Centenary of First Tank Action

(From the August 2014 1 Armd Regt Newsletter.)

Feedback re our recent trip to the WWI battlefields (back yesterday). We didn't get to Cambrai, but did manage a visit to the area of the first ever action involving tanks. The battle of Flers-Courcellette (part of the First Battle of the Somme which commenced on 1 Jul 16) saw the deployment of 49 tanks. They went into action on 15 Sep 16. There were mixed results: some were knocked-out by enemy fire; some broke down; and some ditched; others, however, successfully destroyed enemy strong points. Importantly, commanders saw the potential and orders were given for the urgent manufacture of as many tanks as possible. As the saying goes ... the rest is history.

I'll send some photos of the monument to the action and the crews involved, located at Flers (France). Interestingly, the fence 'posts' are six pounder barrels (from 'Male' tanks) and the chain they support is from the tanks' steering mechanism.

I'll also include a shot of the back of a Belgium EOD team ute. We happened to be having coffee when they pulled up ... hundreds of tonnes of UXBs (including gas shells) from WWI are 'picked up' every year. (Shades of Morrie Bennett on Pucka Range many years ago.)

A final aside, I picked up a shrapnel ball from Hill 60. I knew that one of the reasons that so many inf were killed in attacks was that arty shrapnel was ineffective in cutting barbed wire defences. I'd mistakenly thought that "shrapnel" referred to casing fragments from HE shells. In fact, it refers to lead balls incorporated into a shell designed, with an air burst fuze, for antipersonnel use. (The ball I found was 12mm in diameter and weighed 10g.) I'd known about Henry Shrapnel's invention from the previous century, but had thought that arty had moved on to HE shells. They actually had fewer of these, hence the widespread use of shrapnel rounds for preparatory bombardments.

While the Centenary of 20 Nov 17 is obviously themajor commemoration in the years ahead, that for 15 Sep 16 is also of significance. I believe that the RTR are planning something here, is it also a date for the 1AR Assn to put in the diary

Postscript from Mick Rainey:

"I remember visiting the village of Cambrai to find the memorial, No one could give me any answers. We looked around for ages and finally, we headed off down this narrow road to Poziers. Blow me down if we didn’t stumble onto the memorial. Whilst I was taking a picture, Geanette wandered over to the other side of the road. She yelled out to me to come and have a look at this small wooden gate. When I got close to it, I saw that it had the Rising Sun badge carved into it. A short distance to the rear of the gate was a large, grass covered mound with what appeared to be a fairly large piece of granite stone set into it. We went over and could not believe our luck. My photos have deteriorated somewhat since 1974-5, so I have had to use my glasses and a magnifying glass to read the inscription on the stone. Here it is :

The ruin of Pozier’s windmill which lies here was the centre of the struggle in this part of the Somme battlefield in July and August 1916. It was captured on August 4th by Australian

troops who fell more thickly on this ridge than on any other battlefield of the war.

It was such an exciting finish to a frustrating day, to not only find the Cambrai Memorial but also the reference to the Aussie diggers."

Explanatory Note: The memorial shown above is correctly called the Tank Corps Memorial, dedicated in 1922. Located just north of the village of Pozieres, it is about 35km south west of Cambrai and five kilometres west of Flers. There no tank memorial in Cambrai itself (I'd expected there to be, but apparently not so … see 'correction' at end). The Pozieres Windmill site is quite different now that when Mick visited (looking across the road to the Tank Corps Memorial):

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A monument to all those who fought in and around Cambrai during the First World War was dedicated on the 90th Anniversary of Cambria. This is located at Flesquieres, about 10km south west from Cambrai. This is the location of Deborah D5, a Mark IV tank which took part in the Battle of Cambrai (see the article 'Tankies'). An artist's impression of the monument at Flesquieres is below.

Source: The Association Tank des Flesquieres

Cambrai Memorial. Correcting what was stated above, the following is an extract from David Kilcullen, 'Australian Tanks : Fact not Mythology' (Defender, Summer 2006/07):

"The approach to the town of Cambrai in northern France traverses a windswept, bleak landscape of poplar-lined avenues, dense woods and chalk downs: the backdrop to World War I. In the public gardens, near the town centre, is a war memorial next to a monument commemorating the pioneer aviator Louis Blériot. While the sheer number of war monuments on the Western Front is somewhat overwhelming, the memorial at Cambrai, scene of the first major tank battle in history, is unique. It is surmounted by an angel, leaning forward into the wind, wings trailing. Huddling for protection under the angel’s wings are several grim-faced infantry soldiers. The wings, as they sweep backward, gradually assume the form of a tank. For an infantry officer, the symbolism is obvious. The guardian angel of infantry in battle—and rarely did anyone have more need of a guardian—is the tank."