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The Ypres Times.
crawled straight into the first, which we could only hope was shallower than it appeared
to be. The water rushed in, covering the floor-boards, and flooding the sump the
flywheel thrashed through it for a second or two, sending showers about the interior
and then the tank, not having been constructed for submarine warfare, gave up the struggle."
Some were more fortunate. Tank Coquette bellied on Blue Line, but was extri
cated with unditching gear. Found infantry held up on Black Line by machine-gun fire.
Opened fire on m.g. emplacements, occupants of which surrendered to infantry following,
up in rear. Under heavy machine-gun fire, splinters came through gun openings, wounding
the sergeant slightly in the stomach. No bullets penetrated armour plating. Bellied
close to tank Crusader, in an attempt to tow him clear, just beyond Black Line, and was-
unable to be extricated owing to loss of unditching gear. Kept up fire on snipers and hostile
m.g. emplacements whilst infantry consolidated a small hostile counter-attack was also-
dispersed, assisted by fire from tank Crusader. At 10 a.m., on No. 7 Company's passing
through, guns were taken out, tank camouflaged, and crew returned."J The Ca Canny,"
another tank of the same unit, became badly ditched near Frezenberg, and.the Commander,
mounting a Lewis gun on the roof and distributing others in the neighbouring shell-holes,
beat off several attempts of the enemy to capture the machine.
There are fifty-one recorded cases of tanks assisting the infantry on the opening day
of the battle yet it cannot be considered a success from the tanks' point of view, for the
help they could give was always uncertain and spasmodic, and their inability to make their
way through the mire discouraged our men as much as it encouraged the enemy. And
though it must have been apparent to all that the tanks were totally unsuitable for
operations in that area, they continued to be used until early in October. The reason for
this may be found in the accounts of a few minor but wonderfully successful actions,
which were fought as a gamble, but on which depended more than "could possibly have
been appreciated at the time.
The most brilliantly successful action fought by tanks at Ypres was the attack upon
a series of concrete redoubts and fortified farms, some short distance to the north of St.
Julien. This operation takes its name from The Cockroft," the strongest redoubt
embraced by the attack on August 19, 1917, and also the most northerly of the series.
These forts were constructed of concrete, in places eight feet thick, and anything smaller
than a 9.2 inch howitzer shell effected but a discoloration of their outer surface moreover,
each was held by a garrison numbering anything up to 100 men, contained numerous
machine-guns, and was further protected by meshes of barbed wire and outlying posts.
These strongholds formed an impenetrable barrier to any infantry advance, and all attempts
to capture them before this date had been repulsed with sanguinary losses. But the
18th Corps had not given up hope, and a consultation between the Corps and Tank Battalion
commanders resulted in the planning of an action, the leading rftle in which was to be taken
by tanks.
Nine machines of G (7th) Battalion were to take part, each tank being followed at a
short distance by a platoon of infantry, who were to occupy the positions when the tanks
had signalled the success of their assault. Owing to mechanical trouble, two of the tanks
took no part in this action of the remaining seven, one each was allotted to the Cockroft,
Maison du Hibou, Triangle Farm, Vancouver, Hillock Farm, and the Gun Pits, and one had
a roving commission to assist where possible. These machines were to cross the Steenbeek
just north of St. Julien, at a point where the Royal Engineers were to prepare a route
by laying fascines across the bed of the stream and their advance at dawn was to be
covered by our artillery smoke barrage, upon the efficiency of which much depended, for,
strung out upon and limited to the Poelcapelle road, the tanks would have presented a
fine target to the enemy gunners in the clear light of day.
J History of yd Tank Battalion.
