“Lieutenant Sewell, in the leading ‘Whippet,’ on seeing the plight of Lieutenant Rees-Williams’ car, immediately got out of his own ‘Whippet’ and came to the rescue; with a shovel he dug an entrance to the door of the cab, which was firmly jammed and embedded in the side of the shell-hole, forced the door open and liberated the crew.
“Had it not been for Lieutenant Sewell’s prompt and gallant action, the imprisoned crew might have been burnt to death, as they were helpless to extricate themselves without outside assistance.
“During the whole of this time ‘Whippets’ were being very heavily shelled and the ground swept by machine-gun fire at close range. On endeavouring to return to his own car, Lieutenant Sewell was unfortunately hit several times, his body being subsequently found lying beside that of his driver, Gunner Knox. W., also killed, just outside the Tank, which at that time was within short range of several machine-guns and infantry gun-pits.”
The rescued men were emphatic in their praise of the gallant manner in which Lieutenant Sewell had saved them from a peculiarly horrible form of death.
On the 30th, the 3rd Division was to undertake operations designing to seize the villages of Ecoust and Longâtte with the trench system beyond. Six Tanks of the 12th Battalion were to operate, and in anticipation of their orders had already moved forward to the head of the Sensée Valley. Unfortunately their orders did not reach the Battalion till 9 p.m. on the night before the battle. The night was intensely dark, and as luck would have it, the Reconnaissance Officer who alone knew the ground had been recalled to England that day, and there still remained nearly four miles by the shortest route before the Tanks reached the jumping-off place. It was clear the machines would have their work cut out if they were to reach the place in time. The whole operation was dogged by misfortune. The taping party took the wrong direction in the pitch dark, and when at last the Tanks reached the point where the infantry guides were to lead them the rest of the way, the guide for the left-hand section lost himself and the Tanks completely before they had gone half the distance. For an hour the Tanks and their conductor wandered about the devastated wastes about Ecoust. The guide could not even point out on the map where the infantry were formed up. At last the Section Commander went forward by himself and managed to discover the whereabouts of the front line and his own position, but only to find he was nearly a mile away and it wanted five minutes to “zero.” It was impossible that he should reach the battle in time, and he withdrew his Section according to instructions as he was in an exposed position. Thus the unfortunate infantry went over the top unaccompanied by a single Tank. The assault was a complete failure and the infantry suffered heavy casualties.
[84]“On August 31 a further action took place. ‘C’ Company of the 15th Battalion under Captain G. A. Smith assisting the 185th Brigade in attacking Vaulx-Vraucourt from the south.
“Five Tanks reached their objectives, one failing owing to mechanical trouble; these Tanks did considerable execution and rendered great assistance to the infantry. Again heavy machine-gun and anti-Tank rifle fire were encountered. After the show the Tanks themselves bore mute witness to what they had been through. In particular the Tank ‘Opossum,’ commanded by Lieutenant C. F. Uzielli, had very little paint left on its sides because of bullet marks. The infantry suffered heavily. In one case the strength of a platoon on reaching its objective was only three men.”
III
But we had reached a stage of the battle when it was clear that another considerable effort on our part would be well worth the making.
The enemy’s resistance showed him passionately anxious to gain time. He retreated with extreme reluctance.