STUNNED BY BLOWS.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 24 November 1925, Page 9

STUNNED BY BLOWS.

TANK CREWS HARDSHIPS. Modern warfare as now exemplified on Salisbury Plain (says the London Morning Post) .in all its completeness for the fimb time, offers alluring prospects for the adventurous. Comparatively few persons have crawled into a -modern tank and shared a taste of. the life' lived there. Comparatively few persons again have any desire to submit to. the experience. The prospect is. not inviting enough, except to those of a really adventurous disposition. It is an adventure, and is not unaccompanied by danger. The cavalry tanks bring with it trials and tribulations. The earlier machine was not wholly free from discomfort; the crew always got a severe shaking, but the limited speed did not provide the surprises that are incidental to the mobile tanks, from whicli so much is expected during this month. Already members of the Tank Corps have been rendered unconscious by hard blows received consequent on the lurching of the machine when surmounting obstacles. This one lesson, a serious one, has already been learned, and the authorities are considering what can be done to protect the crew against the inevitable consequences of speed. Under the best conditions life inside a tank is very rough. The life of the torpedo man or the submarine crew is superior to that of the tank crew. On account of its shape and size, and the armament carried, the tank does not allow of the provision of adequate accommodation for the men. Internally the tank is a mass oi machinery and guns. Of standing room there is none, and the seating accommodation is by no means appai’r ent. The men of the Tank Corps call it a “bus.” Is this because it is far removed from anything of that kind? The fact is that the designers have to take all the available room for the driving powers, its protective armour, and for the guns, and the crew have to make the best of the accommodation that is left. VIOLENT MOTION. .

But it is here that the danger to personnel creeps in, and it may conceivably happen that in advancing over rough country and negotiating obstacles, the whole crew might receive injuries which would render them quite unfit to “carry on.” In peace time this would be bad enough. In war it would be nothing short off a calamity. Movement along a liardrinetalled road at five miles to the hour is not the easiest method of locomotion. The heat from the engine and the .smell of the oil are both disagreeable and not calculated to keep the crew in the best condition for service. The continual grind of the caterpillar traction is not pleasant. It is far removed from the easy motion offered by pneumatic tyres. Accelerate the .speed to twenty or thirty miles per hour and the discomfort is considerably increased. But this is luxury compared to that of a cross-country journey at even a slow rate of speed. The more rapid the motion the greater the degree of knocking about does the crew experience. OR,ASH. HELMET WANTED. The violent motion of the vessel when negotiating folds in the ground, climbing a bank or surmounting other obstacles is alarming. The personnel are thrown first one side and then the other and forward and backward. There are no padded supports. All is hard steel to right and left of them, and at awkward angles. It is in these circumstances that some of the crews have been stunned by being thrown against the machinery *on the angular pieces of .steel that obtrude on every hand to-day. The tankman wears a soft Tam a Elian ter as his headdress. It is suggested that this does- not- give sufficient nroteotion to the men, and that a crash helmet should be worn. Experience suggests that something in the nature ofTpneumatic uniform is wanted.