ORIGIN OF TANKS

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 27 November 1925, Page 5

ORIGIN OF TANKS

EARLY EXPERIMENTS. NAVAL CREATIONS. INTERESTING WAR HISTORY. by cable— press association— copyright. Received Nov. 27, 10-20 a.m. LONDON. Nov 26. Mr Winston Churchill was called ns *a Crown' witness .in tne Captain Bede Bentley claim for £300,000 irom t Crown alleging he was the first'inventor of'tanks. He detailed the history of armoured ears during the xvai. When he was First Lord of the Admiralty he told how Admiral Sueter raised a squadron which operated most successfully until checked bv deep ruts hv the Germans. ‘‘We were then faced with the necessity of meeting new obstac-es, and the idea ot vehicies capable of crossing broken countrj fera dually took shape in my mind and in the minds of the officers concerned. i summoned Admiral Bacon an a ® V him if he could devise a machine which would cross trenches. Admiral Bacon was familiar with the tractor cater--ni'lars, so I directed him to construct one. He furnished lii s own desigu, and I instructed him to proceed with the construction, but other developments supervened. Admiral Bacon s design failed ±o pass a rigid War Office test. Later experiments were made with steam rollers, which were coupled together, but these were unsuccessful. Although engaged in other grave duties, this matter constantly «ng a S ed mind, and in January, 1915, I wrote to the Prime Minister suggesting that the idea he developed. This was passed on to Earl Kitchener and then to the Master General of Ordnance, but nothing resulted. Difficulties in the ivav of manufacture were most serious, f and the practical advantages were doubtful, so the whole proposal was pigeon-holed. In March, 1910, Sir E. Tennyson D’Eyncourt, Director of Naval Construction, and Chief Technical Adviser to the Admiralty, reported that there were two designs that could be made—one with great wheels and the other based bn caterpillar action. I thereupon ordered six of one and twelve of the other. This order wii s interrupted by the Government’s resignation. When a move was made to drop the whole thing subsequently, Earl Balfour was able to save the caterpillar machine, which had previously been ordered to be destroyed. This machine was identical with the other tank and was tlie prototype of all tanks used during the war.” Mi’ Winston Churchill said that he did not hear Captain Bentley’s name mentioned in connection with the matter, which Earl Kitchener would almost certainly have mentioned to him (Mr Churchill).