ll1"0lRlE,ll@ll\ll COMMENT l
I
AN B't`hI kIhtS`
NEW DE_,XDL\' EN(llNE OF {VAR is jntyodiiqgd to h"Butithe amphibious tanki also roliiis the hlfanitryi ofitlieiriliest
the WOM l11S¤e Us     h<>¤d=~>’   the $r2§.22r$;§hF§§§; 3§;lri,?‘i..‘ir’i{’rr€€L$C€rS °"‘A’ t °y "` ° S   mf i
nations has bee11 declared, and as the proposed Geneva rr If they couid hrid ir river as ii barrier they Could, until iiowi
Disarmament Conference of February, 193 2, comes nearer. eount upon being immune for. a time at least. The water barrier
it is the aihipliihioiis hiihki invented hy Ciiph Liddell Hart of 1l1Sll1`Qll a breathing space until the tanks could find an unguarded
. . . ,i . . . crossing h1gl1 up-stream or far down-stream, and come around a
the B1'1t1Sl1 Army, and it swims across riv e1·s and can Clllfll) up Wide ciiciiiii against iiiiiii iiiiiiks _
"But this hope fades, as the tank now can swim across the .
- river, pelting the defenders 011 the bank with bullets as 1t comes, L
7 ,  ‘g   _ __ r _ and with no need to wait until a crossing has been forced at
  `·   —— 1- _ 1 A ‘   heavy cost by cruelly exposed infantry, and bridges have been Y
·f 1  A`   A ¢ built." .
· . ,, . r. , a ~ A rmi, -  Alnoxc other authoritative opinions cabled to Tun Lirianxnr _· ·
’ ‘·· " *   A i 1 _ . _ i- A Dionsrr is that of the military expert of the London Times: l
, ·· . ii,.i. .~   AAA'5A... ,i rrb. ki] b iii iiirii l
‘ _,  , ,  .. ,  .  ' __ _     ·*   ‘- mp 1 1ous tan s o ten iave een sugges e as e 1 ea
' A ‘ A ‘ ,._- : T       A A answer to certain tactical problems which became more difficult l
A ’_A¥;,A    ` n¢’.. with the development of modern weapons. Early attempts to
”   4 , ·» A 1 A   r A '     f   produce it were unsuccessful, but now apparently it has arrived.  
: 9  V AL ,QZ ‘vi 1 ¢,, .~ _  > _ .__, ._ _ ,, A . »    _VVhat does all this mean? ·
A *  _ `iii    i ' A,.     ''ii · ‘—···       ____ f  yA·>j§‘;,§ "Some one has said that we must rewrite all of our text-books V
1** ::;,g u,_¥·i;~  ·»r~ e »a »   .·-··»= e ·¤   i,_'   A A A   i r, ; i, ;,g,f§;_§ of strategy and tactics. This may be an overstatement, but it  »
 it ·1?? 9   ? ce rf ` A' _i_       fg,  indicates in how many ways the new weapon may affect actions i
’  ‘· ··`· *“ * “ A‘A’   °    r f"' *1  ___,   ‘   _ ___    .,,.    `A  .e __.  " *‘‘’` *"‘ in which not only tanks but also the older arms of the service E
are engaged.
The "Swimmlng —l-al'1lpi·esent deep water is an absolute obstacle to tanks. 3
To cross it they are dependent l
. · A ~» » ~ ·~ · . — liminary action of the
an enemy bank iegardless of 1 . · 1 i ~ Q ·   _, » _ upon Pre _
» Y, >   ,?`>    _‘ . ’   ,      fw; , :; older arms that, without the n
TAAp(AAAmg HAS' _ _ _         ’  1A  _ 4.       T ll , protection of armor, must seize .
On land this amplnbious     `   "’·‘·—~· ·‘ ·   =r. ··  M ‘· .   · 1 · ‘ ‘ bridgghriaids and provide mcims _
1HOI1SlJ€I‘ Call 11’12).l(€ IHOTE tllatll     ,‘-[ » Of QI'0SSi]']g'—3, Slgyv and diff]-  
forty miles an hour, can cross   ._ · i   ,. cult tiisk 1n tihiisiifiaceof mitcinne-  ·.
. _ __ _ i , _ - . _ “ gun re. e amp 11 nous
‘h_“l‘€” “‘°“ than " red ‘“ of .   AA J .+ . ,_ tank Slrorid be able to clear l
“’1dth· and as {L m0¥`€ m@A¤@€`¥`           ._,.,, sr".   A `  "    .~, - bridgeheads rapidly and ex-  
of course can climb slopes of { A C      A‘AA AA     ~   .y   ploit whatever elements of  iA
i 30 degrees, and even slopes of I :__i`— f   ‘_,,     A     ‘~._.ii_5.     ~ 1 —· 1 surprize there may be. A  
l 45 degrees if not too long. .~. Thx 1 ,.,_·E" ¥°A‘A   ,—.~ *       A» ‘ '· " A SO S' wtmaung rmy A
1, Y _ _   ..,....r.—·"” rah  ..»·   »  ’ -   -—    ··    ‘`»· ¤ ‘   always has feared the passage  
In the water, notes therlhnns       1 _     -· Oi ii, i_ivGi__iiiiii· The i_€iii__
» LA]ZlILS[l`(1!107’L, lQll€ ZLI]]pl1ll)lOl1S Ai V *,4;;* brim _ V V    i _;_  ._   guard vgrith amphibious tanks 5
tank forges ahead, driven by a   ;°’  °j ;jij·`;;  f_ ~·__.;,  holding tl1e enemy until all  `_i
propeller at at stern and   = ‘   —-~-—e·   -~i· ·—· ·· `I   1   A   ‘ ’A’A"""A‘ t“?§"S hffm “{,°SS€dbf’md thc Al
steered by a tiller, Only the 2}iiii(iA;i€r?i;i$y iiiiaii; Coiiiiiiogg  
machine-gun tower and part Can Climb a Slope of From 30 to 45 Degrees and— The iiiipoiiiiiicii Oi Writer Ob;  _
of the bridge are visible, and  
this is said to give the AAS\VllT1111lI`l,Q’ tank" the appearance of a A _ ,, r A l
kind of miniature submarine which offers a target very difficult _   , ~‘ i , AA
to mt. ·  ~   `rii   ‘
Then it climbs up on terra Erma. mounting the shore anywhere, .ii_ _i .  `  Lgiiiigi   -__. __ ji
\\‘l10l·l101‘ Zlt 21 steep point or l~l]I`Ollgl1 mud and waterside weedgh i   ·AA‘ ‘ · ·_
From this Paris weekly we learn further: I - __      'AAM V    ·—  `
"'l`he amphibious tank was built by the firm of Vickers-Arm- i .       *1., · A ’
Strong OH the lines of the 111ost recent model of the lighter British j   r V __   1 ,     E ·  1
Army tank. The total weight of the 11ew machine is two and one-   H  `i__     ‘   ._.» i   i ~»,  ari i ·
A half tons, and the steel armor with which it is covered is more   ,,_ i A          _‘ .4.,     _
than one—third of an inch thick and at 150 yards can resist the            ,.  , 1‘ i     . f
heaviest n1acl1i11e-gun firc." i;;'***),'A Ji r ¥."f ,/AA      iff   _ i r/r__   __ i
The tank long has been called a land battle—ship, says Capt,         __i*r_ji, A     ~A
Liddell Hart, inventor of the amphibion, b11t IH the London       ir,  '· »_ 1
Daily Telegraph he points out:   , . iii,. W A   _
"Now we must drop the prefix ‘land,’ for we have a tank that  t e  cw  nuromprir pyrrgrrrri A A A AA  
can fight alloal and ashore. _ _ Can Do Better than 40 Miles an l·lOur 0n Land  
"'l`l11s amphibious marvel blots out the vision of bloodstained 1
trenches of Gallipoli, for instead of the hapless infantry trying to stacles in recent ears has greatly increased the results from
_ Y
wade ashore through barbed-wire entanglements and under a modern armament and equipment. Attention consequently was
pitiless hail of bullets, these armored reptiles may be belchcd focused on the one hand on demolition schemes, and on the  ‘l
forth l`rom the stomach of the naval ‘1vhale’ to crawl ashore. the other hand, on bridging and similar equipment. A
bulletsispatteriiig harmlessly on their steel scales, and overrun "The amphibious tank is anew and disturbing element in these
A i the defenders 011 the beaches. problems, both from the view—point of attack and defense."
no  ‘