From August 1918 onwards the success of almost every Allied attack was attributed to tanks in the German official communiqués. The Allies were stated to have captured such-and-such a place “by means of masses of tanks” even on occasions when very few tanks had actually been used. This explanation of any German lack of success by reference to tanks soon produced very marked results both in the German soldier and the German public.
Since the German Higher Command could explain away failure in the event of tank attack the German regimental officer very naturally came to consider that the presence of tanks was a sufficient reason for the loss of any position entrusted to his care. His men came to consider that in the presence of tanks they could not be expected to hold out. Most German officers when captured were anxious to explain that their capture was inevitable and that they had done all that could be expected of them. From this time onwards their explanations generally became very simple: “The tanks had arrived, there was nothing to be done.” The failure of the Higher Command to produce tanks to combat those used by the Allies began to undermine the faith of the troops in their generals.
As a result of the “massed tank attacks,” so frequently referred to in the communiques, the leading German military correspondents dealt with the tank question at considerable length. They pointed out the vital importance of tanks and inquired what the German Higher Command proposed to do about it, or reassured their readers that the situation was well in hand and that a German tank would shortly make its appearance in adequate numbers. So nervous did the press grow that the War Ministry found it necessary to offer an explanation.
General von Wrisberg, speaking for the Minister of War in the Reichstag, made the following statement:
“The attack on August 8 between the Avre and the Ancre was not unexpected by our leaders. When, nevertheless, the English succeeded in achieving a great success the reasons are to be sought in the massed employment of tanks and surprise under the protection of fog....
“The American Armies also should not terrify us. We shall also settle with them. More momentous for us was the question of tanks. We are adequately armed against them. Anti-tank defence is nowadays more a question of nerve than matériel.”
On October 23 the German Wireless published the following statement by General Scheuch, Minister of War:
“Germany will never need to make peace owing to a shortage of war matériel. The superiority of the enemy at present is principally due to their use of tanks. We have been actively engaged for a long period in working at producing this weapon (which is recognised as important) in adequate numbers. We shall thus have an additional means for the successful continuance of the war, if we are compelled to continue it.”
This statement was obviously made in reply to public criticism, but the statement that efforts were being made to produce a large number of tanks appears to be true.
It is doubtful, however, if it were true to say that they had been actively working on tanks for a long time. It is credibly reported that when Hindenburg visited the German Tank Centre near Charleroi in February 1918, he remarked, “I do not think that tanks are any use, but as these have been made they may as well be tried.” This remark of the German Commander-in-Chief was typical of the general feeling of the German Great General Staff towards tanks up to August 8, 1918. In our own Army it also expressed precisely the feeling of a section of our Higher Command. It is hoped that, as this chapter shows the Germans were eventually, though too late, cured of their want of foresight, we have also been. As to this the future alone will enlighten us.