A THRILLING STORY.

Timaru Herald, Volume CVIII, Issue 16822, 30 May 1919, Page 11

A THRILLING STORY.

DUEL BETWEEN TWO TANKS'. When tank inefa tank there surely came a Such an encounter is described by Arthur Blakes.cy ju the 'Llustratcd World.' Noise docs not irjghlten ono 0 n t'lie battlefield, ho says, but intense quiet doss. Even a big bombardment of "whizzbangs,* and "coai-boxev" cannot get a soldier's nerve Lke the ghastly silence that sometimes comes just, braf ore dawn. This silenecs seemed especially real ,to Mr Blakesley at Seicheprey, and it was the prelude to an exciting 'conflict., described as follows:

had to gelfc four tanks tip .to t'fc staging—star-shell camouflage—just 90 yards behind the Yankee firing bays'. I heard tibe .Leviathan and Mary Ann--tlie .two ; 'fcalnks that preceded ns into •position—start, and though .they lumbered out through t!hW darkness at'lessthan three miles an. hour, I waited in anxious, expectation for the German star-sheHs tlhiat woultt. tsll us that their approach had been, discovered. ' It seamed as if their exhausts made more racket than all'the brass'in Sousa's Band. ~Whep €he Vampire—our.. .cater-: pillar fort—got under way I was Certain that the Kaiser, back in Potsdam, must be wakened from his doped dreams of conquest. Of course, it "all .sounds much worse from the inside of a "Willie."

When we arrived,. However/ and crawled oult to snatch a few minutes' rest before zero hour, yon would hare, thought tlhat the array of. ditches and wire that..showed' faintly ,in the dim moonlight were furrows on. an . .cloned farm, for all the sighs of Ib.uman occupancy you couftl hear or. see. jit was ominous to me. Shortly; Messiek named it, though hone of-us agreed with him at the time. "I'll bet," said he, "the Bodb.es are going\to start a push too!" ■

That his guess was absolutely' correct matftered tremendously, inasmuch as- ift gave opportunity of one of the strangest thiols that oyer occurred on thei western front —a battle of ' tank against tank, ia which horse-power counted /as much as tins projectiles fired. ' These. •rteisl-cT.ad jg'ants had met before, and doubtless have met sine/?., but never at grips as at Seicheprey, to the best of my knowledge. As I was firing a sixpoundisr for the Vampire, I saw all.tha'b occurred. And what a duel it was!

The battle must have something of a mutual surprise. I know thati our officers did n'ot anticipate the Boohe rflish, aTi'd from residts I am certain, that! they did niot exnect us. PrompSfy at 4.45 a.m. tflii?ir batteries smarted. ... 0"r zero was to have been 5 o'clock, '.but when thp German prims.berrau:their'concert a burry-ujy order, .-went-, round;; and we \ were -offV ; "•'-";" /'.';-;•".-■;' -.-•v; ; -: -.... V;Nq^ ; TO--NOi^/' :: -^' v :''>-'-.'

"Op we 'tuted'' oyer t'iUv parapet,and : -bailye'a;; down vviui our- nose' ui tti'e "iiiiia. JNai-lu&r was sending . up flares, because of then - own attackers, ;=<,- id was aaa-ji as nuamgnt in Ainct The H&feii;- sof expioauig jcL.Jii. in tne : t,'rciiui(ss we naa Q t ui&i>..'u and in tin>,itun.. ditches-; far udeau 'punctuated by 'the oomma-Jike- flicker of rifle and laaohinegun lire, wei<3 the. only Lghts to guide w Mr; driver. -^ s a result we"'floundered' ■straight into our own wire. A way had been prepared, -and. thte we had. to find. Out we "backed,- the; rusty barbs scratching on our 'steel sicias. t.Two more futile attempts Tverc made before the gate was located. Wehad wasted time aud were bdhind schedu]e. Our driver threw the Vampire into high gear, and at risk of an accidiant that would put us hors de combati for the n-'ght we reeled alfong into shell craters aud soft mud, bat always floundering out somehow. N0w.,1 couM locate the line "of German trenches,"and filtenng through the wire in little groups came the Germans. They were not visible as so many shapes to me, but they fired as they came. Suddenly there came- a terrible shock, throwing me forward against my gun, •and the Vampire stopped as though she had encountered a. stone wail. "Axe v.e hitp" I yelled in futile question; the d'n was so tfrrific from our engine that I scarcely could hear my own i vords. Twlvce our driver racd the ergine; twice he let. in the clutch si ddenly, thinking to surmiouni the obstacle in our path. Each time we shopped d/ad. "WMle 1 was puzzling over this—there are no cliffs in that particular sector of No Man's Land apwnst vlrch we could have run—a sudden glare shone in my eyesi! The obstacle, wlnatrver it was, carred an srormdus search! l 'trht

A half-second later bur own., light went on, and then, to my 1 orroi\ I beheld our antagonist, one of thecieraxi, tic German tanks, no=© on: against lis! A B.EAL INSPIRATION, I think that both of -us. were com-ple|De-y.'• stunned- for several '-•'•: 'Mima. I saw the gun ia -their top turret depress and fire. An expuqsive bullet burst just behind %o crew of the secondary gears. I awoke vdth a start. The big enemy ,tan!k earned one, at least of .Dhe anti-tank ri&ss, firing highpowerexploding, bullets made of pierce armour. "■•..'■

I 'whirled the vertical lever, deposed my gun. as far as possible, and let go. The shot cannoned off their rt-uf, exploding, and doing not a particle of damage. Again and again, I toed, hut with no more success. _ The truth, began to dawn npoin me; mine was the only gun. we carried tfbat could do execution against a German tank and..-my gun could not be depressed suniciently to register a squarte hit. The onily possiblity nf success lay m drawing off far enough sfo.that >ve otuld get them in the side. I jumped down and rail forward. The driver was slouched in. his seat, deadi An explosive bullet had finished ham. I jerked him K out of fbe seat and grabbed Lieutenant M , our commander. I bad no intenltian 0111 ceremony. I pulled him over into the driver's seat, end yelled the terrible story in ..lis car. He understood, and threw the Vammr* into reverse. As we backed away, however, and I went bade to my gun, the Hun tank gave us no chance. They followed us, keeping out of range. All would, have been over for us had not Lie* M °een seized with a real inspiration. As wo backed over a shell crater he stopped. Tho second the nosfe'of-the Boche came up from the crater after us'he threw the Vampire into low gar forward. Our angular nose slid Straight under the nose of the Ifaa tank, f« rcin S her mto tho She waTin our range;..we w»a ir.mune from her fire!;.; \2 v •-: 5 V;. : - .* y.

Like a madman I ga vo »e '■? 6 ler tferough her floor. As shell after shell tore into "her she tried ,t 0 back av ay. lint airways' Lieutenant *' ndvfltcfd, forcing her rip all the t l 'lo 1 hen she switched tactics anil tre r l to slither over rs. hut \vs stooped -that by rev('Tsh t (r. A r l the tim- 01 my six-pQimuer was knockin sr l)p.r +<j hits.

Suddenly the- Hiwi tank stopnfld. A tremendous explosion tors her sides cnfc. c, T>aikin<r us »- if an «?a**!ift'Lists lind Thfp cv.nv il le . t P flare of her petrol. I Mow our Lai-tie was awih . ■