He and other tank officers were anxious. They had not complete confidence in the steering and control of their engines. It was a difficult and clumsy kind of gear, which was apt to break down at a critical moment, as I saw when I rode in one on their field of maneuver. These first tanks were only experimental, and the tail arrangement was very weak. Worse than all mechanical troubles was the shortsighted policy of some authority at G.H.Q. , who had insisted upon A.S.C. drivers being put to this job a few days before the battle, without proper training.

“It is mad and murderous,” said one of the officers, “These fellows may have pluck, all right⁠—I don’t doubt it⁠—but they don’t know their engines, nor the double steering trick, and they have never been under shellfire. It is asking for trouble.”