World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives, English
I looked in the direction of the sound and presently there hove in sight
a colossal something of behemoth proportions;--something the like of
which I had never seen or heard of in all my life, and I was stricken
dumb with amazement. A monstrous monstrosity climbed its way without let
or hindrance, up, over, along and across every obstacle in its path.
Presently it reached the top of Pozieres Ridge; every man who could see
had his eyes glued on it. It came down the ridge at about five miles an
hour with two small guns peering out of each side. It was the first
tank! We all thought at first it was an armored car of some kind. Then
it swung off the road, crossing a ditch 8 feet wide and 17 deep and when
we saw it perform this stunt our faculties were for the moment
spellbound, and then we burst into uncontrollable cheering.
From all quarters of the valley soldiers were running to see the
absurdly strange sight; it was as if a general fire alarm had been
sounded, with everybody hastening to the scene of the conflagration.
Passing close by our battery, it paused for a while, and I had the
opportunity of giving it the once-over, and then it waddled on its way
again. In a few minutes two companion land boats made their debut
amongst us; up they went over the ridge, rolling down the German
barbed-wire entanglement as if it were so much thread and forcing huge
gaps for the Infantry to pass through, continuing their way placidly on
through the trenches of the Hun, flattening scores of German soldiers
under their bulk who were too awe-stricken to move.
Our Infantry then took up the beaten path, charging the enemy trenches,
and Fritz was an easy prey that morning.
Inside of half an hour after our tanks reached the lines of Fritz, the
prisoners in gray commenced to stream toward our lines; for a distance
of seven miles the road was jammed with captured Huns. Some of them
passing by our battery spoke to me in English, as good as, if not
better, than my own, and asked me what in hell was the meaning of waging
war in such fashion; they referred to the tank as Landfuerchtenichts. I
told them that was nothing to what was in store for them. "Why," I said,
"I've got reserved seats on one of them for Berlin."
"You'll never get that far," he retorted.
* * * * *
The action on the Somme was well under way when one morning at daybreak,
making my way to the cookhouse, I was greeted, "Hello, Grant, hoos awa'
wi' ye, laddie? Ma sontes, but you're lookin' fine! An' damned if he
isn't a Sergeant!" It was Scotty, reinstated in our unit in his former
capacity of cook, and he had brought with him his nerve, his twinkle,
his bow legs and all. I must confess I was glad to see him, and when we
had a few minutes together he told me, with all the gusto imaginable, of
his exploits in London.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account