Great Britain. Army. Royal Tank Corps; Tanks (Military science)
First, an attack without artillery preparation, but under the
protection of a creeping barrage. The whole action was to be very much
on the lines of the First Battle of Cambrai, save that this time (1)
an even larger number of Tanks--about 430 including Whippets--were to
head the battle; (2) that light skirmishing lines of infantry were to
be used; and that (3) as at Hamel we were this time attacking a more
or less improvised defence line. The second phase of the attack, which
was to be made by a fresh wave of troops, was to start about four hours
after zero, that is, after the first objective had been taken.
During this second phase, the artillery was to be moved up and we were
to advance without a barrage.
_On the right_ was to be the Canadian Corps, and with them the 4th
Brigade[67] of Tanks was to fight.
_In the centre_, with the Australian Corps its usual battle partner,
the 5th Tank Brigade,[68] was again to operate.
_On the left_, north of the Somme, two Divisions of the 3rd Corps were
to have the 10th Tank Battalion attached to them.
Behind these three bodies three cavalry Divisions, the 3rd Brigade of
Whippet Tanks, and the 17th Battalion of Armoured Cars, were to be
concentrated.
Their work was chiefly the exploitation of the second phase. The
Armoured Car Battalion had only just returned from operations with the
French.
[69]“When the 6th French Cavalry Division was withdrawn to rest,
the 17th Battalion proceeded to Senlis, and at 9 a.m., having
just entered this town, it received orders to proceed forthwith
to Amiens and report to the Headquarters of the Australian Corps.
Amiens, which was nearly 100 miles distant, was reached the same
night.
“On arriving, Lieut.-Colonel Carter was informed that his unit was
to take part in the projected attack east of that town. The chief
difficulty foreseen in an armoured car action in this neighbourhood
was the crossing of the trenches. Although only one day was
available wherein to find a solution to this difficulty, it was
accomplished by attaching a small force of Tanks to the Battalion.
These Tanks were used to tow the armoured cars over the obstacles,
or rather along the tracks the Tanks formed through them. This
solution proved eminently successful.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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