The 1st Tank Battalion, with the Canadians, suffered extremely severely.
[74]“Owing to the French having been held up, the British were subjected to a heavy enfilade fire from the villages of Beaucourt and Le Quesneu and nine of the eleven Tanks belonging to ‘A’ Company received direct hits from a field battery firing over open sights from Le Quesneu. The majority caught fire and were burnt out, and very severe casualties resulted, three out of the four Section Commanders being killed and the remaining one wounded and captured. This disaster was followed by a particularly heroic action on the part of Second Lieutenant Cassell, who observed the destructive fire of the battery, and, passing through the burning victims of its shells, steered straight on to it, in an attempt to avenge the destruction of his comrades. His heroism was in vain, for before he had proceeded many yards he received a shell through the front of his Tank which put it out of action and killed Second Lieutenant Cassell and most of his crew.”
Meanwhile, the Whippets and the cavalry had pushed forward.
They and the armoured cars were to press on beyond the limits of the infantry and heavy Tank attack.
Generally the Whippets were to precede the cavalry, in order to silence machine-guns, deal with wire, if any, and generally to pave the way.
In practice, however:
[75]“Difficulty was found in maintaining touch with cavalry owing to the impossibility of keeping up with galloping horsemen on the one hand, and to the impossibility of a mounted advance in the face of heavy machine-gun fire on the other hand. Thus, two sections of ‘C’ Company, 3rd Battalion lost touch with their cavalry in climbing a steep hill out of Ignaucourt Valley.”
There were, in fact, innumerable instances of liaison difficulties.
“Another Company was ordered to obtain touch with 3rd Cavalry Brigade, but on reporting to the rendezvous, no cavalry was seen.
“Zero hour had been postponed three hours, but this was not known till later.