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.