Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 201, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 September 1918 — TANK UNIT IS READY [ARTICLE]

TANK UNIT IS READY

“Treat ’Em Rough” Finish Train- , ing in England. First American Battalion Is Taught by Veterans of British Tank Service. With the American Army in England. —Another consignment of American man power, that might be labeled “Made in England,” is ready for shipment to the western front. It »s ’he personnel of the first American tank battalion. Trained by veterans of the British tank service and equipped with the most modern of the land war ships, the new force will give an excellent account bf Itself. The British coaches of the American crews have expressed their approval of the manner in which their pupils have adapted themselves to the operation of the machines and, unless they are mistaken, the men whose training In England is just being completed will be given enviable roles. Their machines have the best points of both the British and French tapks and the training of the men has been in the light of experience already gained by the fighters of France and England. ‘ To every man in the American outfit there have been imparted the stories of mistakes made in the early history of tank warfare. Enlisted men and officers have been told what to do and what not to do; all their admonitions have been based not on theory but on actual experiences, gained in the face of German fire, loosed always upon the slightest intimation that the tanks are lumbering to the front. It is expected that because of the excellence of the weapon with which

it will fight and the training It has undergone the American contingent will prove Itself exceptionally efficient. Further cause for believing the American Tank Corps will live up to the estimate of the British instructors is thte character of its personnel, both men and officers. They are carefully selected men, picked from the thousands who volunteered when the call for tank men was made. Two base requisites were insisted upon: First, every man must be physically fit. and, second, temperamentally adaptable. The training every man has received has meant either that he is delivered to the commanders at the front as u wonderfully efficient unit or is mercilessly thrown out of the service. H" is turned over to the fighting force as an expert, mechanic, a man drilled In the operation of both machine guns and heavier ordnance, a tactician snd strategist, and, finally, as a man with no evidence of “nerves? _