about midday
They cleared the Boche out of a ruined farm he had rushed , and a little wood , and re-established our front . Blenkiron , who saw it all , for he went with them and got the tip of an ear picked off by a machine-gun bullet , had n't any words wherewith to speak of it . ` And I once said those boys looked puffy , ' he moaned . The next phase , which came about midday , was the tanks . I had never seen the German variety , but had heard that it was speedier and heavier than ours , but unwieldy . We did not see much of their speed , but we found out all about their clumsiness . Had the things been properly handled they should have gone through us like rotten wood .