The country over which the action was to be fought was undulating, and with the exception of large woods there were few tank obstacles. Prior to the operations the weather had been fine, but on the day of the attack heavy rain fell and visibility was poor, a south wind of moderate strength was blowing.
The preliminary bombardment began at 4.30 a.m., and, an hour later, the tanks having been moved up to their starting-points without incident, the attack was launched. The tanks advanced ahead of the infantry, Arrachis wood was cleared and Sauvillers village attacked, the tanks occupying this village some fifteen minutes before the infantry arrived. At Adelpare farm and Les-Trois-Bouqueteaux the enemy’s resistance, as far as the tanks were concerned, was light, and the German machine-gun posts were speedily overrun. From Sauvillers village, at zero plus two hours, the tanks advanced on to Sauvillers wood, which, being too thick to enter, had to be skirted, broadsides being fired into the foliage. Whilst this was proceeding other tanks moved forward towards the Bois-de-St.-Ribert, but as the infantry patrols did not appear they turned back to regain touch with the French infantry. About 9.30 a.m., whilst cruising round, six tanks were put out of action in rapid succession by direct hits fired from a battery situated to the south of St. Ribert wood. At 9.15 a.m. an attack on Harpon wood was hastily improvised between the O.C. B Company, 9th Battalion, and the commander of one of the battalions of the 51st Regiment. This attack was eminently successful; the French infantry, following the tanks with great élan, established posts in Harpon wood. After this action the tanks rallied.
In this attack the tank casualties were heavy in personnel: 11 officers and men were killed and 43 wounded, and 15 tanks were put out of action by direct hits. The losses in the French Divisions were: 3rd—26 officers and 680 men; 15th—15 officers and 500 men; 152nd—20 officers and 650 men. It should be noted that though the 3rd, with which tanks co-operated, had to attack the largest system of defences, its casualties approximately equalled those of each of the other divisions.
The number of prisoners captured was 1,858, also 5 guns, 45 trench mortars, and 275 machine guns.
After the attack, when the tanks had returned to their positions of assembly, General Debeney, commanding the First French Army, paid the 9th Battalion the great honour of personally inspecting it on July 25, and of expressing his extreme satisfaction at the way in which the Battalion had fought. As a token of the fast comradeship which had now been established between the French troops of the 3rd Division and the 9th Tank Battalion, this battalion was presented with the badge of the 3rd French Division and ever since this day the men of this unit have worn it on their left arm.
CHAPTER XXVIII
GERMAN TANK OPERATIONS
In spite of the fact that throughout the war the Germans never had at their disposal more than some fifteen tanks of their own manufacture and some twenty-five captured and repaired British Mark IV machines, their employment of these machines is worth recording.
As already mentioned the Germans learnt little from the Mark I machine they captured and held for several days during the battle of the Somme. In fact, they appear to have treated the tanks generally, during these operations, with scorn. The machine was indeed mechanically indifferent, but the German, who is essentially a stupid (dumm) man, could not apparently differentiate between the defects of mechanical detail and the advantages of fundamental principles, such as mobility, security, and offensive power, which indeed the whole “idea” of the tank represented.