Norwich bulletin., 1918-11-29
STORIES OF THE WAR
Fighting in The Two Man Tank

Fighting in The Two Man Tanks.
 Correspondence of The Associated Press):
 American fighters in the French two-man tanks ran into some hot work in front of Romagne during the American army's advance along the west bank of the Mouse early in October and Sergeant James Avertt, of Birmingham, Alabama, with his buddy" did their share in giving the Hun his due Avertt's buddy was killed in the thick of the fight by a bullet that entered a peep hole in the side of the tank and struck him fair in the face.
 It was during the American push" in the Argonne sector. Avertt's tank ] went along with a lot of other l brother" tanks in line with the American infantrymen crowding them in the rear. Avertt was the machine gunner of his tank while his buddy ran the engine and steered the tank 1 T was so near a number of Ger mans encountered in shallow trench that I could see the terror on their faces when my gun began to let fly i bullets almost in their faces" Ser geant Avertt said. These were the first Boches I ran into on this drive and I certainly let them have | them have it as fast as my old ma chine could fire, and that was some fast, and I just kept going ahead and pounding away until every last one
 of them was stretched out on the ground.
 Passing beyond this hastily dug
 trench, I in the meantime watching
 my brothers on my right and left
 and at the same time keeping tab on ! hn dnrICnh0US nr11 rot e;n of alfttle batch of Germans behind 8
 hump in the hill along the roadway,
 or what had been & roadway before
 our heavy artillery opened up that morning. These were machine gun
 ners I soon learned, and bullets began
 to splash off the tanks sides partic-
 ularly those which struck a glancing
 blow.
 'T ordered my tank buddy at the
 wheel to keep after those gunners if
 it cost us all four wheels. He did,
 and we went up after them sort of sideways, and I got around on to the
 side of that hump, and my brother
 on the other side was doing the same,
 and we wiped that bunch out in a
 jiffy-I believe it was by enfilading
 fire, as the officers call it."
 Sergeant Avertt explained that the
 tank men, all of whom were Ameri- I cans using two men tanks invented . by the French, always watched each
 other closely, or endeavored to, the
 idea being to keep a hundred yards or so apart for their mutual protection, : and it being important also that they } not get too far ahead of the infantry Just beyond the hump was clump , of woods, and we began to pour bull lets into that, Sergeant Avertt con- tinued, land for time there was l some smoke arising above the tree I tops so we knew there were. Boches , in there. About four of us opened
 up In full force and showered that woods with lead.
 7 'The machine gun answers were
 pretty stiff for awhile, as they went } forward but I was just kept pepper : Ii ing away and talking to my buddy
 all the time and telling him what we , were going to do-clean out that
 woods. My brothers, on either side ? someway had the same hunch. The l doughboys back of me too were firing [ right along with us and the Boche ir , that tticket must have thought al hell had broken loose, because first : thing knew the firing virtually