The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1917-12-08

The part played by the tanks"
| in breaking the Hindenbura line
| has lifted them to a prominence
| held by no other device invent
ed, or improved, since the war
began. The airplane, the sub
marine, and every new weapon
of the Germans, from the Zeppe-
lin to poison gases, must yield
| precedence, for the time, at least,
to the new type of armored cars
which, upsetting precedent and
prediction, last week moved
their way, unaided by prelimi.
nary artillery fire, through a
wide barrier Of German trenches
| and barbed wire. This official
history tells how the tank was
contriVed and developed by the
British government and how
crews were trained TO bring all
its power as a fighting machine
to bear on the enemy.
The machine gun corps Of the
British army as constituted in Octo-
| Der, 1915, was divided into an infan-
| try, a cavalry, and n motor branch.
| Six months later a new section was
| formed at Bisley. The men for this
new section were taken from the
pick Of the Derby recruits; for the
| junior officers two colonies went on
a voyage of discovery to cadet bat
| talions and other units and selected
promising young men with a know
| ledge Of internal combustion engines
who had given proofs OF an adven-
| turous spirit and Of ability to make
men move. For some time the object
Of the new unit remained a mystery
even to those drafted into ii, eX-
cept so far as the qualifications re-
quired Of the officers afforded an
inkling.
The name given to, the new or
ganization-the heavy armored Sec
| ton Of the motor machine gun SER
vice-only deepened the mystery, as
| there were no signs of cars, armored
or unarmored, and the only training
| given to the men was foot drill and
machine gun practice. However,
after some time spent in these oc-
equations the colonel in command
addressed the company commanders
and some other officers on parade,
and after commencing the spirit
they had hitherto shown, bade them
be Of good heart, as a wonderful new
car, which would astonish them all,
was shortly to be issued to them for
service in the field.
Tested in Secret.
At last it was announced that the
new car was ready. But 1t was not
brought to the camp near Aldershot,
where the section was stationed
that was far too much in the public
eye. A site had been\ chosen in a
more remote part Of the country;
there a camp was pitched, carefully
screened from inquisitive passersby;
it was surrounded by fences and
guarded by sentries posted at inter-
walls Of 100 yards, with orders to ad-
NIT no one who was not furnished
with a special pass. Companies of
the armored car section, as soon as
their preliminary training was COM
pleted, were successfully drafted to
this camp to become familiarized
with their weapon of destruction.
The new armored car concealed in
this lair certainly had all the prom
Used elements Of surprise. At first
sight it appeared little more than a
huge, shapeless bulk of metal. II
was said to weigh some forty tons,
was armor plated all over, with tiny
spyholes at intervals, from some Of
which peeped out mUrderous looking
gun muzzles, and had no visible
means of progression except two
small motor wheels attached like a
tail behind.
New Pet in the Army.
The wheels behind were found to
act only as n rudder to direct it's
course, Sbe propulsive force coming
from Soma. internal and invisible
wheels thatNtraveled over long, end
less metal tracks, extending in an
elliptical shape from the snout to
the rump, and moving forward as
the creature advanced. The pace at
which this strange object moved was
slow-barely three miles an hour
The first company Of the heavy ar
mored car section were delighted
with the spectacle of the creature
intrusted to their care, and promptly
adopted the name. big Willie" with
which their new pet had previously
been christened. The two next OF
the same breed to come in were call
ed Little Willie" and Mother"
In sthe autumn Of 1914, when the
opponent had settled down to trench
warfare, it became obvious that
some means of parrying the danger
Of well-directed and well-protected
machine gun fire from the German
trenches must be discovered il our
infantry were to carry out assaults
with success. The idea OF a self
propelled armored car which could
move unscathed over unprotected
ground, crush down wire entangle-
ments, and carry guns and a crew
to. work them, occurred to several
people, both in the army and the
navy. Such an engine, recalling the
TURKS mobilis Of Livy and the bef-
froi of the middle ages would not
only be able to tackle troublesome
machine guns in the German
trenches, but would also help to clear
a way through barbed wire obstacles
for the infantry.
The Evolution of the Tank.
Even before the war the develop
ment Of the caterpillar tractor had
suggested to a few far-sighted peo-
pie the possibility Of evolving from
this invention machine capable OF
offensive use over rough country in
close warfare.
Among the earliest Of the more
practical suggestions was one by
Colonel Swinton, the first command
ing officer Of the Heavy Section in
October, 1914. to build armored cars
on the Holt tractor system, an
American invention, or on a similar
caterpillar principle to smash
through wire entanglements and
climb trenches. This idea was sub