THE BATTLES OF THE SELLE AND MAUBEUGE
On October 12, the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th, and 15th Battalions were
withdrawn and placed in G.H.Q. reserve, and on the following day the
6th Battalion was transferred to the 4th Tank Brigade; meanwhile the
retiring enemy endeavoured to form a defensive line on the east side of
the river Selle.
On this front, on October 17, the Fourth Army and the First French Army
attacked from Le Cateau southwards to Vaux Andigny on a front of about
twelve miles. The 4th Tank Brigade was the only brigade in action, and
its battalions were allotted as follows:
1st Tank Battalion To the IXth Corps, on the right.
301st American Battalion To the IInd American Corps, in the centre.
16th Tank Battalion To the XIIIth Corps, on the left.
The 6th Tank Battalion was held in Fourth Army reserve.
The chief obstacle was the river Selle, the course of which roughly
approximated to the starting line in “No Man’s Land,” consequently
reconnaissance of this obstacle was extremely difficult. In spite of
this tapes were laid across the stream at night time, when it was
discovered that the river had been dammed in places in order to render
the crossing of tanks over it more difficult.
The early morning of the 17th was so foggy that tanks had to move
forward at zero hour (5.30 a.m.) on compass bearings. Each of the
forty-eight machines used carried a crib, and by casting these into the
Selle north of St. Souplet and at Molain the 1st and 16th Battalions
and the 301st American Battalion crossed this river safely. The
resistance offered by the enemy was not great, the Germans apparently
having considered the flooded river a certain obstacle against tanks.
Three days later the Third Army attacked between Le Cateau and the
Scheldt canal, four tanks of the 11th Battalion co-operating with the
Vth Corps against Neuvilly and Amervalles. Again the chief difficulty
was the crossing of the Selle: this was successfully effected by means
of an underwater sleeper bridge constructed by the Royal Engineers at
night time: being under water the bridge was not visible to the enemy
during the day. The attack was entirely successful, all four tanks
crossing the river and reaching their objectives.
About the middle of October the 2nd Tank Brigade was reconstituted,
the following battalions being allotted to it: 6th, 9th, 10th, 14th
Battalions, and the 301st American Tank Battalion. All these units were
short of men and very short of machines.
On October 23, thirty-seven tanks took part in a successful moonlight
attack at 1.20 a.m. carried out by the Third and Fourth Armies north
and south of Le Cateau, with the object of securing the whole line from
the Sambre along the edge of the forest of Mormal to the vicinity of
Valenciennes. In this attack the following battalions took part:
301st American Tank Battalion, allotted to IXth Corps.
10th Tank Battalion, allotted to XIIIth Corps.
11th and 12th Tank Battalions, allotted to Vth Corps.
In spite of the darkness, mist, and a considerable amount of gas
shelling, all objectives were reached. Many good targets presented
themselves, especially for case-shot fire, and in all some 3,000
prisoners were captured. In this attack tanks were of considerable help
in crushing down hedges and so opening gaps in them for the infantry to
pass through.
The attack was continued on the following day, six machines of the
10th Battalion co-operating with the 18th and 25th Divisions in the
neighbourhood of Robersart. Near Renuart farm great assistance was
rendered to the infantry, and a German ammunition dump exploded by a
6-pounder shell threw the enemy into great confusion and inflicted many
casualties on him.
With this attack the battle of the Selle came to an end and with it 475
guns and 20,000 prisoners were added to those already captured.
The battle of Maubeuge opened on November 2 with an attack carried out
by the IXth Corps west of Landrecies. This attack was supported by
three tanks of the 10th Battalion and it was carried out in order to
improve our position near Happegarbes preliminary to a big attack on
the 4th. All objectives were taken, but unfortunately lost again before
nightfall.
November 4 witnessed the last large tank attack of the war, large only
in comparison with the number of machines at this time fit for action.
The attack was on a broad front of over thirty miles, extending from
the river Oise to north of Valenciennes. On the British section of this
front thirty-seven tanks were used and were allotted as follows:
Third Army VIth Corps 1 Company 6th Tank Battalion.
IVth Corps 2 Sections 14th Tank Battalion.
Vth Corps 1 Company 9th Tank Battalion.
Fourth Army XIIIth Corps 5 Sections 14th Tank Battalion.
2 Companies 9th Tank Battalion.
2 Sections 14th Tank Battalion.
17th Armoured Car Battalion.
IXth Corps 4 Sections 10th Tank Battalion.
From the above distribution of tanks it will be seen how exhausted
units had become, sections now taking the place of companies and
companies of battalions.
Zero hour varied on the Corps fronts from 5.30 to 6.15 a.m. Briefly the
action of the tanks was as follows:
Those of the 10th Tank Battalion assisted in the taking of Catillon and
Happeharbes; the capture of the former village was an important step
in securing the crossing over the Oise canal. Generally speaking the
tanks operating with the XIIIth Corps had a successful day, especially
in the neighbourhood of Hecq, Preux, and the north-western edge of the
forest of Mormal. Although supply tanks[37] are not meant for fighting
purposes, three, which were carrying forward bridging material for the
25th Division, came into action near Landrecies. On approaching the
canal they found that our infantry were still on its western side,
hung up by machine-gun fire. One tank being knocked out, the section
commander decided to push on with the other two; this he did, our
infantry following these machines as if they were fighting tanks, with
the result that the machine-gunners surrendered and the far bank of the
canal was secured.
The following day, November 5, saw the last tank action of the war,
eight Whippets of the 6th Tank Battalion taking part in an attack of
the 3rd Guards Brigade north of the forest of Mormal. The country was
most difficult for combined operations, for it was intersected by
numerous ditches and fences which rendered it ideal for the rearguard
operations the Germans were now fighting all along their front. Either
the Whippets had to go forward and so lose touch with our infantry or
remain with the infantry and lose touch with the enemy. In spite of
these difficulties all objectives were taken, and the last tank action
of the war was a success.
During the next few days refitting continued with a view to building
up an organised fighting force from the shattered remnants of the Tank
Corps; as this was in progress the signing of the armistice terms on
November 11 brought hostilities to an end.
Ninety-six days of almost continuous battle had now taken place since
the great tank attack at Amiens was launched by the Fourth Army on
August 8, since when many of the officers and men of the Tank Corps had
been in action as many as fifteen and sixteen times. During this period
no fewer than 1,993 tanks and tank armoured cars had been engaged on
thirty-nine days in all; 887 machines had been handed over to Salvage,
313 of these being sent to the Central Workshops, and 204 having been
repaired and reissued to battalions. Of the above 887 tanks, only
fifteen had been struck off the strength as unsalvable. Casualties
against establishment had been heavy: 598 officers and 2,826 other
ranks being counted amongst killed, wounded, missing, and prisoners;
but when it is considered that the total strength of the Tank Corps on
August 7 was considerably under that of an infantry division, and that
in the old days of the artillery battles, such as the First Battle of
the Somme, an infantry division frequently sustained 4,000 casualties
in twelve hours fighting, the tank casualties were extraordinarily
light. It was no longer a matter of twelve hours’ but of thirty-nine
days’ fighting at twelve hours a day. From this we may deduce our
final and outstanding lesson from all these battles, namely, that iron
mechanically moved is an economiser of blood, that the tank is an
economiser of life--the lives of men, men being the most valuable asset
any country can possess.
The determination of Sir Douglas Haig had at length been rewarded, and
the endeavours which failed at Passchendaele won through finally and
irrevocably at Maubeuge. A fitting conclusion to all these operations
is to be found in the last dispatch of the Commander-in-Chief of the
British Armies, which hands down to posterity a just judgment on the
value of the work carried out by the British Tank Corps during the
ever-memorable months of August to November 1918. In these dispatches
are to be found the following three paragraphs, which are worth
pondering over when the time comes for us to consider the future:
“In the decisive contests of this period, the strongest and most
vital parts of the enemy’s front were attacked by the British,
his lateral communications were cut and his best divisions fought
to a standstill. On the different battle fronts 187,000 prisoners
and 2,850 guns were captured by us, bringing the total of our
prisoners for the present year to over 201,000. Immense numbers of
machine guns and trench mortars were taken also, the figures of
those actually counted exceeding 29,000 machine guns and some 3,000
trench mortars. These results were achieved by 59 fighting British
divisions, which in the course of three months of battle engaged
and defeated 99 separate divisions.”
“Since the opening of our offensive on August 8, tanks have
been employed on every battlefield, and the importance of the
part played by them in breaking up the resistance of the German
infantry can scarcely be exaggerated. The whole scheme of the
attack of August 8 was dependent upon tanks, and ever since that
date on numberless occasions the success of our infantry has been
powerfully assisted or confirmed by their timely arrival. So great
has been the effect produced upon the German infantry by the
appearance of British tanks that in more than one instance, when
for various reasons real tanks were not available in sufficient
numbers, valuable results have been obtained by the use of dummy
tanks painted on frames of wood and canvas.
“It is no disparagement of the courage of our infantry, or of the
skill and devotion of our artillery, to say that the achievements
of those essential arms would have fallen short of the full measure
of success achieved by our armies had it not been for the very
gallant and devoted work of the Tank Corps, under the command of
Major-General H. J. Elles.”