SECRET HISTORY OF THE TANK.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XLIX, Issue 13906, 6 November 1919, Page 2

SECRET HISTORY OF THE TANK.

SIR A. STERN'S FIGHT WITH THE WAR OFFICE. THE PREMIER'S PART. So many celebrities have claimed to bo "the inventor" of the wonderful tanks that played so great a part in tlie winning of the war that even now most, people have but hazy notions concerning the origin and development of the weapon so dreaded by the German soldier. Now Sir Albert Stern has lifted the veil and has told the story of how the tank was born, and of the uphill fight with the authorities which was necessary to secure its adoption. In the course of a striking article in the September Strand Magazine, Sir Albert traces the history of the landship. It was at a supper at Murray's m 1914 that the idea of a great, landship capable of crossing the Rhine was discussed. Then came plans of a superarmoured car, and Mr Churchill t became interested. The result of Ins interest was the appointment of a Landship Committee. No Government Department would consent to house tlie new organisation, however, and so Sir Albert, then a leutenant in the R.V.V.R., took omces himself and. thereby made mortal enemies at the Admiralty. Mr Eustace d Eyueourt was the chairman ot the committee, mid be had as lus ehiofr lieutenants Major Hethermgton anu Colonel Crompton. Sir Albert bteni was secretary. So rapidlv did the committee work that in August. 1915, Mr Tritton and Lieut. Wilson had ready a full-size model of a tank afterwards known as "Little Willie." , , Then came a series ol setbacks. Manufacturers were no more lavorably disposed to the new machine than the Admiralty and -"War Office had been, and there, was great difficulty in seeming the necessary parts. Sir Albert tells the interesting story of the evolution of the name "'lank. In 1916 it was suggested that the name "Landship'' should be changed tor secrecv's sake. "Mr d'Eyncourt suggested 'Water Carrier.' In Government offices committees and departments aie known bv their initials. I'or this reason I considered the proposed title wholly unsuitable, and in our search for a. synonymous term we changed 'Water Carrier' to 'Tank.' " . The first- tank. "Mother, was finished on January 20. 1916. and was tried ill Hatfield Park. "Colonel Swinton. who was acting as assistant secretary to the Committee of Imperial Defence, was entrusted with tlie task ol raising and training a corps to man the tanks. The first tanks were sent to France in September, 1916, and were in action seven months alter the order for them had been given." Sir Albert tells a good story ol a Tomuiv's impression of the tanks expressed in a letter to his family. Here it is:-" . . , „ "They can do up prisoners .111 bundles like straw-binders, and, in addition, have, an adaptation of a. printing machine, which enables tlicm to catch the Huns, fold, count, and deliver tliem in quires, every thirteenth man being thrown out a little further than the others. The tanks can truss refractcry prisouers like fowls prepared for cooking, while their equipment renders it possible- for them to charge- into a crowd of Huns, and. by shooting (jut spikes'like piocupine quills, carry oil an opponent on each. Though 'stuck up the prisoners are. needless to say. by no means pround of their position. . . . They can chew up barbed wire and turn ii. into munitions.- They turn over on their backs and catteh live shells in their caterpillar feet, and they can easily be adapted as submarines." . Even after the appearance of thetanks in action the "War Office wa.s by no means favorably disposed towards the new-fangled weapon, and an order for a- thousand tanks was countermanded.

Then followed a dramatic incident. Sir Albert went at once to- Mr Lloyd George, then Secretary of State lor War. He declared that he had heard nothing of the instruction. "I told him," says Sir Albert, "that I could not- stop the order now. Ho could cancel niv appointment, but he could not possibly get me to cancel the order. "Sir William Robertson. Chief of Staff, then appeared, and Mr Lloyd George told him that lie could not understand how the order could be cancelled without his knowledge. Next dav the order was restored.'' Sir Albert's troubles were not- over, however. His fight- with the War Oflice was to go on. How bitter that fight was is shown by the fact that three generals demanded his dismissal for preiTuming to press for more and more tanks. Sir Albert- and bis colleagues won the- day—and helped to win the war.