[Illustration: cover] TO THE FORE WITH THE TANKS! THE GREAT ADVENTURE SERIES PERCY F. WESTERMAN: THE AIRSHIP "GOLDEN HIND" TO THE FORE WITH THE TANKS THE SECRET BATTLEPLANE WILMSHURST OF THE FRONTIER FORCE ROWLAND WALKER: DEVILLE MCKEENE THE EXPLOITS OF THE MYSTERY AIRMAN BLAKE OF THE MERCHANT SERVICE BUCKLE OF SUBMARINE V2 OSCAR DANBY, V.C. DASTRAL OF THE FLYING CORPS THE PHANTOM AIRMAN S. W. PARTRIDGE & CO. 4, 5, & 6 SOHO SQUARE, LONDON, W.1. TO THE FORE WITH THE TANKS! BY PERCY F. WESTERMAN AUTHOR OF "A WATCHDOG OF THE NORTH SEA"; "A SUB. OF THE R.N.R." "THE RIVAL SUBMARINES," ETC., ETC. [Illustration: logo] S. W. PARTRIDGE & CO. 4, 5 & 6 SOHO SQUARE, LONDON, W.1. MADE IN GREAT BRITAIN _First Published 1917_ _Frequently Reprinted_ CONTENTS CHAPTER I. TO THE FRONT II. THE COMMUNICATION TRENCH III. THE NIGHT ATTACK IV. GRUB V. THE EXPEDITION TO NO MAN'S LAND VI. A PRISONER OF WAR VII. THE FIRST ADVANCE VIII. CUT OFF IX. THE ADVANCE OF THE TANKS X. THE WRECKED LANDSHIP XI. AN INTERVIEW WITH THE C.O. XII. "THE BEST OF LUCK" XIII. THE BEGINNING OF THE GREATER PUSH XIV. THE COMMAND OF A TANK XV. THE BOGGED LANDSHIP XVI. ALDERHAME'S GOOD SHOT XVII. THE SPY XVIII. THE STRUGGLE FOR NEANCOURT VILLAGE XIX. THE MINED TUNNEL XX. THE FALL OF THE VON DER GOLZ REDOUBT XXI. TRAPPED XXII. TANK VERSUS LOCOMOTIVE XVIII. THE LAST STAND TO THE FORE WITH THE TANKS! CHAPTER I TO THE FRONT THE jolting cattle-trucks pulled up with a disconcerting jerk at the termination of a fifty-mile railway journey, performed in the remarkably record time of fifteen hours. From a springless truck, on which was painted the legend, "40 hommes ou 8 chevaux," descended fifty-two tired but elated Tommies, thirsty, ravenously hungry, but quite able to keep up a bantering conversation with the peasants who had gathered by the side of the temporary line. It was a miserable night, even for the Somme district in early March. Rain was falling solidly. The ground was churned into deep mud of the consistency of treacle. The gaunt gables of a dozen roofless houses, silhouetted against the constant glare in the sky, betokened ruined homes and uncomfortable billets; while the loud rumble of distant artillery was in itself ample proof that at last the Second Wheatshires had arrived somewhere on the Western Front--the goal of six months' constant and arduous training.