[AT] Durn Hollywood crazies forgot the tractor

[szabelski at wildblue.net]

I was once told that the allies would listen for the tractors to start up and would direct their cannon fire in the direction the sound was coming from.

With the large size of some of the WWI cannons, it took six to eight draft type horses to move them. The spring mud and craters didn’t make for an easy task.

Carl
----- Original Message -----
From: James Peck <jamesgpeck at hotmail.com>
To: Antique Tractor Email Discussion Group <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Sun, 26 Jan 2020 22:13:49 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Re: [AT] Durn Hollywood crazies forgot the tractor

One story my father had recounted was that big Austrian estate owners (think Baron von Trapp)  had imported some tracked Holts or Bests prior to WW1.  Came a time when the Americans and allies were trying to figure out how the other side was moving their artillery at night.  It was those tractors.

We got the 17 year old to drive the geezers to the picture show a couple of nights ago. We saw that movie "1917".  I did not see any tractors in it but it did have a tank stuck in a trench. It would have been nice to see a big tracked Holt with the single front wheel dragging a big artillery piece around.

I and the 17 year old discussed the dead horses lying around. It was my position that they were used in place of a tractor to move artillery.

I loved the singing. The song, "Poor Wayfaring Stranger", gave the movie a Bluegrass feel which was IMO a little out of place to the plot, but beautifully done.

One of the English speaking troops was a Sikh wearing a loosely wrapped turban. A blue collar Sikh I know at work wears a turban that appears to be a bandana.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Davis_Tillman#%22I_Am_a_Poor_Wayfaring_Stranger%22