part0027

EARLY in February 1916 a Conference was held at the War Office, to decide as to the training of the personnel for the tank units it was now decided to raise. At this Conference, Lieutenant-Colonel Swinton and Lieutenant-Colonel R. W. Bradley, D.S.O., were ordered to be present.

At this time, Lieutenant-Colonel Bradley was Commandant of the Motor Machine Gun Training Centre at Bisley, and was in the position to select suitable men for the new arm.

The number of men required for the first 150 tanks was estimated at 1,500, or ten men for each machine, and 150 junior officers. This personnel was obtained as follows: 600 men were transferred from the reserves in training at the Motor Machine Gun Training Centre and 900 were obtained by special enlistment. Thirty officers were transferred from the Motor Machine Gun Section, fifteen were detailed by G.H.Q., France, and the remainder were obtained by calling for volunteers from units in England and by special selection from Cadet units.

For purposes of secrecy the new formation was “tacked on” to the Machine Gun Corps and was christened with the terrific name of: “Special Armoured Car Section Motor Machine Gun Section.” A month later it became known as the Heavy Section Machine Gun Corps.

The recruiting was very successful, and this was largely due to the untiring energy of Mr. Geoffrey Smith, editor of The Motor Cycle, who spared neither time, trouble, nor money in getting the men.

Towards the end of March the training camp was moved from Bisley to Bullhouse farm, and at this camp all elementary training was carried out, recruits being taught drill, the ways of military life, and the Vickers and Hotchkiss machine guns as well as the Hotchkiss 6-pounder .

The first establishment issued by the War Office provided for 10 companies of 10 tanks each, but within a fortnight this was changed to 15 companies of 10 tanks each, the companies being grouped in 3 battalions. A little later this organisation, at the request of G.H.Q., France, was again changed to one of 6 companies of 25 tanks each.

With a further view of ensuring secrecy it was arranged by Lieutenant-Colonel Swinton that no tanks should be sent to Bisley, but that a training ground, far removed from prying eyes, should be secured. Steps were at once taken to find such a ground, and eventually Thetford in Norfolk was visited and Lord Iveagh’s estate at Elveden selected. The necessary training ground here was taken over and was known as “the Elveden Explosives Area”; and round it at 200 yards intervals were posted groups of sentries of the Royal Defence Corps.

During the early part of April a certain amount of grumbling on the part of specially enlisted men occurred at Bisley. They had been induced to join an Armoured Car Service, and for six weeks they had not even seen the wheel of a car. They were asked to exercise a little patience and were promised a surprise. At Elveden the surprise was revealed to them, and when they had got over their astonishment on seeing the first Mark I tank approach them they set down to work with a will, which, it is an honour to record, was never abandoned by all ranks of the Tank Corps from this day on to the conclusion of the war.

The camp at Elveden was placed just outside the “Explosives Area” and no one was allowed to enter the area without a special permit. Companies, before they proceeded overseas, however, spent their last three weeks within the area. As soon as this necessary ground had been taken over, three pioneer battalions were brought to Elveden Camp and a complete series of trenches was dug on a front of a mile and a quarter, and to the depth of two miles. The plan of this work was laid out by Major Tandy and Captain Martel, both R.E. officers.

Unfortunately, on account of delay in delivery of tanks, constructional defects and repeated requests from G.H.Q., France, that all available tanks and crews should be sent out to France for the September operations on the Somme, little use was made of these trenches, for tactical training. Machine-gun firing from tanks with ball ammunition was, however, freely carried out, and also 6-pounder practice which, unfortunately, was much hampered by danger restrictions.

The tank drivers were all drawn from the A.S.C., and the 711th Company A.S.C. was formed to include these men, the workshops, and the M.T. personnel of the Heavy Section. The officer in command of this company and in charge of all mechanical instruction and driving was Major H. Knothe, D.S.O., M.C.

By the end of May the last company had completed its training at Bisley and had moved to Elveden; the headquarters, having some time prior to this, moved to this place and established itself in the stables of Lord Iveagh’s mansion and in the new almshouses in Elveden village.

By the beginning of July training was sufficiently advanced to give the first tank demonstration ever held. Twenty tanks took part in it and advanced in line followed by infantry against a section of the instructional trench system. The demonstration was a great success and many notable persons witnessed it, including Mr. Lloyd George and Sir William Robertson.

This demonstration was shortly afterwards followed by a second at which the King attended. His Majesty was most anxious that his projected visit should be kept secret, but as it was nevertheless necessary to make certain preparations it was given out at the camp that a very distinguished Russian general was about to visit the tanks. The identity of the Russian general was, however, discovered by the bulk of the men before the demonstration was concluded, much to their pleasure and amusement .

At the beginning of August Lieutenant-Colonel Brough, C.M.G., visited G.H.Q., France, to ascertain the tactics it was proposed to employ as regards tanks. Unfortunately his visit was fruitless, for no ideas apparently existed on the subject. Shortly after his return instructions were received to dispatch the tank companies to France, and to decide on this a conference was held at which the following officers were present: Major-General Butler, Brigadier-General Burnett Stuart, both. from G.H.Q., France; Lieutenant-Colonel Swinton, Lieutenant-Colonel Bradley, and Lieutenant-Colonel Brough. At this Conference it was decided to mobilise the companies at Elveden and to dispatch them overseas by half companies. The first to leave was C Company and the second D Company, which, respectively, were under the commands of Majors Holdford-Walker and Summers.

Towards the end of August Colonel Swinton was instructed to send over to France a staff officer, but as the establishments only allowed of a commander and one staff captain, and as the latter was a very junior officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Brough was sent over. Shortly after his arrival he found it necessary to wire home for motor-cars, clerks, etc., for he had been ordered to take over command of the units in France. Captain Kingdon was thereupon sent out to assist him, and two clerks and a motor-car were also dispatched. By these means were extemporised an advanced headquarters, the original headquarters of the Heavy Branch remaining in England and never proceeding overseas.

In October 1916, as already related in Chapter VI, Bovington Camp, Wool, was selected as the new training centre. Here E, F, G, H, and I Battalions were raised and trained during 1916-1917, and J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, and R during 1917-1918, the last battalion, the 18th, sailing for France in September 1918.

In 1917, to cope with the steadily increasing number of tank units of all descriptions, Worgret Camp, Wareham, and Lulworth were taken over, the Depot Reserve Unit being established at the former and the Gunnery Camp at the latter place.

The first schools to be formed were the Tank Drivers’ School, the 6-Pounder School, and the Lewis Gun School, but by degrees, as the Tank Corps grew, these developed until at the close of the war the following schools had been established:

In July 1918 the preparations set on foot to double the Tank Corps for 1919 threw a great deal of work on to the Training Centre. Thirteen British, three Canadian, and one New Zealand Battalion were to be raised, as well as a number of subsidiary units. In August, in spite of shortage of infantry reinforcements, an allotment, given precedence over all the other arms, of 4,500 men, was made to the Tank Corps Training Centre, so that the raising of the above new units might forthwith begin; besides this, nearly half a million pounds worth of buildings were sanctioned without estimates being called for, so important was it now considered that not a day should be lost in the Tank Corps preparations for 1919.

By the date of the armistice about half the building programme was finished, and eight British and one Canadian battalion had been raised.

The following is a summary of the total number of tank units and reinforcements raised and trained at the Training Centre between November 1916 and November 1918.

In all, some 21,000 officers and men passed through the Training Centre, 14,000 in formed units, and 7,000 as reinforcements; besides these, 950 cadets were trained. In October 1918 the Training Centre, which from one camp at Bovington had grown to include Worgret, Lulworth, and Swanage Camps, had on its strength in all ranks and service approximately 16,000 men.

The time required wherein to raise and train a new Tank Battalion averaged four months. The system of instruction adopted from November 1916 onwards was to start with a very thorough individual training and then to pass the recruits through the various schools, leaving collective and tactical training to be carried out in France.

Recreational training played an important part in the above instruction, and the Training Centre gained a considerable reputation in the Southern Command for efficiency in sports and games.

In the expansion which commenced on September 1, 1918, 30 per cent. of the personnel for each new unit was sent to the Training Centre from the trained Tank Corps personnel in France, and this trained personnel, together with the increased numbers of training tanks and other improved facilities, would have gone far to effect a more efficient and rapid training of the units, before their departure overseas, than heretofore.

Besides raising and training new units and reinforcements the Tank Corps Training ()entre was intimately connected with much of the experimental work, armament design, and the fittings of all types of tanks from the introduction of the Mark V and Medium “A” tanks onwards. The following were the main improvements initiated.

The adaptation of the Hotchkiss machine gun to the tank. The invention of the Palmer machine-gun battle-sight. The invention of fire-control instruments.

During the spring and summer of 1917 various experiments were carried out at Wool to arrive at the best method of demolishing and removing wire entanglements. Eventually grapnels were decided upon and were used with great success in November at the battle of Cambrai.

The use of cloud smoke from tanks was also originated at the Training Centre, and with the aid of an invention of the late Commander Brock was eventually adopted for all tanks, and was used on several occasions with effect during the summer and autumn operations of 1918.

For purposes of general interest and education as well as for the conversion of the mechanical heathen, a considerable number of demonstrations, showing the power of tanks and their co-operation with infantry, were given to officers of the War Office, Commands and Schools throughout 1918. On October 25 this year, His Majesty the King visited Wool to witness one of these, and paid the Tank Corps Training Centre the great honour of inspecting the various battalions, and welcomed many of the men of the British and American units assembled by walking amongst them and conversing freely with them.