222
The Ypres Times.
7 o'clock) went back, leaving the tank isolated. The enemy followed up closely, but were
engaged by the one 6-pounder which could be brought to bear, and the Lewis guns and a
rifle, which were taken into the tank. The N.C.O. got out of the tank and made his way
to the British lines to prevent our infantry shooting any one coming out of the tank, as
the tank was being sniped at both by our infantry and by the enemy. Later on our
infantry were stopped by displaying a white rag from the porthole of the tank. After
remaining in the tank until 9 p.m. on the 24th inst., the officers and the crew, all of whom
were, by this time, wounded, left. A party covering for the tank was arranged for, with
the infantry and the Lewis guns placed at their disposal. During the time the tank was out,
viz., during the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th the enemy, in small parties, made several attempts
to get in the tank by bombing, and were successfully beaten off with machine-gun, rifle,
and revolver fire."
Enough has been said of the conditions of the Salient to enable the reader to judge of
the unequalled endurance and zeal which the tank personnel were called upon to display
for without these qualities no results would have been possible in that infernal quagmire,
and it is questionable whether, when so many voices were raised against this military
novelty, the tanks would have had the opportunity of displaying their real qualities on a
suitable arena, as they did so conspicuously at Cambrai in November of that year. Where
so many performed deeds of undying valour, one person yet managed by superlative
self-sacrifice to condense in himself the noble spirit which in those dark days inspired each
individual member of the Heavy Branch, Machine Gun Corps this was Captain Clement
Robertson, of the 1st Battalion, whose heroism won for him a posthumous Victoria Cross,
the first cross for valour awarded to the men manning the tanks.
On September 30 an action was determined upon against Reutel, and the tanks of
No. 3 Company, 1st Battalion, were ordered to co-operate with the attacking infantry.
This action necessitated the crossing of the Reutelbeck, a muddy stream which separated
the opposing lines of trenches, and the dislodging* of the enemy from his positions on the
further side. From September 30 until October 3, Captain Robertson earned out a personal
reconnaissance on the ground over which his tanks would have to advance, preparing the
way and taping down a route from Stirling Castle to Black Watch Corner. This he did
not complete until late at night on October 3, during the whole of which period he was
under intense shell fire of the enemy. He then returned to his section, and brought them
safely up to their starting point, from which they were to launch their attack at 6 a.m.
on October 4, two and a half hours after they reached it. Having successfully supervised
the crossing of the river at a suitable point under heavy shell fire and a perfect hail of
machine-gun and rifle bullets, he then resumed the leadership of his section, refusing to
seek shelter within a tank. For now the situation was most critical. There was a road
along which the the heavy cumbersome machines could advance, but for a matter of
five hundred yards the artillery had blown it beyond recognition and on either side was
a deep morassa veritable death-trap, should the tanks miss their way and become
embedded in itbut, above all, the success of the infantry depended on the timely arrival
of the tanks. With an indomitable courage and a calmness which bespeaks something of
the amazing self-possession inherent in the man, Captain Robertson determined to guide
his machines on foot to the visible part of the road, though in doing so he must have known
that death was inevitable. The enemy, in whose view he was operating, and who were
fully aware of his intentions, were bringing every means of fire to bear upon him and his
tanks.
As he was thus guiding his section to the road that led to success, Captain Robertson
fell riddled with bulletsbut not before his leading tanks had reached their objective,
and he had rendered possible the success which followed.
A. E. Bevan,
Editor of Tank Corps Journal."
