IV

The Battle of Bapaume was, as we have already said, to constitute a sequel to the Battle of Amiens (August 8). On August 21 the 3rd Army was to launch an attack to the north of the Ancre with the general object of pushing the enemy back towards Bapaume. Meanwhile the 4th Army was to continue its pressure on the enemy south of the river. August 22 was to be a “slack” day and was to be used to get troops and guns into position on the 3rd Army front. The principal attack was to be delivered on the 23rd by the 3rd Army, and those divisions of the 4th Army which lay to the north of the Somme, the rest of the 4th Army fighting a covering action on the flank of the main operation. Afterwards, if our efforts were successful, the whole of both Armies were to press forward with their utmost vigour and exploit any advantage we might have gained. If our success was such as to force the enemy back from the high ground he held, thus securing our southern flank, the 1st Army was further to make another attack immediately to the north. This gradual extension of the front of assault was intended to mislead the enemy as to where the main blow would fall and cause him to throw in his reserves piecemeal.

A large number of Tanks were to be concentrated in the 3rd Army area. They were to attack between Moyenneville and Bucquoy with the 4th and 6th Corps. With them the 1st and 2nd Brigades were to operate.

With the 4th Army the 3rd Corps was to attack on August 23, between Bray and Albert, and the 4th Tank Brigade was to assist in this assault. Then, with the portion of the 4th Army which operated south of the Somme, namely, the Australians, the 5th Tank Brigade was as usual to co-operate, their action also taking place on the 23rd. In the course of the two days’ operations the 3rd, 6th, 7th, 14th, 15th, 11th, 12th, 10th and 17th Battalions were to be employed.

The total of 280 machines seems at first sight a curiously small one, considering the number of battalions involved, but it must be remembered that most units had been hotly in action at Amiens ten days before, and that some battalions could not muster more than sixteen fighting Tanks, pending repairs and a fresh issue of machines.

Supply Tanks and aeroplanes were to co-operate as usual, the latter in greater strength than before; for just before the battle No. 73 Squadron, armed with Sopwith Camels, was attached to the Tank Corps, in addition to No. 8 Squadron for counter-gun work.

One of the most prominent features of the whole sector of attack was the Albert-Arras railway, which lay some distance behind the enemy’s front line. It proved to have been carefully prepared for defence by the enemy, being commanded at point-blank range by a large number of field guns, which had been specially and secretly withdrawn from more forward positions, and all the sections of the line where it would be possible for the Tanks to cross—that is to say, the “neutral” portions where the line was neither embanked nor in a cutting—were not only carefully registered, but were blocked by concrete and iron anti-Tank stockades.

The attack was to be opened at 4.55 a.m. on the 21st by the 4th and 6th Corps and their Tanks.

V

The morning dawned in the inevitable white blanket of mist which now always seemed to accompany our attacks. Till nearly 11 a.m. it was impossible to see more than a few yards ahead, and it was with the greatest difficulty that the Tanks kept their direction. If, however, the mist was confusing to us, it was doubly so to the enemy. The Germans were completely taken by surprise; we even found candles still burning in the trenches when we crossed them, and papers and equipments were scattered broadcast, bearing witness to a hurried flight.