They were commanded by Lieut.-Colonel West, of whose action on August 21 we have already told the story:
[85]“On the night of September 1–2, nine Whippets, under Captain C. H. Strachan, left Gomiécourt to attack in the direction of Lagnicourt. Owing to the pressure at which the Tanks had been working for the last five weeks, little time had been available for overhauling, and as the Tanks were running badly, it was impossible to get them up in time for zero hour. The Commanding Officer, Lieut.-Colonel R. A. West, D.S.O., M.C., left camp early on the morning of September 2, with two mounted orderlies. It was his intention to get up with the Whippets before they went into action, by Lagnicourt. He went as far as the infantry on horseback, in order to watch the progress of the battle, and to ascertain when to send the Whippets forward. He arrived at the front line when the enemy were in process of delivering a strong local counter-attack. The infantry battalion had suffered heavy officer casualties, and its flanks were exposed. Realising that there was a danger of the Battalion giving way, he at once rode in front of them, under extremely heavy machine-gun and rifle fire, and rallied the men. In spite of the fact that the enemy were now close upon him, he took charge of the situation, and detailed N.C.O.’s to replace officer casualties. He then rode up and down in front of the men, in face of certain death, encouraging all, and calling upon them to ‘Stick it, men and show them fight.’ His last words were ‘For God’s sake put up a good fight.’ He fell, riddled by machine-gun bullets.”
The infantry had been inspired to redoubled efforts by Colonel West’s example and the hostile attack was defeated. He had originally come to the Battalion as a Company Commander, and had been awarded the D.S.O. for his work in the Arras battle. Between August 8 and September 2, he was awarded the M.C., a bar to his D.S.O., and, for his last action, the V.C.
Elsewhere the fighting was not so heavy, and on the whole we met with less opposition than we had expected.
In the Canadian sector, the armoured cars were working in close conjunction with Tank Corps aeroplanes. At one moment a number of cars were going along a road, when four machines were hit by shells from hidden batteries. Their accompanying aeroplanes, however, immediately attacked the German guns so vigorously that the crews of the disabled cars, though completely surrounded by the enemy, were able to escape capture.
By noon, on the Canadian section, the whole elaborate maze of wire, trenches and strong points, which constituted the Drocourt-Quéant Line, was in our hands, but elsewhere there was hard fighting until dusk, especially on the reverse slopes of Dury Ridge. Dury itself we took, capturing the Town Major. Our task had not, however, we considered, been quite completed that day, and next morning Tanks and infantry prepared to “tidy up” the line, especially Maricourt Wood.
But long before zero hour, at 5.20, a glare of burning dumps in the east seemed to show that the enemy were already withdrawing, and, in fact, when the Tanks went over just after dawn, they encountered scarcely any opposition at all, save a perfunctory fire from rearguard machine-gunners. Small parties of the enemy were found in dug-outs, waiting to be captured. His infantry and guns were already well on their way back to the Canal du Nord.
IV
The Second Battle of Arras was over and we had pierced the renowned Drocourt-Quéant Line and had delivered a blow from which the enemy’s moral never quite recovered.
Since August 21, in all, some 500 Tanks had been in action, and except for one or two minor failures every attack had culminated in a cheap success. We had pushed forward for fifteen or twenty miles along about thirty miles of front.