CHAPTER XXVII
THE BATTLES OF HAMEL AND MOREUIL
During June and July three tank actions were fought: the first was a night raid on June 22–23, the second the battle of Hamel, and the third the battle of Moreuil or Sauvillers.
The night raid is interesting in that it was the first occasion in the history of the Tank Corps in France upon which tanks were definitely allotted to work at night. The raid was carried out against the enemy’s defences near Bucquoy by five platoons of infantry and five female tanks. Its object was to capture or kill the garrisons of a series of posts. The raid took place at 11.25 p.m. A heavy barrage of trench-mortar and machine-gun fire was met with at a place called Dolls’ House in “No Man’s Land”: here the infantry were held up, and though reinforced were unable to advance further. The tanks, thereupon, pushed on and carried out the attack in accordance with their orders. It is worthy of note that not a single tank was damaged by the trench-mortar barrage, which was very heavy. The tanks encountered several parties of the enemy and undoubtedly caused a number of casualties. One tank was attacked by a party of the enemy who were shot down by revolver fire; later on this tank rescued a wounded platoon commander who had been captured by the Germans.
This raid is interesting in that it showed the possibility of manœuvring tanks in the dark through the enemy’s lines, and also the great security afforded to the tank by the darkness.
Plate V
MARK V TANK (MALE).
The battle of Hamel, which was fought on July 4, was the first occasion upon which the Mark V machine went into action. Much was expected of it, and it more than justified all expectations. The object of the attack was a twofold one—firstly, to nip off a salient between the river Somme and the Villers-Bretonneux—Warfusée road; secondly, to restore the confidence of the Australian Corps in tanks, a confidence which had been badly shaken by the Bullecourt reverse in 1917.