TERRORS OF MODERN WAR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19721, 22 August 1927, Page 9

TERRORS OF MODERN WAR.

NEW MECHANISED ARMY. MONSTERS DEALING DEATH. TANKS LIKE FIERY DRAGONS. MANOEUVRES IN BRITAIN. B,y Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright. (Received August 20, 5.5 p.m.) A. and N.Z.-Sun. LONDON, Aug. 20. The August manoeuvres of the mechanised sections of the Army were begun yesterday on Salisbury Plain. There were 200 tanks engaged and a column of mechanical units, including armoured cars, wireless vans and sixwheeled transport vehicles. A surprise attack by aeroplanes was a feature of the opening stage of the mimic warfare. Fierce-looking mechanical monsters careered over Salisbury Plain, carrying all before them. They provided a terrible glimpse of the warfare of the future. This costly mechanised arm of the British Army is an army on wheels. Motor vehicles replaced the old-time infantryman, and even khaki was replaced by blue overalls Terrible Din of Battle,. One-man tanks, tankettes, high-speed mobile guns, six-wheeled and caterpillar motor-cars carrying signallers and Lewis gun crews, and 12-ton tanks equipped with wireless, went straight across countrv on a line of seven miles, amidst a terrific noise and smoke and clatter. The engagement resembled an evil dream, with mythical grey monsters spitting- flames and death. The deadly single-seater fighting planes swept the crews of the tanks and armoured cars with a deadly fire. Tanks capable of an incredible speed plunged here and there on the undulating downland, and closely Resembled cruisers rising and falling on the crest of the waves. The modern tank is veritably like the Wooden Horse of Troy, with warriors concealed inside, and is very different from the first tanks used in the war at Pozieres. Through a small aperture the oilbesmeared faces of the crew could be seen as they worked in the bowels of the machines. Death From Air and Land. The one-man tanks travelled at 20 miles an hour, while the driver manipulated the wheel with one hand and fired his machine-gun with the other. The machine gunners in the six-wheeled lorries had Lewis guns pointing skyward, which dealt death to the hovering planes. A gigantic track machine known as the "Dragon" hauled 60-pounder guns up hill and down dale as if they were toy cannons. It carried on its armour-plated deck a crew of 12 gunners, while in the hold it had 172 13-pounder shells, which a quickfirer spat out at the rate of five a minute. In spite of the terrifying nature of the attack it was discovered that the mechanical force is vulnerable to both gas and aircraft. The whole line was halted in order that the mert might don gas-masks. Imagination can conceive nothing more weird than the sight of the goggle-eyed gasmasked figures driving their nightmare machinery over the open country at a breakneck speed. The tanks tilted perilously as they crashed over breaks in the ground. The crews held on with the utmost difficulty, and driving and controlling the monsters became more fatiguing than route marching. It is interesting to note that a baby tank costs £SOO, a six-wheel lorry £7OO, while a "Dragon" costs £SOOO, and a tank £7500. Stiff Test Tor Machines. The problem set to the Seventh Mechanised Brigade was that of moving across country into the firing line, under the eyes of experts who watched from the hilltops. The advancing brigade was heavily attacked by aeroplanes and by gas. The line started in a seven-mile column and then changed front as it moved across country. It went over rough undulating land, in order to test its powers on a hill with a gradient of one in three. The ground was greasy after rain, and in places the vehicles failed to grip and slid backward, but generally they surmounted all obstacles with great ease. Once a tank broke down and held up a section of the column. Like a flash squadrons of fighting and bombing planes > swooped down on the column at 160 miles an hour. Fast Camouflaged Tankettes. The machine-gunners aboard the camouflaged tankettes retaliated with a heavy fire. The column resumed its advance after a delay of a quarter of an hour. The lorries that were equipped with wireless maintained communication between the various columns. The water-carts and cookers were motor-driven, and another motor column transported the bridge-building section. Finally the main body of "caterpillars" brought up the infantry in full battle order. Particular interest was shown in 'the tankettes, which the troops have nicknamed "crabs." They are manned -by a driver and a machine-gunner, and are extremely fast on level ground. They use balloon tyres alternatively with the caterpillar tracks for rough country. They can easily be camouflaged.