MACHINE WARFARE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 287, 4 December 1930, Page 26

MACHINE WARFARE.

LATEST FIGHTING MACHINES. DEMONSTRATION AT ALDERSHOT. ' WHAT TANKS CAN DO. .. (From Our Own Correspondent.) LONDON, October IS.

The military demonstration arranged -by- the Army Council to enable the Dominion Prime Ministers and cither delegates to the Imperial Conference to see the progress that has been made ill mechanisation and scientific development in the Army, took place to-day. The first part of the programme, conducted at : Aldcrshot, began with a tactical operation in which the opposing troops' brought into play many of the latest fighting machines and weapons. Following this was a parade of transport vehicles in use in the Army, intended to illustrate the adaptation of the commercial transport vehicle to military needs. Every one of the ninteen different types of vehicle displayed was an example of a commercial model converted at short notice to the needs of the battlefield. Next came a display of experimental transport vehicles, including six-wheel and eight-wheel trucks, motor cycles, jnqtor cars and tractors. In a series of spectacular operations over rough country, including specially prepared pits and ditches, and sandhills with, a slope of anything up to 25 degrees, these vehicles demonstrated the remarkable -progress that has been made during the past ten years in methods of wartime transport.

Amazing Tanks. Even move amazing was the display of tanks, armoured cars, tractors and Carden-Lloyds. The trend, it was explained by tha 'announccr by means of a loud speaker, is all towards light and medium tanks- The-light tanks, flat and crab-like in appearance, are for scouting purposes, and for closc-in fighting. They are capable of great speed, and at the same time are very inconspicuous. The "stunts" performed by the medium tanks brought most of the crowd in the grandstand to their feet. For example, a, very fast 16-ton machine, crashed through a high brick wall a foot thick like a fist through a piece ,of newspaper, and went on its way smothered with bricks and great chunks of the wall. And a medium Vickers tank, armed with machine guns, rumbled up the hill towards the stand, and swerved suddenly just in time to avoid wiping out half a dozen Premiers and generals. In all we were shown 26 of these extraordinary machines. To the visitor, encountering them for the first time, their appearance is eerie in the extreme. To see them wallowing over broken country, swerving and performing rapid manoeuvres, and roaring up hills covered a foot deep in loose sand, is like gazing on some prehistorio _ playground where strange monsters disport themselves. The tank race held at the conclusion of this section of the programme was as amusing as it was instructive. Tiic course was a mile Ipng, and nine machines competed, beginning with one !of the old war-time" tanks,_ which was given a start of halftho distance, and ending with one of the latest 16-ton tanks. In between these were several other typee of tank, including light twoman machines and Carden-Lloyds, and one or two of the heavier ones. The 16-ton .tank, starting from scratch, roared out over the course at a speed of 2£ to 30 miles an hour, and finished an easy winner. * The spectators were then motored to Sandhurst, where a demonstration of the most recent developments in Army bridge-building was conducted on the lake. The progress in mechanised warfare made during the past decade has entailed dealing with much heavier loads than those with which the bridgebuilders had to cope in the course of the Great. War. Several ; types of bridges, carrying up to 19 tons* were demonstrated on this occasion, and the speed with which they were erected was really remarkable.

Field Devices. At the conclusion of this display we proceeded to the Staff College at Cam* bcrley for lunch. In the afternoon a demonstration was given to show the latest ' types of field-machines— pelt saws, pile drivers; motor and hand pumps and the like. Of 6pecial interest was an enormous searchlight, the angle of which is controlled alternatively by a sound detector or a telescope. The operators pick up the enemy aircraft by means of these instruments and the searchlight, through a «y6tem of electric controls, is swung to a corresponding angle. This light is many more times efficient than those used during the war. The whole of the proceedings demonstrated in the most epectacular fashion the enormous strides made recently in the mechanisation of war. Indeed, the marvellous complexity of some of the models put one in mind of Samuel Butler's prophecy of the time when machines should revolt against the domination of man, and rule us as we rule them today. Watching them, one could not help feeling that it was but a short step from the mechanism to the organism; a.nd that thee© wonderful machines, developed a little further along the present lines, might achieve something in the nature of independent will-power, and pass beyond our control. The Army officials present assured us that progress in mechanisation has by no means ex-; hausted itself, but is still proccding by leaps and bounds. What point it will have reached in another ten years time requires considerable exercise of _ tlie imagination. As one of the tank-drivers remarked to me in regard to his own particular make of machine, They 11 have them flying through the air yet.