At about 10 a.m. the infantry, who were badly held up by machine-guns near Demilieue, summoned Whippets of the 6th Battalion to their help. A number of machines immediately hurried up, but even then, so heavy was the machine-gun fire, that it was only with great difficulty that the infantry could advance even under cover of the Whippets. Just as they were approaching the village, three Whippets were knocked out in rapid succession by a single field gun. Deprived of the cover of these machines, the infantry had to retire again. It was not till considerably later that the village was taken. On the 18th and 19th the infantry managed to make good progress, and at 2 p.m. on the 20th we made another attack, still on the line of the Selle, north of Le Cateau. Only four Tanks of the 11th Battalion were employed. The enemy’s resistance was serious, for he had been able to erect strong wire entanglements along the greater part of the line. This time, there being no available fords, the Tanks successfully crossed the river by means of an under-water sleeper bridge, which the Sappers had secretly constructed at night, the enemy being quite unaware of its existence, until, to their dismay, they saw the Tanks crossing over it. There was severe fighting round Neuvilly, Solesmes and Haspres, but we gained all our objectives on the high ground east of the Selle, all the four Tanks successfully reaching their final goal. Our capture of these positions on the river Selle was immediately followed up by a larger bid, this time for the general line running from the Sambre Canal along the edge of Mormal Forest to the neighbourhood of Valenciennes. We were to make a night attack on a fifteen-mile line in the 4th Army area, the 9th, 5th and 13th Corps being supported by thirty-seven Tanks from the 10th, 11th, 12th and 301st (American) Battalions. Zero hour was 1.30 a.m. Unfortunately the hoped-for moonlight was shrouded, and the night misty and dark. To add to our difficulties, the enemy was shelling freely with gas. Gas-masks had to be worn, and through them it was impossible to see anything. Consequently we did not make much progress until dawn. But directly it was light we went ahead, the Tanks had fine shooting at “ground game,” and a great amount of case shot was fired, and both Tanks and infantry ultimately won through to their objectives. Next day the 17th Corps took up the attack in the 1st Army area, so extending our line of assault a further five miles north to the Schele. No Tanks, however, operated at this stage of the 1st Army’s offensive, but six machines belonging to the 10th Battalion attacked near Robewsart. One of these Tanks managed to explode a German ammunition dump with a lucky shot from one of its 6-pounders. This threw the enemy into great confusion, whilst the explosion of his own shells helped us considerably with the killing. IV