Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1917-12-02

must be discovere IL our infantry wer,
y 10 carry out assaults with success
I The idea OF "A self-propelled aromreC
\ car which could move unscathed ovel
unprotected ground. could crush dowr
wire entanglements and carry guns
with crew TO work them, occurred
h TO several penple both In the army and
navy. such an engine recalling the
turris mohilis OF Llvy and the beffori
of the middle ages would not only be
able 10 tacklG troublesome machine
guns IN the German trenches, but
would also help to clear n way thru
} barbed wire Obstacles for the infantry.
1.-The Evolution of the Tank.
Even before this war the develop
mcnt OF the caterpillar tractor had
suggested 10 "A few far-sighted people
the possibility OF evolving from the IN
ventlon q machine capable Of often
slvc use over rough country In close
warfare
Among the earliest of the more
practical suggestions WEI one by
Colonel Swinton. the first command
Ing officer of the "lleavy section In
October. 1914, to build armored cars
on the Holt tractor system an Amer
lean invention or a similar caterpillar
principle, TO smash thru wire entan-
clements and climb trenches This
idea was subsequently referred 10 the
committee Of imperial defense and the
war office, ana experiments with va
! rious tractors were made on behalf Of
! The war office, for some time without
! practical result IN the meantime n
| similar idea had occurred to officers
! In the Royal Naval A. Service. and
! Mr. Churchill then h I Lord. took
| II up warmly.
| W hen In June 1915, the commander
| chief In Franco cont in manor
nndum urging an exhaustive exam
lnatlon Of the question, two state de- |
pui tments chiefly concerned had the |
matter well I'm hand Moreover. the |
ministry Of munitions, which had re-
Gently been established. was also CON
siderirg the matter. Thru the me- .
dinm of the committee Of imperial de-
fonse the various efforts for the sol
ution uf the problem were co-ordin-
ated. and n committee. OF which Mr.. |
churchill was member. was APP
pointed To decide on the distribution
Of the work
According to tho recommendation of
this committee the war office laid
down the conditions which had TO be
fulfilled by the car. II should be abl,
To climb five-foot parapet and cross
a ten-foot ditch: IN weight and width
u had To conform TO the measure
and To railway transportation require
ments, and It must not be too high,
Tor reasons Of visibility to the enemy:
II must be protected against close
range rifle and machine gun fire, and
II must he able TO destroy machine
gun emplacements II was agreed.
however, that the first experimental
work should he left IN the hand OF the
admiralty committee
committee i'm researches and eXpcri-
ments before satisfactory machine
was designed al d constructed Finally
from among the numerous types of
tractors inspected the most satisfac-
tory was found to be CATERPILLAR
tractor with an endless self-laid track.
over which internal driving wheels
could be propelled by the engines.
The construction OF these new en-
gines or warfare was still necessarily
slow business. Improvements were
continually being adopted. which
nocessitated changes In the original
designs. and men had to be specially
trained in the factories for the work
required. II was not therefore, as
we have seen. till about July, 1916.
that the first consignment arrived at
the secret manoeuvre ground to meet
the personnel which was to use them
The new machines. as delivered at
the secret camp. were found to be of
two slightly different designs. one,
called the male, was armed with two
Hotchkiss quick fire guns, with a sub
sidiary armament of some machine
guns. These were especially designed
Tor dealing at close quarters with the
concrete emplacemcnts for the Ger
man machine guns. The other type.
called the female, was armed only
with machine guns. and was more
suitable for dealing with machine
gun personnel and riflemen than with
'he emplacements.
The members OF tho heavy section
ot the machine gun corps after ar
riving at their camp had a good deal
of work in front OF them before they
could hope to take their tanks on
active service. They had to learn how
to drive and steer them, to repair
them, and to fire off their guns when
boxed up within their narrow COM
pass; they even had to learn how to
live at all inside them. Imagine n
narrow cabin some or 10 feet wide,
10 feet long and 1 feet high into
which had to be Crammed an engine
OF over one hundred horse power, two
guns, and three or four machine guns
provisions for three days ammuni-
tion and equipment, besides "a crew of
several men. The noise made by the
engine made il impossible to hear an
order, consequently every communi-
cation had to bc made 10y signs; the
armor plating was SO effective that
one could only see for steering or for
aiming the guns thru the narrowest
chiuks; the motion, too, of the tank
over rough ground was not unlike
that of Il ship in a heavy sea, ard this
motion, combined with the smell of
oil, the close atmosphere, the heat and
the noise, was at first apt To induce
tho same symptoms as sometimes af-
tlict those uninured TO sea voyages.
In spite of all these difficulties. so .
great was tho zeal displayed that at I
the end OF July. 1916, It was possible l
to hold two exhibition combats with !
tanks over the trench system pre- /
pared, one before general staff Off 5
GERS. the other before the king. These ,
exhibitions showed that the tanks ,
answered the purpose for which they =
had been desingod, and orders were
given for them to be made ready for
France. At the end of August fifty ..
tanks were loaded at night on the
railway at the camps private siding
and sent OFF to France with all duo