MECHANISED ARMY.

Manawatu Standard, Volume IV, Issue 222, 20 August 1931, Page 8

MECHANISED ARMY.

AMOURED CARS AND TANKS. All the nations are watching closely the development of tanks and armoured cars as an essential fighting unit of the British Army, according to Lieutenant-Colonel D. H. Pratt, who addressed the members of the Legacy Club in Sydney recently. Colonel Pratt is tank instructor to the Australian aimy, on loan from the British army. During the critical engagement on August 8, 1918, tilde were upwards of 2000 British tanks operating, and, on the whole, they justified their construction, said Lieutenant-Colonel Pratt. There were now four tank battalions in Britain and 10 armoured car companies, eight being in India and two in Egypt. The type of tanks in use in Australia was being superseded in Britain by a more modem type. The new heavy tank was of 16 tons. A lighter tank had been devised principally for scouting and clearing the way for the heavier machine. The problem of the light tank was to devise a machine of sufficient mobility, stable enough to ensure accurate gun fire. He believed that type had been devised, and that the new machine in ordinary crosscountry work would be able to move at the rate of 30 miles an hour.

For use on tracks or roads, the armoured car was. considered best. It had been greatly improved in recent years. The newer models had the engine at the rear, to ensure greater coolness for the crew when operating in tropical countries. Another development was the improvement of the working parts of both tanks and armoured cars, so as to make them more accessible and of greater durability, without decreasing the mobility.