Some time was taken in training men to use these
tanks, for the crew of a tank must suffer a great deal of hardship on
account of the noise of the engine every command had to be made by
signs, and the motion of the tank being like that of a ship on a heavy
sea, was likely to produce seasickness.
The tanks were painted with weird colors for the purpose of concealment,
and when they first appeared caused a great deal of wonder and
amusement. They were first used in battle on September 15, 1916, in a
continuation of the battle of the Somme, and proved a great surprise to
the Germans. The Germans directed all available rifle and machine-gun
fire upon them without success. A correspondent narrates that: "As the
'Creme de Menthe' moved on its way, the bullets fell from its sides
harmlessly. It advanced upon a broken wall, leaned up against it
heavily, until it fell with a crash of bricks, and then rose on to the
bricks and passed over them and walked straight into the midst of
factory ruins." They were an immense success and had come to stay.
CHAPTER XLIV
BELGIUM'S GALLANT EFFORT
For more than four years Belgium suffered under the iron heel of the
German invaders. One little corner in the far west was occupied by her
gallant army, fighting with the utmost courage and a patriotism which
has won the admiration of the world under its great King Albert, whose
heroic leadership had turned the little commercial nation into a nation
of heroes.
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