THREE NEW TYPES OF TANK--THE DEPOT--CENTRAL WORKSHOPS
I
The “Fighting Side” had now been for many months almost exclusively
engaged with “operations,” and having fought themselves nearly to a
standstill at the Battle of Cambrai, were now in as urgent need of
reorganisation as were their machines of overhaul and repair.
The present chronicle has also for long followed their fortunes, with
not a glance to spare for the activities of the manufacturing and other
organisations which played the supporting parts “Aaron and Hur” to the
Fighting Side’s “Moses.”
At the period we have reached it is high time to pick up the dropped
histories of the other persons of the drama. For while the Tank Corps
had been fighting, manufacturers had been busy, and a huge network of
auxiliary services and organisations had grown up, by means of which
the whole Corps was to rise rejuvenated from its ashes.
Before the Tanks fought their next pitched battle the Mark V. had
come into being, Whippet Tanks had been issued, a heavy type of
infantry-carrying Tank had been designed, and for fast work on good
roads a Battalion of Armoured Cars had grown up.
Besides this, a complete system of Supply Tanks and Field Maintenance
Companies for salvage and supplies had been gradually evolved during
the course of the last campaign.
The Tank Corps Depot had been enormously enlarged, and had moved to its
final “location” on the coast near Le Tréport.
The Home Depot at Wool had also increased, and there had been changes
and developments at the Ministry of Munitions and in the Tank
production side generally.
It is in fact impossible in a single chapter to give more than a brief
indication of this universal and increasing “back area” activity.
To begin with the changes in the home organisation and in the
production of Tanks.
The “New” Tank Committee was, as we have already related, a success.
In December 1917 and January 1918 it saw a rather interesting new
phase, when Majors Drain and Alden, of the U.S. Tank Corps, attended
certain of its meetings, and when the manufacture for the British and
American Armies of the Mark VIII. or “Allied Tank” was decided upon.
This Tank was never fought, but its projection is perhaps interesting
as an example of inter-Allied solidarity.
By January 1918 proposals for an expansion from nine to eighteen
Battalions and for a reorganisation of Tank control had been put
forward.
These proposals were eventually (in April 1918) discussed by the
Inter-Allied Tank Committee, a sort of sub-committee of the Versailles
Conference, on which the British, French and American Tank Corps were
represented.
But neither men nor really constructive thought could then be spared
from the immediate needs of meeting the German onrush, and nothing was
done to realise their proposals until that onrush was finally stemmed.
But in July 1918 the business was taken up again. It was decided to
expand the Tank Corps to thirty-four Battalions armed with about six
thousand machines.
II
In December 1917 the manufacturing situation was not particularly
satisfactory. As late as August 20 the Commander-in-Chief had, it will
be remembered, laid down, in an official letter, an order of priority
in which there were four categories preferred to Tanks.
“The manufacture of Tanks should not be allowed to interfere in any
way with:
“(1) The output of aeroplanes.
“(2) The output of guns and ammunition.
“(3) The provision of mechanical transport, spare parts therefor,
and petrol tractors up to the scale demanded.
“(4) The provision of locomotives up to the scale demanded.
And though by December the views of the authorities had changed
considerably, the sudden expansion of the Tank building programme was
not easy.
In October 1917, 700 Mark IV. Tanks had already been delivered in
France, and a balance of about 500 was still due. But the Fighting Side
was anxious that these should not all be of the unimproved Mark IV.
pattern. For up to now no change in the design had been made since the
first Mark IV. had been delivered. It was decided, therefore, that some
of the 500 should be given Ricardo engines and Epicyclic gears, and
that others should be fitted as Supply Tanks.
The M.W.S.D. hoped to build about 1600 new Heavy Tanks, 800 of which
were to be of the Mark V. type and ready by May 1, and the others to
be of other heavy types, probably Mark V. star and Mark VI., while 385
Whippet (“Medium A”) Tanks were also to be ready by May 1918.
Further, there was to be a small cadre of Salvage Tanks and of special
infantry Supply Tanks, two of the latter being able to carry complete
supplies for an infantry Brigade for one day.
A large number of these Tanks were as before to be built by the
Metropolitan Carriage and Wagon Company.
A very brief account of most of these new types of Tank has already
been given in Chapter I., and it is not necessary to repeat here the
details of their speeds, armament, and so forth.
Salvage Tanks were usually Mark IV. Tanks on which special gear, such
as winches and small cranes, had been fitted for hoisting wrecks out of
the mud, or for towing.
The Supply Tank was a Mark IV. fitted with very capacious sponsons. In
order to save weight these carriers were not made as fully armoured as
the fighting Tanks.
The Gun Carrier Tank was a machine with an elongated tail which formed
a platform whence it was intended that a 60-pounder gun or a 6-in.
howitzer could be fired.
The Tank Corps Armoured Cars were of the usual turreted pattern, and
were armed with machine-guns.
But more important than any other new development was the improvement
in the main issue of heavy Tanks, an improvement which is very well
described by the historian of the 13th Battalion:
“The old Mark IV. type had serious disadvantages. Its engine power
on bad ground was insufficient, and the clumsy secondary gears made
turning slow and difficult as well as requiring the services of at
least two members of the crew in addition to the driver. This, in
battle, became a heavy handicap upon the fighting powers of the
Tank. The officer was hampered by the need to attend to brakes,
and a gunner called upon suddenly to help alter gears would lose
the fleeting chance of firing at favourable targets. In the new
Mark V. Tank these troubles largely disappeared. An engine of new
design gave both greater speed and greater turning power, while
a system of epicyclic gears made turning easy and under the sole
control of the driver. The officer was free to supervise his crew,
the gunner was free to use his weapons to the best advantage. Add
that a greatly increased field of view was obtained by the addition
of an observer’s turret, and it will be understood that an immense
advance in type had been secured.”
The Mark V. had, however, one serious drawback. Its ventilation was
extremely faulty. We shall see later how serious a disadvantage this
was to prove.
III
There were also to be changes in the technical and mechanical
engineering side of the Tank Corps itself, by which an economy of
man-power was to be effected.
When the Tank Corps was first formed each Company had its own
workshops, and this system lasted to the end of 1916. Then in the
course of the winter reorganisation, Company Workshops were abolished
and Battalion Workshops were substituted.
By the autumn of 1917 the experiment was tried of centralising still
further and merging Battalion into Brigade Workshops, and early in 1918
it was decided to take the last step and to concentrate all repairs in
the Central Workshops.
This system, which achieved a great economy of skilled men, was made
possible by a very clear line of demarcation being drawn between
Repairs and Maintenance, a principle which had been laid down by
Colonel F. Searle, D.S.O., the chief engineer of the Corps and the head
of the whole mechanical side of the Tanks.
No damaged part was ever to be repaired on the field; mechanical
efficiency was to be maintained by the broken bit of mechanism being
immediately replaced by a complete new part.
This replacement was carried out by the crew, whose efficiency as
mechanics was enormously increased by being thus made responsible for
their own machines.
One point had, of course, to be carefully attended to in carrying out
this system. There had to be a very efficient supply organisation by
which the necessary spares were quickly available in the field.
When the crew had removed the damaged part from the Tank, it was sent
back to the Central Workshops to be repaired.
Here a specially skilled man would be always employed upon damages to
one particular part.
[48]“For example, broken unions of petrol pipes commonly occur
in all petrol engines, and if a small unit workshop exists, the
brazing out and repair of such broken unions can be carried out
there. But in order to do this a coppersmith must be kept at the
unit workshop, and only part of his time will be employed in this
work of brazing petrol unions. If now, however, all broken unions,
from every unit, are sent back to a Central Workshop for repair,
there is a sufficient amount of work of this description to keep
one man, or possibly two or three men fully employed all their time.
“These men become absolute experts in brazing broken unions, and
before very long can do in a few minutes a job which would take a
coppersmith with the unit workshop an hour or two to carry out.”
It is interesting to trace what might have been the itinerary of a Tank
from the time it left the manufacturers in about Midsummer 1917, till
after going into action in, say, the Third Battle of Ypres.
On completion every Tank was first sent to testing grounds at Newbury,
where it was manned by No. 20 Squadron R.N.A.S. From here it was
forwarded to Richborough, whence it was shipped by the Channel ferry
and received at Le Havre by another detachment of Squadron 20. Thence
it went to Bermicourt, was again tested, this time by Tank Corps
personnel, and then handed on to the Central Stores at Erin. These
stores were first established in 1917, and eventually consisted of
over seven acres of railway siding and six acres of buildings. The
Central Workshops were at one time also installed here, but as more
accommodation became necessary they were moved to Teneur, about a mile
and a half away.
From the Central Stores the Tanks would be issued to Battalions as
needed.
For example, during the Third Battle of Ypres a large number of Tanks
were supplied to Companies actually in the line. We will suppose that
a particular Tank was so supplied, and received a bullet through its
carburettor during one of the small actions of the end of October.
The crew would immediately draw a new carburettor from the
neighbouring mobile advanced store, which was run by one of the two
Tank Salvage or Field Companies.
Thus re-equipped the Tank would again go into action, perhaps within a
day of being damaged.
This time we will suppose that the Tank got knocked out between the
first and second objective by a direct hit, the unwounded members of
the crew going forward with their Lewis guns and leaving the Tank
stranded and immovable.
The position of the derelict having been reported, men from a Tank
Salvage Company would go up that night, probably under shell-fire, and
possibly in full view of the enemy whenever a Véry light went up.
The experts would arrive at the wreck with their favourite set of
repairing tools, possibly consisting of the specially designed
Tank-repairing outfit, but more probably of a few pet spanners, some
odd lengths of tubing and a coil of copper wire. They would toil at the
Tank till dawn.
Sometimes after one or more nights spent like this they would induce
the Tank to go. In the Ypres area Tanks were sometimes salved that had
completely disappeared into the mud. Sometimes it was possible to tow a
machine away, particularly after the special salvage Tanks with their
hoisting gear came into use. Sometimes only _disjecta membra_, such as
engine parts, 6-pounders, or parts of the gears or transmissions, could
be saved.
During the two years of their existence the Field Companies, at the
lowest computation, saved two or three million pounds’ worth of stores,
a work which they did not accomplish without heavy cost to themselves.
We will suppose that the Tank whose history we have followed was salved
whole.
The next step would be that it would be entrained by the Field Company
and sent back to the Central Workshops at Teneur.
This was really a vast engineering works covering about twenty acres
of ground, where, besides a very large number of trained and expert
mechanics, more than a thousand Chinese coolies worked.
These coolies often became very dexterous artisans.
Here, in endless ranks down the long shops, they would toil
indefatigably, in the summer stripped to the waist, their brown bodies
gleaming in the white light of the arc lamps or in the glow of the
forges, or in the winter dressed in their loose blue quilted jackets
and close caps with curious rabbits’ fur ear-lappets.
Possibly the shattered or burnt-out Tank would have to be almost
entirely rebuilt, two wrecked Tanks providing, perhaps, parts enough
to make one good one. Here, finally, the reconstructed Tank would be
tested and sent back to the Central Stores.
Possibly it would have been reduced to a sort of “C. III.” category,
and made into a Supply Tank. Possibly it would have been fitted with
all the latest gadgets, and come out from its reforging a better weapon
than it was originally.
For the activities of the Central Workshops were not confined to mere
repair. It will be remembered how they distinguished themselves in
the matter of the lightning delivery of fascines, releasing gear, and
supply sledges for the Battle of Cambrai.
A large proportion, too, of the experiments which led to improvements
in the design of Tanks were carried out here; for example, the long
Tank and the unditching beam were of Central Workshops origin, and
here the officers who fought the Tanks could have their ideas for
gadgets sympathetically reviewed and put to practical proof by the
band of expert engineers that Lieut.-Colonel Brocklebank had brought
together. But they were more than mere experts; they were enthusiasts
whose unflagging zeal had created the marvel of Central Workshops where
there had been bare ploughland so short a time before.
IV
We have traced a Tank from its setting forth from home with unscratched
paint through the vicissitudes of battle to its remoulding as a greatly
improved machine or to its relegation to “Permanent Base.”
How would the military history run of a member of a Tank crew which had
fought, say, at the Battle of Cambrai?
We have already related how the Tank Corps was chiefly recruited
in early days, that is, either from among mechanical experts or
from volunteers from other branches of the Service. Later men with
no special qualifications were taken by direct enlistment. We will
suppose, however, that 1234 Pte. John Smith got his transfer from
the West Surreys when in the line in about June 1917, and that at
that moment the training schools in France had no vacancies. To their
great joy, therefore, Pte. Smith and his batch would be sent home for
training to the Tank Depot at Wool.
Here was a huge camp where men like themselves, who had seen fighting,
and also men fresh from the Recruiting Depots, were being formed into
the new Tank Battalions. By July about nine of these new Battalions
were in training. The men went through the usual recruits’ curriculum.
First of all, drill, discipline and physical training; then individual
courses in Tank Gunnery, Driving and Maintenance. Then they would go
through the Signalling, Revolver and Compass Schools, the Gas and
Reconnaissance Schools.
There was also here an Officer Cadet Preliminary Training Company where
the same sort of instruction was given. Gunners at this time did all
their firing practice with 6-pounders at the Naval School of Gunnery,
Chatham, or rather, to be exact, on “H.M.S. Excellent,” Whale Island.
All the other courses were gone through in and around the camp.
Practically, only individual instruction was given at Wool, and their
collective and tactical training was done by the men at Bermicourt,
after their arrival in France. At Wool it was reckoned that, with this
important omission, nearly four months would usually be occupied in
raising and training a Tank Battalion. It would, therefore, be towards
the end of September that Pte. Smith found himself in France.
He was, he found, to be detailed to one of the old Battalions, and was,
therefore, despatched to the Training and Reinforcement Depot, then
established at Erin, and later to be moved to Le Tréport.
Here he was attached to a Reception Company, put through a kind of
examination in the subjects he had studied at Wool, but passing
satisfactorily and his records being duly completed, he was issued
with his kit and equipment and posted to his Company. He was soon
sent to join it at an improvised training area where it was at this
moment “resting” from the Battle of Ypres. It was not actually having a
particularly restful time, as tactical training with the infantry was
in progress, and there was more than enough night work in the programme.
[Illustration: SLEDGE-TOWING TANK TAKING UP SUPPLIES]
[Illustration: BERMICOURT CHATEAU NEAR ST. POL.
TANK CORPS MAIN HEADQUARTERS]
[Illustration: GUN-CARRYING TANK TAKING UP A HOWITZER]
[Illustration: A WHIPPET GOING IN]
This phase did not last long, however, for the Company was soon sent
back to join its Battalion in the Salient, where they executed an
astonishing number of moves and were considerably shelled, but never
succeeded in getting into action.
After that they were hurried off to do intensive training for Cambrai.
Then came the battle, in the last three days of which a very much
exhausted 2nd Driver Smith was wounded in the face by a bullet splash.
The trouble was not serious enough to get him to England, and on
his return from an all too brief stay in a Hospital in France, he
again found himself at the Depot. This time, after only a day in the
Reception Company and after a medical examination, he was posted for
fourteen days to the Seaside Rest Camp at Merlimont.
This Rest Camp consisted of rows and rows of rather pretty bungalows
built among the sand dunes. Here both men and officers were given a
very pleasant time, though they were still under military discipline
and had a certain number of parades to keep. For the officers there was
a comfortable club, and for the men an exceedingly well-run Y.M.C.A.
hut, where there were concerts or pierrot shows almost nightly--either
home-grown or imported.
Games and, in summer, swimming and bathing were great features. There
is no doubt, first, that the Camp was immensely popular, and, secondly,
that the Tank Corps owed a good deal of its cheerful spirit and high
_moral_ to the refreshment which the Camp afforded to many a weary body
and mind.
After this fortnight by the sea Smith rejoined his Battalion, and was,
with the rest of the Tank world, plunged into winter training.
V
The general organisation of the 1917–18 training, though, of course, on
a much larger scale, was very much like that of the previous winter.
New training centres had been established and old centres extended.
But perhaps a chronicle of the numbers who passed through these courses
of instruction at Wailly, Le Tréport, Bermicourt and Merlimont, and of
the sequence in which the different Brigades took their turns at the
different areas, might prove less interesting than a brief account of
what was actually taught and of the sort of way a syllabus would be
carried out.
In the official “Instructions for the Training of the Tank Corps in
France” these are the sort of general principles we find laid down:
“All work must be carried out at high pressure. Every exercise and
movement should, if possible, be reduced to a precise drill.
“Games will be organised as a definite part of training (see S.S.
137, ‘Recreational Training’).
“Order is best cultivated by carrying out all work on a fixed plan.
Order is the foundation of discipline. Small things like marching
men always at attention to and from work, making them stand to
attention before dismissing them, assist in cultivating steadiness
and discipline. Each day should commence with a careful inspection
of the billets and the men, or some similar formal parade. Strict
march discipline to and from the training grounds must be insisted
upon.
“It is an essential part of training for war that the men are
taught to care for themselves, so as to maintain their physical
fitness. To this end the necessity for taking the most scrupulous
care of their clothing, equipment and accoutrements will be
explained to them.”
The following is the syllabus (slightly condensed) of a Maintenance
Course for Tank Commanders:
How to drive a Tank.
How to set a magneto.
When an engine is misfiring or overheating.
When an engine is knocking too badly to continue working or is not
pulling.
When carburation is bad.
When a Tank is at such an angle that it is dangerous to run the
engine.
The causes of engine failures and how to correct them.
How the autovac works.
The correct tension for fan belts.
When an engine bed is loose.
How much petrol, oil, grease, and water should be used during
average hour’s run.
When road chain sprocket wheels or pinions should be changed.
How long it takes to change a set of sprocket wheels and pinions.
When a track or the Coventry driving chains are too slack.
When a clutch is too fierce, and how to correct it.
When a clutch is slipping, and how to adjust it.
When secondary gears are too much worn for further service, and
what is the effect of their not being fully in mesh.
How long it takes to change such gears.
When tracks or secondary gears are over or under lubricated.
When brakes are operative or not.
How long it takes to prepare a Tank for a day’s run.
How long it takes thoroughly to clean and adjust a Tank after a
day’s work.
How long it takes to detrain Tanks and adjust sponsons.
How the equipment of a Tank should be stowed.
The appliances which are necessary to dismantle various sections of
a Tank, and how it should be done.
That it is just as necessary for a Company Commander to inspect
Tanks daily as it is for a Cavalry Squadron Commander to inspect
his horses.
For an interesting “Immediate Action Course,” _i.e._, first aid to the
engine, the following directions are given to instructors:
“In order to inspire confidence at the outset, particular stress
should be laid upon the fact that in a Tank there are practically
only three causes of engine failure--Valves--Ignition--Petrol.
“If this is borne in mind, a very little experience in the simple
operations connected with these three functions, coupled with a
little training in diagnosis, will enable students to deal very
easily with troubles as they occur.
“Drivers should know by the ‘feel’ of their engine whether it is
firing correctly or not, and any member of a crew ought to be able
to detect and report at once any irregularity in the sound of an
exhaust from outside the machine.
“When the students have been through a course (using the book) of
what to do when:
“1. The Engine won’t start,
“2. Engine starts and stops after a few Revs,
“3. Irregular sound of exhaust--machine will not climb,
“4. Popping back of Carburettor,
“5. Overheating and knocking,
the Instructor is to set up faults for the students to remedy.”
He is given ideas for nearly fifteen ways of producing the symptom
“Engine won’t start.”
“It is suggested that the Instructor should insert a piece of
paper between the platinum points in the little magneto, or fit a
faulty contact breaker with a stiff rocker in the big magneto, or
smear segments and outside of the distributor with a little dirty
oil; if he desires to queer the plugs, he may insert one with its
gap closed up or bridged with dirt or with a cracked insulation.
To produce symptom No. 2, he may insert a punctured float in the
Carburettor or insert a piece of rag in the passage between the
float chamber and the jets, or block a cock under the Autovac. Or
in order to produce an irregular sound in the exhaust and to make
the machine refuse to climb, he may remove the roller and pin from
one or more inlet valves; or place two faulty plugs in the engine.
To make the engine overheat, he is to insert an extra link in the
Radiator Fan Bolt, open the Air Slide, or start a leak in one or
more of the water outlet elbows. He may make the engine tap and
rattle by adjusting the valves with abnormal clearances, and so on
with the number of other defects, which each student in turn is to
be called upon to diagnose and remedy.”
For the conduct of a “Refresher” Battle Practice Course the following
points are suggested for the guidance of instructors:
“The ammunition required for each man firing will be 20 rounds of
shell, 5 rounds of case shot, and 250 rounds of S.A.A.
“Before beginning a Battle Practice, the following points must be
seen to:
“That each practice or scheme is of a practical nature, _i.e._,
that it should bring out certain lessons under as near battle
conditions as possible.
“All ports, etc., in the Tanks will be closed during the practice.
Targets should represent as nearly as possible those met with in
action. The practice must not be hurried and the Tank must never
contain more than the normal crew. Students should be allowed to
ride on the top of the Tanks, in order to observe the fire effect.
In this way, by observing the faults of others, they should be able
to avoid committing the same errors themselves, when their turn
comes to fire.
“Battle Practice exercises must be regarded by the Tank Crews as
what the Field firing practices are to the Infantry.
“Vizors and Gas-Masks must frequently be worn during a Battle
Practice Course.
“Before the Battle Practice begins, Crews and Gunners will form up
outside the Tanks and the scheme of attack will be explained to
them; also how it is intended to carry out the attack and what are
their objectives. All drivers and gunners must fully understand the
scheme of attack and what is expected of them; they must be told to
ask their Tank Commander to explain any point that does not appear
clear to them. Positions where Anti-Tank guns are expected must be
pointed out to them on a map, and other information of this type
may be given. This will add to the keenness and interest of the men.
“Drivers must be reminded that the goodness or badness of the
shooting will probably depend upon their driving.
“The Gunnery Officer must see that the targets are sited properly;
he should always go over the Course in a Tank previous to the
practice to satisfy himself on these points.
“If flashes are to be used, or moving targets employed, he must
see that the fatigue men know their work, and the Gunnery Officer
should always give these fatigue men one rehearsal before a Battle
Practice Course, as it is most important for everything to go
smoothly on the day.
“N.C.O. Instructors must be told off, one to each gun in the Tank
which is firing, and their duty will be to see that points taught
in the elementary training are brought into play and that the
necessary safety precautions are adhered to.
“There will always be a conference at the end of each Battle
Practice exercise. All members of the crews, students, instructors,
etc., will attend. Constructive criticism and encouragement should
be the tone of the conference. Faults brought to light should be
carefully explained so that all can hear, learn and correct, in
the future. The Gunner is as anxious to learn and to improve his
shooting as is the Instructor to have a pupil who will do him
credit.”
Very excellent courses were also arranged in the Reconnaissance
Schools. But almost the most interesting of the Reconnaissance Side’s
activities was the series of improvised courses--outdoor schemes,
indoor practices and lectures which they arranged during the weary time
while the Tank Corps “stood to quarters” through January, February and
early March 1918.
The events of this time we propose to chronicle in the next chapter but
one.
There had by this time been many other Tank activities which we have
not at present chronicled at all. The French had trained and equipped a
Tank Corps. The Americans were busy with Tanks, and a Detachment of our
own Corps had fought in two engagements in Palestine.
_Note to Chapter XI_
Stories of the early days of Wool are related in the 6th Battalion
History.
When the first few consignments of Tanks were sent to the Camp at
Bovington from Wool Station the most elaborate precautions were taken
to secure the machines from the eyes of the profane.
The route was guarded by military policemen marshalled by A.P.M.’s.
All civilian traffic was stopped, and--as if the Tanks had been so
many Lady Godivas--all the blinds in the front rooms of the farms
and cottages which bordered the roads had to be drawn, and all the
inhabitants were relegated to the back rooms.
This ritual was observed every time a batch of Tanks arrived.
One farmer remarked that he was delighted to help keep the secret in
any manner that seemed good to the authorities, but he thought they
might like to know that a day or two before a Tank had broken down and
that he and his horses had helped to tow it into his yard, where it had
remained for forty-eight hours.