Arizona republican., 1917-08-05
GERMANS THROW
 DOWN ARMS BEFORE
 ADVANCE IF TANKS
Republican A. p. Leased Wire1

BRITISH HEADQUARTERS IN FRANCE AND BELGIUM, August 4. The great squadron of tanks which went into action with the British in- fantry at dawn Tuesday, proved ther right to place among the modern en- zines of war. The battle of Flanders furnished the most comprehensive test of the worth of these monsters as fighting machines which has yet been given and they came through the or deal with flying colors notWithstand- ing the fact that they were operating under the most trying conditions of terrain.
 The opening of the conflict saw considerable concentration of tanks. Fewer tanks proportionately were knocked out by direct hit than in any previous engagement. The total of the casualties among the tank crews was remarkably low and most of these were among men who deliberately left off the cover of their iron fort and worked In the open under machine gun fire
 The material damage the tanks did to the enemy defenses was enormous and prisoners state that very heavy casualties were inflicted on the Ger mans.
 That the enemy is extremely afraid of the tanks is without question and In numerous instances the Germans surrendered freely on the mere appear ance Of one of these engines, which truly are of terror-inspiring appear ance. At one place eight German of ficers surrendered without question, when tank crawled up and threatened to open fire, and sixty soldiers were O . nj rod hXr cyiY, Julien
 There were accidents which though regrettable were not without touches of humor. One tank which was trundling Tn the dark toward the front some time before the battle, encountered railway wagons standing at a crossing. The operator of the tank did not see the obstacle and the engineer of the train could not hear the approach of the tank because of the noise made by his machinery. The tank went through the train as if it were made of paste board and continued it's numbering. but ruthless way, leaving one of the rail- way wagons much worse for wear,
 Tanks did much fighting in the diff ficult country about Saint Julien and FreZenberg and in the territory lying directly east of Zillebeke At the de- lenses near Frezenberg a spectacular battle occurred. These consisted of two strong redoubts, one of which was known as the Castle. In front of them flows the Hanebeke and the surround Ing grounds was marSh-like and diff cult for heavy bodies to move across The attacking tanks advanced oyer the stream and sodden ground under heaVy fire from the machine guns iu the redoubts, and the anti-tank guns hidden behind the Notifications. Ons tank worked it's way around the castle and opening fire drove all the defend CTS into the other redoubt. It then forced it's way to the rear of the occu pied redoubt and compelled all the enemy to flee back to the castle. where In a frenzy of fear, the Germans took refuge. At this point other tanks Joined in the fray and after surround Ing the castle delivered a concerted assault clearing the castle for the sec ond time, as we'll as all the outlying de- lenses.
 Another tank attacked Saint Julien with the infantry. It drew the fire of a small fort to the west of the village and turned aside to deal with this. One shot only it fired at the fortification and the Germans to a man ran out with hands raised crying "kamerade" ana gave themselves up. This was a capture totalling sixty prisoners.
 Having silenced this fort, the tank crossed the Steenbeek river and pro- 2eeded through the shell-torn main street of St Julien to the northern side. It assisted the infantry to clear the place of the German defenders who were concealed in the buildings and then returned without having suffered damage, leaving the British in posses sion.
 The British next day withdrew from St Julien, but continued to shell the place so heavily that the Germans could only re-occupy it in part Later the British re-entered the village under cover of a heavy barrage and took the positions which they hold today.
 Valuable work also was done by the tanks in sections of woodland back of the German defenses astride the fpres Menin road The largest of these patches of forest had d strong re- doubt in front The wood was filled with machine guns and afforded op- ooftunlty for the massing of German troops. The tanks were sent ahead to clear it out. The redouot in front of
 
 between the guns of a tank and those of the little fort.
 Beyond the redoubt, the tanks found themselves under a steady hail of ma chine guns bullets, but they lined up on the edge of the woods and for hours continued to sweep them with their guns, until all concealed machine guns had been searched out and the Ger mans forced to retire. The tanks then returned behind the British infantry.
 Two tanks were ditched temporariIv near Frezenberg but helped to repel a counter attack by the Germans. The enemy belieVeing the tanks helpless be- cause they were stuck in the deep mud, advanced.in the hope of regaining the ground lost and capturing the mon ster machines. The tanks opened fire on the advancing line of infantry and moved the Germans down in large numbers. Scotch troops finished the reDulse with bayonets
 For the most part the tanks proved that they were capable of moving over the most difficult ground but in a. few cases they were stalled at times in holes. More than once when this hap officers