Life in a Tank

YS OF TR

came round regarding the joining of the H.B.M.G.C. The C

want to join t

und to find out wh

seemed very keen about it, especially as the tanks in those days had a reputation for rather heavy cas

might just as well try." And taking one of the papers he filled it in, while

otten all about it, in the more absorbing even

ame up to him and, smi

bye, Talbot.

the proffered hand and say "Good-bye," too. Talbot found himself sa

'Good-bye,' where am

s," the Adju

Somme and the camp seemed the most desirable places on earth. He thought he must have been a fool the day he signed th

sir? And where d

r as the railhead and get a train for B--, where the Tank Headquarters are. G

his groom, as he brought the horses round was not conducive to cheer. He must get the business over and be off. So he mounted and rode off through a gray, murky drizzle, to the railhead about eight miles away. There came the parting with Dobbin and with his pony. Horses mean as much as men sometimes, and his

for "royal," but for "railway," and the "T" is "transport," nothing so grandiose as "transportation." Now an R.T.O.'s job, though it may be a safe one, is not enviable. He is forced to combine the qualities of booking-clerk, station-master, goods-agent, informati

. The R.T.O. coldly informed Talbot that he hadn't the slightest idea where B-- was. He only knew that trains went there. And, by the way, the trains didn't go t

ine is the shortest distance between two points. For in order to arrive at one's destination, it is usually necessary to go

ly to find that the train

ose in search of gaiety. Here were civilized people once again. And a restauran

ers, soldiers! Each man has the same coloured uniform; each has the same pattern tunic, the same puttees. Each is covered with the same mud for days at a time. It is the occasion for a thrill when a "Brass Hat" arrives, for he at least has the little brilliant red tabs on his tunic! A man sometimes finds himself envying the soldiers of the old days who could have occ

more charming faces of the women and girls who passed him. E

affront if his train is a few minutes late, or if it does not go as fast as he thinks it should. But the soldier can afford to let the Government look after such minor details. The train

d owl live

saw, the l

spoke, the m

ld imitate th

as to guard soldiers from saying too much in front of strangers. Talbot vowed,

rolled along, and had covered by this time the extraordinary distan

with the Machine-Gun Corps Badge, whom he hailed, an

here. Are you going th

saturated with Infantry ideas, he wondered if

ephone Headquarters and ask them to

e ragging him or not. He decided that he was, fo

for the hint, all the same," he said. "Just tell

ficer

hem. There's really no point in your walking-in fact, they'll be surprised if yo

eeable than a ten-mile walk, Talbot telephoned. Here he experienced another pleasant surprise, for he was

car there for you in an hour-haven't one

rs everywhere, but the town had never seen the Germans, and it was a pleasant plac

entered, he experienced that curious feeling of apprehensive expectancy with which one approaches the spot where one is to live and work for some time to come. The car slowed up to pass some carts on the road, and started forward with such a jer

Underwood & U

AND ITS CREW IN

ner with them. New men were arriving every few minutes, and the next day, after he had been transferred to "K" Company, they continued to arriv

t the others which is rather chilling. They wait to see whether he is going to fit in, before they make any attempts to fit him in. In a way, this very a

ly new, so that we regarded one another without criticism and came to know each other without having to break through the wall

was reserved for the officers' mess. The Company Orderly Room and Quartermaster's Stores were also kept in the Hospice, and four or five officers were quartered above the Refectory. The buildings were clean and comfortable, and the only drawback lay in the fact that one sometimes found it objectionable to have to look at these poor old creatures, dragging themselves around. They had nothing to do, it seemed, but to wait and die. One old man was a gru

y. The first thing that Frenchwomen do-and these nuns were no exception-when soldiers are billeted with them, is to learn who is the officer in charge, in order that they may lose no time in bringing their complaints to him. The Mother Superior of the Ho

t hurry off to obey the command, just so surely would

aim, with a beaming smile. "J'ai qu

nto the presence of his superior officer with an excited nun following him with tales of the "crimes" his men had committed. Needless to say, the Mother Superior conquered. Talbot would have visions o

le Capitaine," she would say, her colour mounting, "and your soldier has not re

o on to the Colonel, breathless and perturbed, his mind so full of buckets that there was hardly room for

, in the halcyon days before the war, the village butcher. There was now Madame, the little Marie, a sturdy boy about tw

a few tactful inquiries as to where the

t à Paris," said

rank has he?-a

ss in Paris, she explained proudly. He had been there since the war broke out. He would soon com

his permission was finished, and he set out for his hazardous post once more, great was the lamenting. Madame wept. All the brave man's relatives poured in to kiss him good-

ever in his little low room, where the frost whitened the plaster and icicles hung from the ceiling, M

mbryo heroes. Over our khaki we wore ill-fitting blue garments which men on the railways, who wear them, call "boilers." The effect of wearing them was to cause us to slouch along, and suddenly Talbot burst out laughing at the spectacle. Then he remembered having heard that so

ngine shed, a gray armo

and started forward for a

f scorn and pain. Just such a look you may have seen on the

d with admirable patience. "A tank is e

rence?" asked Gould, completely mys

. "The male tank carries light field guns as well as machine

n the side of the tank. It was about as big as the door to a large, old-fashioned brick oven built into the chimney beside the fireplace. His head dis

led in, was lost to sight,

rose above the sound of o

led Rigden. "Yo

upraised in picturesque malediction. What was Rigden doing to them inside the tank to pr

hen you stand up. Then, if it is the first time, you are usually profane. For you have banged your head most unmercifully against the steel roof and you learn, once and for all, that it is impossible to stan

ass one another. So we thought. In front are two stiff seats, one for the officer and one for the driver. Two narrow slits serve as portholes through which to look ahead. In front of the officer is a map board, and gun mounting. Behind the engine, one on each side, are the secondary gears. Down the middle of the tank is the powerful petrol engin

ized. Electric bulbs light the interior. Beside the driver are the engine levers. Behind the engine are the secondary gears, by which the mac

rse, not his right name. Because he came from South Africa and looked like a baboon, we called him "Baboon." So let evolution evolve the name of "Darwin" for him in these pages. As for the Old Bird, no other name could have suited him so well. He was the craftiest old bird at successfully avoiding work we had ever known, and yet he was one of the best liked men in the Company. He was o

mechanism Course. He was pathetically in earnest, but appeared to have no brains at all. Som

e, how is the radiator conn

or a minute or two and then re

again to pass his tests, and

ced, "Sure! there is plenty of room and to spare for a dozen others here." The Old Bird no longer compared the atmosphere, when we were all shut in ti

perimented upon, they evolved two, a big and a little one. Standing together they looked so ludicrous, that they were n

finished, and the Old Bird suggested a celebrat

over to Amiens and do our C

d Bird, who made up by contributing more than any one else to the gaiety of the occasio

ng along on its own. Fortunately we had been going rather slowly since we were entering a town, and no one was hurt. Borwick, the musician of the Company, looked like a snow image; Darwin and the Old Bird were locked in each other's arms, and had an impromptu and friendly wrestling match in a snowdrift. McKnutt w

ured wheel, raced out of the town toward home. A short distance down the main boulevard, the wheel again came off, and this time the damage could not be repaired. There was nothing for it but to wait until morning, and it was a disconsolate group that wandered about. All the hotels