Source: File: Germans attacking tank.
See an original image at:
<http://wio.ru/tank/ww1tank.htm> [Accessed 25 October 2016]
To see inside a
tank see, Weapons of War: Mark 1 Tank Available at: <http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/launch_ani_mark_one_tank.shtml>
Amid the newest
formations of force
Came the crews of
tanks, whose
Experiences
brought another aspect
Of war out of the
western front.
One recruit of a
crew an Australian,
Maintained a
diary to tell of one
Week inside the
fighting machine in
A story to the
Manchester Guardian.
Initially an
unpleasant set of feelings
Akin to seasickness
- in the motion
Of the craft he
dealt with the nausea
Of tank sickness,
to find his tank legs.
With such legs he
climbed inside
With the tank
corps - a Subaltern,
3 Drivers and 4
Gunners - minimal
Training made for
strange sensation.
The Australian
decided being inside
To be worse than
in a submarine -
Imagination
became heightened - in
A confined space
nothing was visible.
Once away though, limited vision
Continued
restricted views - then out
In the midst of
battle sounds of hail
On a galvanized
roof deafened all.
Next a series of
'hammer blows'
Of heavier
weaponry against their
Shell - still the
driver carried them
Onwards making
it, all unscathed.
Crawling at a
methodical pace until
There was a lurch,
the Australian felt
They were 'booked
through' - a look
Out saw they were
astride a trench.
With the enemy
close by their orders
Were to 'give
them hell' - this they
Did, raking
bullets right and left -
Allowing a peek
it was grim humour.
Outside their tank
were Germans
Acting as
frightened rabbits, easily
Shooting them
down in bunches -
Halting escape to
their burrows.
In hopeful
futility the Hun brought
Out machine guns
to rattle their hide,
Without making
any indentations -
They came across more
fearful Huns.
As if possessed
the enemy scattered,
To be scythed in
the process - some
Officer sought to
gather his men back
Together,
awaiting the metal tank.
As the crew began
anew the enemy
Scattered once
more - all around
Infantry
followers rounded up any
Survivors, who
stared open mouthed.
Their wide eyes
watched the crawling
Tank - then on
the Tuesday they did
It all again. The
Australian spoke in
His diary of Germans
as silly blighters.
German tactics believed
some ability
To succeed with rushing
the tank from
All sides, as if
raiding a fort - Devilish
Plucky but mad,
to be hit point blank.
On the third time
out, the Wednesday,
Found the tank
approaching some
Village - a place where a Hun party
Stood to greet
them - a big mistake.
By obscured
vision it appeared they
Might be the
mayor and other big pots -
Somewhat large
figures made a warm
Reception of
machine guns and more.
Trying to board
the sealed machine -
With a laugh to
return their fire; 'tank
Reception
Committee dispersed' - amid
Smoky cloud and
flames one stood.
Rotund and purple
in his rage, he ran
Like a part in a
sack race; 'funny as hell.'
The old man threw
himself down in
Made gestures of
terror and surrender.
On another casual
touring day, this
Australian
witnessed rounding up
Of surrendering Hun
when one said,
It was 'not fair
to fight with such things.'
This was their
affair - despite any racket
Germany sought to
give - taking air the
Crewman asked one
such cheeky chap
If they should
get Kaiser's permission?
The joke went
over his head as they
Gave another big
shock, to counter any
Enemy surprise of
entrapment, where
They rolled into
midst of their ambush.
In a repeat of
terrified fleeing, enemy
Quickly took to
heels in all directions - only
A few lingered to
fire back, but were easily Crushed, for Yorks
to pick up the pieces.
by Jamie Mann.
Anon.,1916. Inside
a 'Tank' - Grim And Humorous Tales. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 17 October 1916. P.10. Col.7.
Available at: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12213438/Daily-Telegraph-October-17-1916.html>
[Accessed: 25 October 2016].
Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal
communication, 25 October 2016).
Source: File: Germans attack British
Tank.See an original
image at: <https://twitter.com/skipperswar> [Accessed
29 September 2016]
As eye and 'earwitness'
among Somme days,
To number almost
three months, Philip Gibbs
Noted on Wednesday
27 September, how
The high ridge of
Thiepval had transformed -
Counting 34 blackened
tree stumps, the ground
Ploughed by high
explosive storms.
Finally, a prize of
wasteland across a panorama
Of shell
shattered No Mans Land - soldier waves
Leaping in and
out of trenches - small figures
To reappear with
silhouettes of prisoners led
Back in batches;
then back again to undertake
A little more
progress.
Closer and closer
to the rows of fruit trees -
Or rather what
had been apple trees, no longer
To bear April
blossoms on the edge of Thiepval,
On what had once
been the French commune.
All this had
taken count from shell storms that
Held no respect
for life.
Storms of shells
made by hands of womankind,
Transported by
sea and land and used in grand
Orchestras of
guns - the taking of Mouquet
Farm by mixed
Australian and Canadian blood,
That quickly
dried among its ruin - brickwork
Dust marked out old ruins linked by trenches.
Renewed sniping acts thereabouts, caused pull
Back from Mouquet, to see refreshed gunnery
Targeting the
space, as in recent old days -
Seeking nests of Germans,
protecting parties
As they set out
to dig down sometimes to find
Deep holes -
without searching are filled again.
Amid the broken
trunks and red brick rubble
Of Thiepval
chateau, came close by a solitary
Shape - a monster
to any virgin eye that set
Upon it - a sloth
on the warpath, spitting out
Shots of lead, joining in the artillery in violent
Shelling across
Thiepval.
Whatever life might
be there lay underground,
As darkest black
smoke marked each hit - any
Wise German hid in the villages vaulted cellars.
From their
burrows the German soldiers had
Created exit
points, so they could pop up any
Where like
rabbits to take pot shots.
In the chance of
meeting survivors who
Had held the
village for two years, French
Speaking Germans told
openly how they
Dug warrens of
safety, with furniture made
Of planks raised
above ground; handsome
And high bearing
in interview.
Quizzed in their
aspect of wars outcome,
They laughed at English victory idea - fed
By daily newspapers their reactions to raid
Of zeppelins gave exclamation of 'kaput.'
Being gentleman of
war each side readily
Praised the
other.
Responses to
appearances of the tanks
By Tommy, very apparent in their grins
'Where are the
old tanks?' despite being
On the cutting
edge of warfare - slowly
A lone tank can
appear oddly, like a boat
To lurch in and out
of trenches.
Nosing into soft
earth driven by grunt
Of an engine, to rest a moment on old
Parapets as if
winded - waddles onward
Then sits and look
at the chateau ruins -
Described as some
living beast that duly
Considers eating chateau remains.
In observation of
the metal machine each Tommy keeps his head below bullets
And ridges - impatiently willing the tank to
Move onwards and get
on with it - which
It did; seen as a fire-breathing
dragon,
With belching
dyspepsia.
Reporter’s eyes saw
how German bullets
Harmlessly 'splash'
off casings - in a further
Lurch its belly
squashes sandbags flat -
As if to use them
as a resting cushion -
Then it gave
another burp of fire, before
Baffled Germans.
Yelling and
cheery Tommy’s come from
Behind the tank
to take 'hände hoch'
German gunners
into their care, who
Stood in awe of
the over powering beast
That defeated
them - the Tommy’s agree
Over usage in
taking chateau.
An impossible task without tanks. A tank
Did not give a
fuck for the machine guns -
Though the short
horned mud hopper's
Body had become
winded, having to pause
Before it could
crawl safely homewards,
Back to its den.
Mirrored occurrences
happened at Ovillers,
With close
encounters of underground foe -
Where life sized German
rabbits popped
Out of their
burrows, with rat like intentions.
One English lad
told how he dipped down
Into a deep
dugout.
He ran back in
retreat, at the appearance
Of dark German
shapes - though some
Seemed to want to
surrender - it was hard
To tell if the Huns
real tricky intent would
Be to kill him - his
own fellows throwing
Bombs, possibly ending
him either way.
The bomb parties
aimed their explosions
At dug out
entrances - sending in plumes
Of smoke, to
force the Hun out the other
Way - something
like rat hunting the vermin
Were life-sized,
dangerous and desperate.
A melee of
prisoner taking, as more brave
Tommy’s swooped
into tunnels to sweep
Prisoners out in
their hundreds, to emerge
Amid hundreds of
waiting allied soldiers -
40 wounded and
998 unwounded were
Taken prisoner.
Danger was
by no means over - in taking
The mass of
prisoners back to allied lines,
A German barrage
picked off some of
Their own - while
noon approached the
Opposition sought
retaliation - flames
And black smoke
renewed.
By witness the
allies signaled friendly
Guns to assist
their plight - flame against
Flame blew each
other into silence for
Moments, allowing
movement of men to go
Out and poke
about to dig further holes,
Or scrounge about
for keepsakes.
Like a landscape
of Victorian chimneys,
Plumes popped up
- among them a black
Gush appeared on
the site of Chateau's
Carcass of
reddened rubble - all equal
Events about
seemed to stifle enemy
Ability to summon
counter attacks.
Resorting to
shells over Morval and
Compels, while No Mans Land became
An expansion and all
about tanks rolled
Out in sorties - as
some hours before
At Gueudecourt; there troops were
Stuck before a
bullet wall.
So up came a tank
across the sticky
Trench to hand
this over to its followers
Where white flags
of surrender lifted -
Buoyed by
success, the tank pressed
Further on to
find more success to find
Itself set upon.
Despite the guns
firing about, a horde
Of men leapt upon
the beast, believing they
Might smash its
metal casing using bombs,
Rifle butts and
bayonet and bullet fire -
In crazy notions trying to find it’s weakest
Side riding on
its back.
But allied
infantry came to the defence
Of the tank -
driving the remaining enemy
Away that did not
lay dead about - still
Unperturbed the
tank recovered its engine
Growled and began
to waddle onwards
Without a thought.
by Jamie Mann.
Anon.,1916. Story
Of Thiepval - 'Tanks' Exploits - Attacked By Germans With Bomb And Bayonet. The Daily
Telegraph, [online] 26 September
1916. P.9. Col.1-2. Available
at: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12213310/Daily-Telegraph-September-29-1916.html>
[Accessed: 29 September 2016].
Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal
communication, 29 September 2016).
Source: File: Battle of Flers–Courcelette. Four Mark I tanks filling with petrol. Chimpanzee Valley, 15 September 1916, the day tanks first went into action.Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia Wikimedia Commons. See an original image at:<https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Battle_of_the_Somme,_July-november_1916_Q5576.jpg> [Accessed 15 September 2016]
Source: File: Infantry moving off with a tank, at the Battle of Flers-Courcelette (the cage on top was to prevent grenades from being tossed on top of the tank).See an original image at: <http://www.historywiz.com/tank.htm> [Accessed 15 September 2016]
Source: File: WW1 The
Introduction of the Tank - History Channel. See original footage:
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fLCdNudUxk/> [Accessed 15 July 2016]
i
29th July 1916, a
letter arrived
Into the hands of
Haig - he opened
The envelope and
unfolded
The paper - to
read words written
By Chief of the
Imperial General
Staff, Sir
William Robertson.
His statement spelt
out that to an
Extent, the
pressure on Verdun
Had been relieved
- but at what
Cost? Nearly
300,000 casualties
For some little
gain - Haig wrote his
Reaction in
margin; 'not very CIGS.'
1 August 1916
Haig sat and penned
His reply to
Robertson - intentions
Were to maintain
the pressure over
The Somme -
wherever their
Preparations were
ready, the army
Were to push with
strong attacks.
ii
All gains had to
be secured
Against
counterattacks - with
Such processes
the offensive
Would carry on
well into the
Autumn; Z day at summers
Height then 4 week’s
before.
September would
see further
Drafts of plans,
in order to keep
Intensity across
the front line,
And exploit any
opportunities
Made on the field
- Haig held
Deep concerns
close to home.
He found a lack
of standards
In his staff, as
many leaders had
Been lost - a
sudden expansion
Of a raw army
lacked experience;
Haig reinforced
the need for
Preparation in
all new operations.
This in part, was
to target
German defences
of Somme
Ridge - high
points of Pozieres
And Martinpuich,
Mouquet
Farm and Thiepval
village; as
With Delville and
High woods.
Amid other
targets were all
Set in localised
operations -
Yet not without
struggles;
High wood had
proved itself
Impenetrable,
Delville wood
Had been counter
attacked.
iii
Gullemont village
finally fell,
Its ruins prized
and the line
Swung slowly out
to Leuze
Wood - all events
leading
Into September,
while French
Made for
impressive moves.
Fall of German
held Falfemont
Farm freed the
way of enemy
Watchers - a
French arm swept
Into Clery and
Ommiecourt -
But all faltered
at Combles
For Germans had
found safety.
Underground in
ancient cave
Systems, with
solid steel and
Masonry above -
so their aim
Set out to cut
off the occupied
Commune - the French
began
Their attack
September 12th.
French infantry
groups dropped
Down into German
trenches,
Where fierce
exchanges made
Mid day results;
Colonial Corps
Past Le Forest gained
spurs,
Others pushed
about Combles.
The Rancourt road
was taken,
The lines were
broken - orders
Of Foch to
advance further
Proved impossible, due to their
Troop exhaustion
- but French
Would give British
gun support.
Therefore assaults September
15, would not
involve French.
The Somme outline
for planned
Third main
offence would act
Out in three
stages; first capture
Of the remaining
German line.
Support would
come form
The Heavy Section
Machine
Gun Corps -
secondly, taken
Ground was to be
then held
By Reserve Army,
while more
Of 4th army would
break line.
The German held
Bapaume,
Albert road, along
with Flers,
Then on out into country were
To go the cavalry - once more
1 July was replayed on
a narrow
Front - but with
a new weapon.
iV
A deadline for
preparations
Had to be met for
the new
Force to be in place
- the date
15 September 1916
- these
New machines made
their
Arrival in France
August 30.
Security of these
arrivals had
Continued with
a crawling
Advance of fifty machines,
Gaining great
attention; those
Who saw
them made distraction In demand of demonstrations.
The unknown
celebrities crawled
Their way to make
their premiere.
They drew wide
eyes and jaw
Dropping looks; 'What are they?'
Were likely asked;
'tanks' came an
Answer. 'Tanks?
what are tanks?'
'They are the
heavy beasts, you'll
See. They'll
break through the Hun,
Just wait and see,'
as the pellet
Shaped hulks
wheeled on their
Way. to their
waiting assignment -
Yet it was not
all glamour inside.
Constant wear and
tear, even before
They got to where
they were to be -
Squeezed in among
engines and
Arms, the crew
could hardly speak
For noise -
having to devise hand
Signals to make
any operation.
A man would take
note and change
Gears, as each
track had a man
To work levers to
brake tracks,
In adjusting
directions of the thirty
Tons of metal and
moving parts,
Into the darkness
of 13 September.
The surviving
tanks now 36, edged
Forward towards
their assembly
Positions - groans
and splutters
Disguised by
combined artillery,
Pulverizing the
way ahead - white
Tapes guided
their torch lit way.
V
A signaller of 19
years Bert Chaney
Stopped on
hearing rumbling noise,
To see three of
the strange visions,
Mechanised
monsters who toppled
On their noses, as two small wheels
Of their tails
balanced the metal.
Each side bulges
held doors with
Swivel machine
guns, to surprise
The signallers -
further were their
Sex; these Mark 1
differed in male
Hotchkiss
6-pounder guns, 4 to the
5 machine guns of
the female.
Throughout the
darkness all were
Sat in position -
the crew of four
Likely enjoying
some relief before
The big hour of
6.20 a.m. but night
Was not quiet, a barrage continued.
After slow hours
engines started.
Even though one
Mark 1 failed -
Prior to zero
hour the other tanks
Began to move -
this was now
A battle
environment, that training
Had not been able to recreate.
On the left
section two late starters
Got into
difficulties - to veer towards
Right direction - one ran short of fuel
And had to turn
back, as the other
Ditched - not
quite a glorious start,
But the others
crawled on their way.
Vi
Zero hour 6.20
a.m.A creeping
Barrage began - to
take advantage
Of eight hours of
daylight, the Red
Line had to be achieved by 12 noon,
At a point between
Abbey and Ligny
Road, to establish
a new allied line.
This was the
fourth objective to lay
Beyond the third
Blue Line of Flers,
And the first
Green Line; defences
Of Martinpuich.
Rawlinson's plan
Favoured cautious
step by step
Attacks -
everything was planned.
The presence of
the tank though
Was an unknown quantity - a need
Being to defeat German
strongpoint
Called Quadrilateral - the forward
Battalion were to be
accompanied
By three tanks, but two broke
down.
The third tank tracked the
railway
Line towards the
Quadrilateral,
The time 5.50 a.m. - between
British troops the tank fired at
Them - an officer dodged firing
To inform the tank crew of
error.
Setting it on the right direction
The tank turned towards Straight
Trench in an attack - battle
plans
And realities of field
were obvious;
Wire was untouched and fire gave
Halt to advance - the tank
turned.
Back to the start; low on fuel and Bullet riddled - a tank group of three Reached Ginch-Lesboeufs road,
To progress to the Triangle's
south.
While three tanks on left
were to go
West of Ginchy towards Pint
trench.
But one was lost - meanwhile
central
Tank group were to go to the
NW
Point - but all broke down as
did the
Tenth, which had been to
support
Corps attack east of
Melville wood -
All these errors were not a
good start.
Vii
Attacking troops
unused to tank
Presence pushed
on all about -
Communications
suggesting
The guards
brigade had taken
The third
objective by 8.20 a.m.
Yet successes
were steady.
Majority of the
tank force had
Been assigned
with the 41st
Division to
target Flers village -
Within 40 minutes
of zero hour
Switch Line and
Tea support
Trench were
quickly gained.
50 minutes later
7.50 a.m. Flers
Trench was taken - 14 tanks
Were to take part, yet D14 was
Ditched close to
Flers and D15
Close to the Switch Line had
Come a cropper, knocked cold.
Shell fire
damaged D18, then
To withdraw from
Flers trench -
D17 with D6 and
D9 circled
East part of
Flers, targeting
Machine guns and
strong points;
Fate of D6 lay near
Gueudecourt.
D6 was set alight as
D9 halted
At Glebe Street - artillery fire
Hit D17, to be
abandoned and
Later recovered
by 8 20 a.m. -
With the 122nd Brigadetroops
D16 rolled
proudly into Flers.
Enemy scattered, driven out by
10 a.m. fleeing to
Gueudecourt.
The New Zealanders
had dug
In about the Switch
Line - on the
Left uncut wire
halted progress,
Prompting a wait
for their tanks.
Metal support
arrived with D11
And D12, with D10
left out cold
At Flat Trench - raking over wire
The tanks made
a path for last
Objective; Abbey
road was made
By D8 though its
vision damaged.
Viii
West of Flers D12
had become
Ditched, to leave
D11 along
The Ligny road to
stand guard.
The British Mark
1 Tank had
Made a debut, to
form a shock
Tactic to the
German held lines.
A foggy September
morning
Had dawned hours
before,
Around the Flers
village that
Had become a hold
of German
Troops - they
emerged from their
Dugouts bleary
eyed, expectant.
An allied bombardment
had
Fallen, now would
come assault
Of allied foot soldiers - the lull
Ended as a
creeping barrage
Began - the
soldiers stirred to
Alert, expectant
of an advance.
A journalist
there experienced
The feelings of
his blood freeze -
Among the
defenders he saw,
From out of the
morning haze,
Two objects like beasts, slowly 'Limping, staggering,
swaying.'
Metal shapes took
a steady
Pace towards them, moving
With supernatural
force; they
Had no wheels - crawling easily
Over pitted
ground devoid to Harm, gave men shocked breath.
Throwing hand
grenades at these
Objects had no
effect - what
Then might be these
machines?
Something like land submarines
Perhaps carrying British troops -
Then the objects
opened fire.
German crews
held onto their
Forward shell
holes, crushing Easily any slow, hesitant man
In its path and straight
across
German lines - an
experience
Seen all round
the Flers areas.
Overcoming dumb surprise,
Resistant Germans
used all
Their weapons, trying to find
The weakness of
the machines -
A German field
gun had hit one
Outside Flers to
allow studies.
iX
German engineers
quickly took
Close
examinations of machine,
To discover inch
thick armour
Plating, steered
by and up and
Down levers carrying much food,
Ammunition and a pigeon’s
cage.
Germans were
reported making
Their attack, despite being under
Its fire, they ran
at the crawling
Tank - attacking hand to hand -
Climbing onto it
trying to open
Its hatch and
fire into any slot.
Despite efforts
and resistance
The Germans found
Flers fall
From their hands,
as D16 made
It to objective
Blue line - perhaps
Relief and
reassurance filling
Those following
in their tracks.
12th east Surreys troops along
With Royal
West Kents, as they
Entered Flers - for one Private
Ernest Rueben
Hicks, aged 21,
About to become a
father in 4
Days, fought this his first battle.
There on the
Somme for those
Who might learn, years later
Of his foot steps
among others,
Marching behind
the lumbering
Tank, whose tracks
made claim
Of the village
for hope of future.
That this then
could be final
Breakthrough - Private Hicks
And company
walked on - about
The Hun ran about like rabbits -
The tank rolled
on seemingly Intent to flatten everything about.
Troops spreading out, taking
Over remnants of
the village,
Gathering
together prisoners.
All seemed
something like a
Game - please with
the ease
Of progress, the
tank halted.
Four men emerged, stretched.
They took a slow
inspection
Of their machine
and conferred,
Standing about
looking lost - Producing a primus stove and
With tank as cover made tea.
by Jamie Mann.
Source: File: Battle
of Flers–Courcelette. Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Flers–Courcelette>
[Accessed 15 September 2016]
Source: File:
History of the tank. Available at:
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_tank> [Accessed 15
September 2016]
Source: File:
British heavy tanks of World War I. Available at:
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_heavy_tanks_of_World_War_I#Mark_I>
[Accessed 15 September 2016]
Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal
communication, 15 September 2016).
