part0032

As soon as the position resulting from the great German attack of March 21 began to stabilise steps were taken by the Headquarters of the Tank Corps to reorganise and refit its battalions. This work was most difficult on account of the reopening of the German offensive in the Lys area, which necessitated converting the 4th Tank Brigade into a Lewis-gun unit and dispatching it north to assist in stemming the German advance. Besides this, towards the middle of April instructions were received that on account of the difficulty of finding the required number of infantry reinforcements the number of tank brigades was to be reduced from six to four; this meant the disbanding of the 5th Brigade in France and the breaking up of the 15th, 16th, 17th, and 18th Tank Battalions in England. Yet another difficulty was the question of re- arming, many machines had been lost during the retirement, nevertheless, on account of insufficient transport, it was not found possible to ship out to France the new Mark V tanks, the production of which in England was now in full swing.

All these difficulties were eventually overcome, with the result that during June and July four brigades of the Tank Corps were re-armed; but before this question is dealt with it will be necessary to hark back to the various operations which bridge the period between April 4, the date upon which the Second Battle of the Somme ended, and August 8, when our own great offensive was begun.

On April 9 the Germans launched their second great attack between Festubert and Fleurbaix against the British front. It succeeded, so it is thought, even beyond their expectations, and by the 11th the enemy’s line roughly ran as follows:

East of Ploegsteert-Armentières-Steenwerck-Estaires-Lestren-Vieille Capelle, through Festubert to Givenchy, with the apex of the salient near Nieppe. This attack in all probability was meant as a feint directed against a weak spot in our line in order to threaten the coalfield round Bruay and so cause Marshal Foch to weaken his reserves in Champagne and on the Somme. Succeeding as it did at first, it appears that the German command attempted to develop it from a feint to a decisive attack, with the result that their own reserves, of which they had none too many, were involved as well as those of the Allies.

In order to meet the requirements of the new situation on April 11 detachments of the 7th and 11th Battalions of the 1st Tank Brigade were dispatched to hold a line west of Merville. Two days later the 4th Tank Brigade, now consisting of the 4th, 5th, and 13th Battalions, was turned into a Lewis-gun Brigade. On the 13th the 5th Battalion moved to Berthen, on the 16th the 13th Battalion to Boescheppe, and on the 17th the 4th Battalion to the same place.

By April 17 the distribution of the Tank Corps was as follows:

The fighting carried out by the Lewis-gun units was of a severe nature, so much so that the casualties sustained caused the greatest anxiety at the Tank Corps headquarters, as reinforcements from England were exceedingly limited; further, as it was still hoped to save the battalions at home to the Corps, it was especially desirable not to call upon them for drafts.

Early on April 24 the enemy attacked south of the river Somme on a front from Villers-Bretonneux to the Bois de Hangard. This attack is of special interest as it was the first occasion upon which the Germans employed tanks of their own manufacture against us. {29} By means of these tanks the enemy penetrated our front, captured most of the extensive village of Villers-Bretonneux and advanced as far as the Bois de l’Abbé. Prior to this attack, at 1 a.m., a section of tanks of the 1st Battalion, hidden in the Bois de l’Abbé, moved east of the wood owing to the excessive gas shelling. At 8.30 a.m. this section, under the orders of the 23rd Infantry Brigade, moved forward to secure the Cachy switch trench against the enemy’s threatening attack; exactly an hour later two of our machines, both females, came into view of a hostile tank and were put out of action by its gun fire—it should be remembered here that female tanks are armed only with machine guns. Shortly afterwards a British male Mark IV machine hove into sight, and speeding into action there then took place the first tank versus tank duel to be recorded in history. This male soon scored a direct hit on its antagonist, whereupon the enemy evacuated their tank and fled. By this time three more enemy tanks had appeared; these the Mark IV machine engaged, and was in the process of driving off the field of battle when it received a direct hit from a field-gun shell and was put out of action.

South-west of Villers-Bretonneux, seven Whippet machines were sent out at 10.30 a.m. to clear up the situation east of the village of Cachy. Whilst proceeding round the northeast side of this village they suddenly came upon two battalions of Germans massing in a hollow preparatory to making an attack. Without a moment’s hesitation the seven Whippets formed line and charged down the slope right on to the closely formed infantry. Indescribable confusion resulted as the Whippets tore through the German ranks, the enemy scattered in all directions, some threw themselves on their knees before the machines, shrieking for mercy, but only to be run over and crushed to death. In a few minutes no fewer than 400 Germans were killed and wounded. The Whippets, having now completed their task, viz. “clearing up the situation,” returned, one machine being put out of action by artillery fire on the journey home; in all only five casualties amongst the crews were suffered during this action.

The two most remarkable features of this little engagement are: firstly, the helplessness of some 1,200 infantry against seven tanks manned by seven officers and fourteen other ranks; and, secondly, that the tanks left their starting-point, which was 3 ½ miles from the scene of action, at 10.30 a.m., covered ten miles of ground, fought a battle, and were back home again at 2.30 p.m.

On April 25 further minor tank operations took place in the Villers-Bretonneux area, chiefly east of the Bois d’Aquenne and the Monument, and; on the next day, British tanks for the first time in their history co-operated with the French Army, four tanks of the 1st Battalion being ordered to assist the Moroccan Division in an attack on the Bois de Hangard. This attack was not a success, due to two quite exceptional reasons; two trees were cut down during the night, which were to have acted as landmarks for the tanks, and the smoke barrage was in error put down to the east instead of the west of the German line; consequently the tanks not only lost their direction but were subjected to an intense machine-gun fire when nearing the German position; this prevented the French infantry co-operating with them.

The month of May was chiefly spent in re-sorting the tank battalions and resting the men. The embargo on the importation of tanks from England had now been removed, and Mark V tanks were arriving in France at the rate of sixty a week. This machine, very similar in shape to the Mark IV or Mark I, was a great improvement on all former types, it being a much more mobile and handy weapon. A new system of tactics was at once got out to cover its increase in power, and training was started so as to accustom all ranks to its use.

At about this time a considerable number of French troops were billeted in and around the Tank Corps area and it is a pleasure to record their extreme keenness to learn all they could about tanks and their tactics. General Maistre, commanding the Tenth French Army, with its headquarters then at Beauval, particularly asked that tank demonstrations should be held for the units of his command. This was done, and right through May and June two or three of these demonstrations were given weekly. Besides French troops, units from the 1st, XIth, XIIIth, XVIIth, and XVIIIth English Corps and the Canadian and Australian Corps also attended, the greatest benefit resulting to all taking part.

From the beginning of June onwards preparations were set on foot to have all tank units ready by August 1 for any eventuality. This necessitated intensive training, re-arming and re-equipping. Sledges for supply haulage were prepared, bridges for the passage of light tanks over wide trenches were made, cribs were constructed for the heavy tanks—these were large hexagonal crates which served the same purpose as the tank fascines did at the battle of Cambrai; wire-pulling apparatus was got ready, smoke apparatus ordered, and portable railway ramps made. It was altogether an excessively busy time on the training ground and in the workshops, and, as matters eventually turned out, it was extremely fortunate that this work was taken up at this early date, for, as a future chapter will show, when the Tank Corps was next called upon to make ready for an extensive operation only eight days were obtainable to prepare in.