Trench and camp. [volume] (Augusta, Ga.) 1917-1919, 1917-12-12
Inventor of Juggernaut
Which Germans Call
Most Wonderful Weapon
Wh.ch Modern Tactics
Have Revealed in War
fare" Tells of Their
Origin

they began breaking down barbed
wire entanglements, crushing in
trenches and their occupants and
proving that trench warfare was not
necessarily a stalemate. OF the hush
hush ships there were many rumors
long before they appeared. They have
been seen to be Ieviathans among
warships, capable of developing ire
mendous speed and working great
havoc. How great that havoc is will
probably remain mystery until in
days of peace there is a recapituIation
of the achievements of the war.
But the tanks, which came upon an
interpreting enemy, are becoming
more and better known as the war
progresses. In the Liberty Loan pa
rades America saw one OF these
monsters at close range.
1t was under Lieutenant General
Sir Julian Byng that the tanks came
into their own. Sir Julian was a
great believer in their efficiency from
the time he first saw them in opera-
ton. In his plans for battle they en-
tered well into his reckoning. He
pleaded for the mobilization of a
large force Of them and protested
that, if sufficiently large force were
available, he would establish some
new presidents in warfare and would
shatter some old beliefs.
One day last month, without anv
preliminary barrage, q battalion of
tanks emerged from the rear of Sir
Julian's lines. They had been quietly
assembled in the night They had
come quietly, so quietly that even the
argus-eyed espionage system of the
German military was taken un-
eaWaTes. The rest of the story is we'll
known.
Idea Came from u. S. A.
But what are the tanks? Why are
they 80 wonderfully efficient?
Their story was told recently by
Colonel E. D. Swinton, C.B., D.SO,.
RE-, Assistant Secretary Of the Brit
ish War Cabinet Colonel Swinton
told correspondent for the New
York Herald that the germ of the
tank idea came from America, in the
Holt tractor. He said: 1--WE had
been looking for a new war machine.
capable Of going over rough ground
and being able to fight. We had
made no Roadway until July, 1914, a
month before the war began. Then
an officer reported to me that he had
seen tractor near Antwerp, which
was able to climb over rough ground
and which might supply the principle
of the machine for which we were
searching.
Il went to see the machine and
found farmer at work with 1t in his
field. Without letting him know my
identity or the purpose of my ques-
tioning, | succeeded in making him
demonstrate it's working to me. I
pretended to be enthusiastic about it
and the farmer caught something of
my enthusiasm and tried to show it
on to the best possible advantage. He
climbed over some of the toughest
ground he could find. Immediately
saw the possibilities in the tractor.
When the war started, events
moved with such rapid succession
that il was October before we were
able to give our attention to the de-
Velopment Of the tank. am not an
inventor, but I obtained the services
Of two officers who are inventors and
we set about making a war machine
along entirely new lines The devel-
opment of the machine was slow and
it was almost two years before the
first tank appeared on the field to
terrify the Germans"
In the September number of the
Strand Magazine, Colonel Swinton
told of the difficulty In finding a name
for the new Juggernaut. It was nee
essary that the name should reveal
nothing to the Germans. Finally the
word Tank" was chosen because it
was so non-eommittal. Says Colonel
Swinton in the Strand: aside from
being called Panzerkraftwagen and
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES auto
mobil' by the Germans, the machines
were otherwise misealled."
Big Ones and Little Ones
Colonel Swinton told of the fear
Of the German Intelligence service