Inside the Whippets, though the men fared slightly better, the lack of ventilation was equally fatal to efficiency.
[83]“The heat temporarily put several Whippets out of action as fighting weapons.
“On a hot summer’s day one hour’s running with door closed renders a Whippet weaponless except for revolver fire.
“The heat generated is so intense that it not only causes ammunition to swell so that it jams the gun, but actually in several cases caused rounds to explode inside the Tank.
“Guns became too hot to hold, and in one case the temperature of the steering wheel became unbearable.”
But evening came at last, and with the darkness the two armies disengaged.
We had suffered more casualties than we had quite bargained for—chiefly owing to the accident of the mist—but upon the whole we were well satisfied with the events of the day.
We had reached the general line of the railway practically along the whole front of attack. We had captured Achiet-le-Petit and Longeast Wood, Courcelles and Moyenneville. Most important of all, the position we needed for the launching of our principal attack had been successfully gained and we had taken over 2000 prisoners.