Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1918-12-19
The Pink-Tailed Tank.

Lumbering, rolling, dipping heavily
into shell holes, heaving clumsily out
of them, moving with motion that
can best be described as something
between that Of half lf-sunken ship and
a hamstrung toad, came His Majestys
land ship Here We Are. Such was tie
appearance OF a British tank that a
writer in the Cornhill Magazine de-
scribes. It dipped its nose and SID
headfrst into a huge she'll crater IN
Iudicrous likeness to a squat bull pup
sitting back on his launches as nc Is
dragged into hole, and thfn as ths
Here We Ares face and gun port eyes
and bent-elbow driving gear appeared
above the crater rim it still more H.
diculously resembled an amazed .oau
.,,o,oino from a rain barrel. FIFTY
ra-de in its wake a line of men followed
to pick up the pieces and the prisoners
The monster waddled on, lurched
checked and steadied itself with its nose
poised over a deep hole, halted and
backed away, and edged nervously
round the rim of the hole. It reached
the barbed-wire entanglements and
waddled through, bursting them apar'
and trailing them in long tangles behind
il. or tramping them calmly under the
churning caterpillar bands. Inc IN
fantry pushed on after it almost with
out casualties, for the tank was drawing
q hurricane of machine-gun bullets that
heat and ratified on its armored sioes
like hail on a windowpane. It wad-
died indifferently through the storm
and, crawling carefully across the Ger
man trench, halted halfway over the
sprinkled bullets UP and down its length
to port and starboard for minu,s
h;tcbed itself over, steered straight
for q are-streaming, machine-gun eni'
hrasure. souirted jet Of lead into .ns
,oouhole, butted at the e'npia.
once or twice, got grip with It's up
ward .sloping caterpillar band' c.lhO'.
;arti,v until it reared on end Ike
sr;ahtened colt, ground its arlvint an.
hands round and round, and feii ~,
ward on its face. Then it crawiea 0u'
of the wreckage, crunching over spllIlt-
~ o.od beams and concrete, hating every
,ow w and then to spray bullets on any
c.ruan ~ who showed himself ana ,'. 1usm
ns''s ;os aside to nose over any suspicious oi
GRANNY before it plodded on III ''
more trenches.
The infantry followed, rounding up
groups of prisoners who crawled' wn..a, Sa
Faced and frightened, from dugoutS anu
trencb corners. Suddenly tren.n
wall gave way, and the stareoaFd S.Se -, g
y, S@t .he Here We Are sank below ns lns
~ After a pause the bands 0esa.
pOce pU,s more to revolve and to cnura 1. .nd Uu,
once . oss,a tt them first cloud OF dust ana u, a
nea,''o s.o y, esrth-made furniture. on , .n'
el0,S "nrd ID above, the infantry stood snrieh. m
gro s,Ouwa with laughter while the Here We e
lHs AFs Dawed out and ho0fed banned oin,sa d
.4s A,e .hs naked light of day a splln'enuu sr,o
into has.,ssa, sns naNsa ehevsdup blanket or o 'To
.ss SsaI' ,sss. back and seat of red-ve,vs' i've
.rr armchair, chair torn gray colt and ,,1.ras ,U'
,orn and muddy pair OF pink ps'"'
tangled t up in a field boot
When the drivers got their grip asa,"
and the Here We Are rolled maiesticallY
forward and up the farther SIDE Oh
hole, one of the soldiers dragged long ns
h..ncb ~ from the debris, slid it up one
leo and down the other of the PINK
nviamas. w tied the boot by its laceS 10 ''l'
tin Il, and thrust the root into a-conve"e" =
op c4sriee Ss in the stern Of the tank.
saaassed. s.sI she rolled her triumphan,
w OsA".s Sc over the captured redouot anu
Say , Nt .hs other side, with the boot "
eOS ss;,a and Jerking and swayine
the end of her pink tail
<S>---