Description
Object description
whole: the image occupies the majority of the upper half, with the title separate and positioned across the top edge, in
black. The text is separate and positioned in the lower half, also in black. All set against a white background, and held within a narrow
black border.
image: a photograph of a British First World War tank crossing a trench on a battlefield.
text: [Cantonese text]
[This vehicle has more than one name. It is called 'Tang Ke', 'armoured vehicle' and 'armoured motor vehicle'. 'Tang Ke' is a Chinese
transliteration of its English name 'tank'. The gun mounting is originally fixed and does not move. The vehicle can move freely. With
guns installed on both sides of the mounting and shielded by armour, the soldiers can sit inside the vehicle and fire their artillery at
their enemies while being protected from any attack. It is its creator's original intention that it is to be a moving firing weapon. There
are plenty of barriers and trenches in a battlefield and a levelled ground is hardly around. As such, were normal rubber wheels used, it
would not have been able to move even an inch! Hence a special caterpillar tracker was adopted. It is so called due to its likeness to a
caterpillar, which has numerous pairs of legs. During World War One, when the British army attacked the German positions, they were
constantly frustrated by the barbed wire entanglements set up by the Germans. The German soldiers got the upper hand and attacked the
British soldiers with rifle gun and machine gun fire, which caused the British heavy casualties. The British commanders were very concerned
about this, and ordered their engineering teams to find a solution. Very soon this vehicle was designed and constructed. The British army
kept it as a secret and when these tanks appeared in the battlefield for the first time, the Germans were horrified. At daybreak, when the
German soldiers suddenly saw these mammoth objects approaching their positions, they did not know what they were. As the tanks closed onto
them, the German soldiers used all their weapons to attack them. Yet their attack was as feeble as if they were using rubble to hit a
tortoise shell. The British soldiers advanced in exuberance. The barbed wire entanglements in front of the German trenches were crushed by
the tanks in no time. The British soldiers then used their machine guns to attack the German soldiers hiding in the trenches. The defeated
German soldiers retreated. The British army had suffered heavy casualties because of the barbed wires, but now the barriers were crushed
and the British soldiers were so valiant that they were now able to capture the German positions without any difficulty. Such an event
happened two years ago. Now the tank's design has improved, and they are used by countries around the world. No matter where and when the
troops launch their offensive, tanks are always deployed as a vanguard. It is an invention of the 20th century, which had never been seen
before. The American Red Cross sponsored a donation party in Shanghai recently. They made a tank model decorated with colourful streamers
and held a parade along the streets. Some people thought that it was a real tank. Actually it was only a mock-up. The picture above shows a
real tank and is printed in copperplate. Please come along to see it.]
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