As soon as the attack was decided on the training of the Australians with the tanks was commenced at Vaux en Amienois, the headquarters of the 5th Tank Brigade. Tank units for this purpose were affiliated to Australian units and by this means a close comradeship was cultivated.
The general plan of operations was for the 5th Tank Brigade to support the advance of the 4th Australian Division in the attack against the Hamel spur running from the main Villers-Bretonneux plateau to the river Somme. The frontage was about 5,500 yards, extending to 7,500 yards on the final objective, the depth of which was 2,500 yards. The main tactical features in the area were Vaire wood, Hamel wood, Pear-Shape trench, and Hamel village. There was no defined system of trenches to attack except the old British line just east of Hamel, which had been originally sited to obtain observation eastwards. The remainder of the area was held by means of machine-gun nests.
Five companies of 60 tanks in all were employed in the attack; these were divided into two waves—a first-line wave of 48 and a reserve wave of 12 machines. Their distribution was as follows:
| 6th A.I. Brigade | 2 Sections (6 tanks). |
| 4th A.I. Brigade | 1 Company (12 tanks). |
| 11th A.I. Brigade | 6 Sections (18 tanks). |
| Liaison between 4th and 11th Brigades | 1 Company (12 tanks). |
| Reserves | 1 Company (12 tanks). |
The co-operation of the artillery was divided under the headings of a rolling barrage and the production of smoke screens. Behind the former the infantry were to advance followed by the tanks, which were only to pass ahead of them when resistance was encountered. This arrangement was not a good one and was an inheritance of the Bullecourt distrust. The latter were to be formed on the high ground west of Warfusée-Abancourt and north of the Somme and south of Morlancourt. Once the final objective was gained a standing barrage was to be formed to cover consolidation.
As the entire operation was of a very limited character an extensive system of supply dumps was not necessary, so instead each fighting tank carried forward ammunition and water for the infantry and four supply tanks were detailed to carry R.E. material and other stores. Each of these eventually delivered a load of about 12,500 lb. within 500 yards of the final objective, and within half an hour of its capture. The total load delivered on July 4, at 40 lb. per man, represented the loads of a carrying party 1,250 men strong. The number of men used in these supply tanks was twenty-four.
The tanks assembled at the villages of Hamelet and Fouilloy on the night of July 2–3, without hostile interference. On the following night they moved forward to a line approximately 1,000 yards west of the infantry starting-line under cover of aeroplanes which, flying over the enemy, drowned the noise of the tank engines.
Zero hour was fixed for 3.10 a.m. and tanks were timed to leave their starting-line at 3.2 a.m. under cover of artillery harassing fire, which had been carried out on previous mornings in order to accustom the enemy to it. This fire lasted seven minutes, then a pause of one minute occurred, to be followed by barrage fire on the enemy’s front line for four minutes. This allowed twelve minutes for the tanks to advance an average distance of 1,200 yards before reaching the infantry line at zero plus four minutes, when the barrage was to lift. All tanks were on the starting-line up to time, which is a compliment to the increased reliability of the Mark V machine over all previous types.
BATTLE OF HAMEL
4th July 1918.
