Of all these shadows and projected attacks, the one which had attracted more interest than any other was in active preparation while the 2nd Brigade was fighting at Messines.
This was the revised and abridged version of the famous “Hush” operation, that is, of the projected attack on the Belgian coast.
The first time such a notion had been suggested was in the spring of 1916, and elaborate plans were then made for a surprise landing in and near Ostend.
But we were obliged to co-operate with the French, and to fight instead on the Somme. The First Battle of the Somme, however, developed into a “slogging match” and lasted through the rest of that campaigning season.
Next year the idea was again brought up. This time Tanks were to take part. The scheme was a less ambitious one, and the landing was to be effected between Ostend and the Allied line about Nieuport. A special detachment of Tanks was located at Erin, and started training for the difficult manœuvre of climbing the sea wall which here protects the coast. This training was carried out as secretly as possible, and it was given out that its object was the surmounting of some of the Lille fortifications, a figment which for long satisfied the minds of the curious.
The problem to be solved was an exceedingly complex one.
The mere landing of Tanks on an open beach is no light matter. When that beach is heavily defended by an alert and resourceful enemy, when it is commanded and enfiladed by a concentration of artillery of all calibres concealed amongst the dunes, and when in addition the shelving beach is crowned by a steep sea wall of concrete, a landing would seem to have but small chance of success. Still, there was a chance, and the stake at hazard being a big one, big risks might be cheerfully accepted.
The general plans for the enterprise having been approved in the highest quarters, were then very carefully worked out down to the smallest details by a little band of experts, prominent amongst whom were Admiral Bacon, Lieut.-Colonel Philip Johnson, and Major Hotblack.
The whole of the projected landing was elaborately staged, and long and patiently rehearsed—the Tanks playing the lead in what the whole various cast hoped was to be a really notable success.
Immense pontoons 600 ft. in length were specially built to carry the landing parties—armies in little with representatives almost of every arm and branch except the cavalry.