The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1918-09-06
TALE OF LIFE NV A TANK
CAPTAIN or Britannia Describes
Charge Im Steel Monster.


How mer live and fight IL a tank,
that steel home which H. fn reality
a prison fUr itg gallant crew, iS CO.
ecrfbed in a recent book, Life in q
Tank by Capt Richard Haigh
ny HcuEhtDn, Mifain & co.., the com
mAnder OF the British tank Britannia
Almost stined, vet IT'D and lighting,
knowing little oG what A. happening
outside their steel prison that's lie
fn a tank, al is pictured by the follow
ing from the STORY.
The attack was timed for dawn
Am hour before, while At was still a.
black ae pitch, the tanks moved again
for their final starting point Our
machine was the first tO 90.
@CheerO! the men called a. W.
cIambered ID. Good luck!"
A heavy silence hung over every
thing-tEle kind that always precedes
"a bOmbardment Presumably only
the attacking forces feel this. It Is
@ sickening quiet, To- loud ln Itself
that IL makes ones heart beat faster.
1T Is because one is listening 80 IN
tently fOr the guns tO break out that
all other sounds have lost their sig
nificance. One seems to have become
alI earG-tO have nO sense Of sight
VI touch OIL taste or smell.
The strain is beginning to be felt.
Although one is protected from ma
chine-gun fire in tank, the sens OF
confinement is at times terrible. One
does mot know what is happening OUT
side his little steel prison One often
cannot see where the machine is go
inE. The noise inside IL deafening,
the heat terrific. Bombs shatter on
the roof and on all sides. Bullets
Spatter savaEcly against the sides of
the walls. There I'D an awful lack or
knowledge; feeling of blind help
lessness att being cOoped up- One is
entirely at the mercy OH the biz shells
If a she'll hits tank near the petrol
tank the men may perish by ire,
without a chance Of escape.
Slowly the minute hand crept round
to- the half hour and the men who
had crawled on To the top OF the ma
chine slipped back into their steel
home. Doors were bolted and port
holes shut, save fOr the tiny Sits 1n
front OF officer and driver, through
which they peered- The engine -
ready to start The petrol was OH
and flooding. They waited quietly.
With the crash and swish OF thou
sands of shells, the guns smashed the
silence Instantly the crash OF their
explosion lit I'D the opposite trenches.
For a fraction Of second the thought
came to me how wonderful 1T Is that
man could produce sound to which
Nature had mo equal either in vio-
lence or intensity. But the time was
Tor action, not reflection.
Start her up" yelled the officer-
But the engine would not fire.
A bit of tinkering with the carbu-
rotor and the engine purred softly
Its noise was drowned In the pande-
nonium raging without. The driver
let it'll the clutch and the monster
moved forward On its errand OF de-
struction.
Flashes of the shell fire and TIE
bursts from the shrapnel Lit up that
part of the Hindenburg line that lay
on THE other side df the barrier One
hundred and fifty yards and the tank
was almost on top of the barricade.
Bombs were exploded Oh each side
The officer slammed down the shut
tiers of the portfolios in front OF him
and his driver Bullets IT, said
shortly.
with the portfolios shut, there was
no chance for the bullets To enter
through the little pin points directly
above the Sits in the shutters.
Suddenly dull explosion was
heard On the roof or the tank
ssThey're bombing us, sir" one OF
the gunners cried. The officer sig
nailed him and he opened fire with
his sponsor We plunged along amid
"a hail of bullets, while bombs Sex
ploded all around VI.
The captain and the driver, with
that instructive sense of direction
that comes tO men who control these
machines, felt that they were hover
ing ON the edge of German trench.
Then a sudden flash from the *
plosion OF a huge shell showed them
four or five gray figures about tn
yards away, standing or the paraDet
and Historically hurting bombs at the
machine. They might a. well nave
been throwing pebbles Scornfully
the tank slid over the wide trench
and landed with a crash in the bot
tOn. For moment she lay there
without moving The Germans
thought she was struck. They came
running along. thinking to grapple
with her. But they never reached
her, for ait once our guns from both
sides opened fire and the boches dis
appeared
The huge machine dragged itself
up the 1O-foot side df the trench e.
III neared the top 1t seemed as III the
ENGINE would not take the final pull.
The driver took cunt his clutch, put
his brake On hard and raced the en-
CINE. Then letting the clutch in with
"a jerk, the tank pulled itself right
on tO Tie point or balance and tipped
slowly over what had been the para
met of the German position.
Now III was I'm the wire which lay
in front of the trench. The captain
siEnaled Swing round to the left,
parallel I'd the lay OF the line. q mo-
ment,s pause and it moved forward
relentlessly, crushing everything ln
its path and sending out q stream OF
bullets from every turret to any OF
the enemy that dared show them
selves above the top or the trench
NJ wm