In October the five Companies of heavy Tanks, which had been in training all summer, were launched when the 6th Army delivered its blow at Malmaison. As before, the Schneider Companies were successful, and again the St. Chamond Tanks were nearly all unable so much as to get into action. Still, at the end of October the general verdict was that the French heavies had justified themselves, though many soldiers of the old school still doubted their utility. But in November the British Tanks fought the Battle of Cambrai, and all doubts were finally dispelled from the French mind. It is to be imagined that Colonel Estienne did not fail to rub in the facts proved by that engagement. They were facts which it was impossible to deny or to overlook. The Ministry removed its hold from the brakes, and from that moment life behind the scenes of the French Tank Corps became happy. It was decided to form thirty light Tank Battalions, each Battalion to consist of seventy-five machines, and the firms of Schneider, Rénault and Berliet were all set to work upon their manufacture, while over a thousand machines were ordered in America. All the winter of 1917–18, the French Tank Corps, like the British, continued to train and to organise. For the future of the French Tanks was to be a brilliant one. Those matchless givers of “unsolicited testimonials,” the German General Staff, attributed the great victories which the late summer of 1918 brought to the French arms, chiefly to the employment of “masses of Tanks.” Naturally the annals of the French Tank Corps are full of stories of individual deeds of gallantry. _Chevrel, R. C., Brigadier, 505th Regt., Chars Légers._ “In the course of an attack he refused to abandon his Tank, which remained isolated in the German lines. Protected by his turret, he ceaselessly opened machine-gun fire on the surrounding enemy, and shot down with his revolver those who succeeded in approaching the Tank and who called upon him to surrender. For thirty-six hours he never slackened. Finally rescued by our advancing troops, he immediately undertook the unditching of his Tank and volunteered to support the further advance of the infantry, and then brought his Tank to the rallying point. Médaille militaire and Croix de Guerre with Palm.”--Official Gazette, dated October 26, 1918. _Cellier, Pierre, Brigadier in 35th Co., 11th Heavy Battery._ “This soldier, on July 18, when his Tank had been hit by a shell, placed himself at the head of fifteen American soldiers and stalked a position whence the Germans were using many machine-guns to resist the attack. These he engaged with an automatic rifle and forced the Germans to surrender after an hour’s struggle. This act resulted in the capture of fifteen officers, including one Colonel, guns and numerous machine-guns. Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur and Croix de Guerre with Palm.”--Official Gazette.