INSIDE A TANK

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16889, 29 December 1916, Page 3

INSIDE A TANK

DIAIU'i OF A WKEK'S WORK,

"GRIMLY IHTMOROUS."

Tho work's work of a " tank" on tho Western front is told in diary form, in tho Miuitthoster Guardian, hy a. young Australian r-oldior who was -wound' d wiiilo scrvinj; with ono of those new ciiy:iiLe of war:--Monday.

Out for first time. Strange sensation. Woitio than being in a submarine. At, lirst unablo to set' anything, but imagined a lot. Bullets bejjfui to rain liko h.-iiJ-stoiuM on u galvanised roof at iirst, then liko u series at hanuuor blows. We passed through it all unscathed. Suddenly wo gave a. terrific lurch. I thought tvo wero booked through. Look-out said we -were astride an enomy trench. " (.live them hell" was tho order. Wo gave them it. Our grcis Hiked and swept trenches right and left. Got a peep at frightened iluns. It was grimly humorous. They tried to bolt like soared rabbits, but wero shot down in bunches beforo getting , to their burrows. Machine guna brought forward. Started vio:Ous rattlo oil oar "hide." Not tho least impression was mada Shells begun to buret. Wo moved on and overtook some more frightened Huns. Out their ranks to ribbons with our iire. They ran liko men possessed. Officer tried to raJly them. They awaited our coming for a while. As soon as our guns began to epit at them they wero off oneo more. Infantry rounded them up, and survivors surrendered. Very curious about us. Stood, open-mouthed and wide-eyed, watching, but weren't much the wiser. Experience was not altogether pleasant at first. "Tank" sickness is as bad as seasickness until you net used to it.

JOLTS AND "STRUMJUNG." Tuesday. Off for another cruiso. Peppering begun at once. Thought old thing was ff°' rl K t° be downed in shower of bullets. Things quieted down quickly. Silly blighters thought they could rush tho "tank" like they would a fort. Dashed up from all Slides. We fired at them point-blank. Devilish plucky chaps some of them for all their madness. The survivors had another try. We spat at them venomously. More of them went down. Tho blessed old tub gave a sudden jerk. God in heaven, thought I, it's good-byo to earth; but it wasn't. Only somo Hun dead and wounded wo had skidded into. The rain of bullets resumed. Jt was like as if hundreds of rivets wero being hammered into tho hide of the tank. We rushed through. Soon the music had charms, and we got to like the regular rhythm of it. Suddenly a jolt, and our hearts jolted m our mouths in sympathy. Nothing doing in tho mishap line. Only somo unwonted obstacle. Heavier " strumming" on our keyboard outside, and more regular. Machine guns at it now. Straddled 'on a« though wo liked it. A tremendous thud. Tho whole outfit seemed done for. Nearly jumped out of my skin. Looked at each other, and wondered what it was. Still a roof'over our bends, thank God. Thought wo had got on tho rocky road to Dublin, but it was only another Hun trench. Our "spitting dovile" opened fire, and swept tho trench clear of the enemy right and left. Some Huns tried tho rushing dodg-e. Their rushing daye are over.

ANGRY GERMANS.

Wednesday.

Early start. Roughest voyage yet. Waves of fire seemed to break over us. Tremendous crash. Then another, and several others at intervals. Silence for a tirno. Party of Huns camo to meet U3 outside tho village. Very etout old gentleman in front. Thought it was tho lV'la.yor and villago big-pots to give us a civic welcome. Mistaken. They meant to g-ivo warm reception, but not as wo understood tho word. Let fly with machine guns. Then tried silly bon-rding tociicis. We laughed. Our guns answered theirs. Tank Reception Committee dispersed in a cloud of smoke and flame; «o trailing clouds of glory. Fat old gentleman only visible member of deputation. Stood open-rnouthed. Purple with rage. Tank boro down. Old gent started to ran. Funnier than a eackrace. Old gent flung Jiiniself to earth, with many signs of surrender.

Thursday. Got into tho villago and passed down between two irregular rows of wrecked houses. Hundreds of Huns camo rushing up from collars and from behind ruins to see us. Some had eyes staring out of head. Looked surprised and frightened. One blighter mado a rush at i! 8 with a clubbed rifle. Made a terrible swipo at tho tank. Smashed his rifle, and made a nasty noiso on our roof. Hurt himself more than he hurt us. Off for a joy ride after some nico Hune who took to flight as we came up.

Friday.

Early afloat. Usual showers of bullets and a few shells on tho way. Got right across a trench. Made the sparks fly. Went along parapet routing out Huns everywhere. Enemy terriiiod. Tried to run. but couldn't keep it up under our fira. Threw up tho sponge, and surrendered in batches. One cheeky chap said _he didn't think it was fair to fight with such things. Wo said that was our affair, and wo could stand the racket Germany cared to make over it. Asked ono chap if ho thought wo should have got permission from tho Kaiser beforo" using them. Didn't see tho joko. Took about 200 prisoners. Killed and wounded as many morn. Tired out when through. SMASHING AN ENE\ri r AMBUSH. Saturday. On tho move beforo breakfast. Terrible crash first go off. Thought we had collided with a wandering world. Weathered the storm. Got busy on enemy trenches, llaiv good sport. Enemy tried a surpuso for infantry—Yorksiiireuien—advancing -to attack. Wo tried a. surprise, too, and ours camo off first. Huns weren't pleased. Didn't think it was playing the game according to Pocsdam ruies. We waddled into thoir ambush for tho attacking troops. Never saw men so frightened. Fled pat stricken in all directions. Only a few chaps stayed behind and tried to stop us by machine-gun _ fire. Smashed them to bits, and left thoir machine guns to be picked up by tho Yorksliiremen they hoped to surprise.

Went snorting after tho enemy wherever wo could find them. Their losses wt-ro terrible. Later strong detachments tried to make their way back supported by big guns.. Lined up across tho road, and gave them hot time. Every time they tried to rush through wo ripped their ranks to bits. At last they gavo it up. Very wise of them.

Sunday. Good work of frightening ITuns continued. Better day, better deed. Fritz didn't think that. Blighters opened rifle firo on iis at 200 yards. It went like water off a duck's back. Fritz couldn't make it out. Kept up the (ire, but got a bit. merry as tho blessed oid thing kept waddlinp; up to hint Ladled out death as you might vamp out indifferent music from a hurdy-gurdy. Fritz got fits. No fight left in him. Some of them acted as though they believed that wo used our tanks for making sausages out of prisoners. We had a lot of trouble explaining that once they surrendered they were safe. Finished an exciting , week. Got plenty of fun, but ono wants a good rest after a spell with a tank.