Item 05: Walter Bruce Rainsford diary, 1 January-31 December 1918 - Page 66
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[Page 66]
people think everything is alright. They are completely blinded by their daily papers and by their belief that one tommy is worth 2,300 more foreigners.
We have seen a fair number of tanks lately passing & repassing through the village. The ordinary tanks are big, heavy, clumsy things. The ordinary male tank can not do more than 6 miles an hour, has a crew of 8 including an officer, carries two six pounder guns and cannot turn round corners without first stopping its engine & restarting after the turn. The tank weighs 35 tons & is heavily armour-plated, which plating however is not proof against a direct hit nor will it always keep out fragments of a bursting shell. The female tank carries 6 machine guns instead of the 2 heavier guns of the male. Yesterday