At 11 a.m. the VIth Corps, assisted by fifteen Whippets, attacked in the direction of Ervillers—Behagnies—Sapignies, and by noon were east of the Bapaume-Arras road. Near Sapignies heavy machine-gun fire was encountered, which prevented our infantry moving forward; notwithstanding this the Whippets continued their advance. In one machine the officer and sergeant were killed; the remaining man, however, after placing the corpses in a shell-hole, continued single-handed to follow the other tanks, and when a target offered itself, locked his back axle and fired his Hotchkiss gun. Although Sapignies and Behagnies were not captured the operation was successful in securing a large number of prisoners. This attack materially assisted that of the IVth Corps on Achiet-le-Grand and Bihucourt, which were captured by the 37th Division and six Mark V tanks of the 1st Tank Brigade.
At 5.7 a.m., in spite of a very heavy gas barrage which took place between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m., eighteen tanks of the 11th Battalion and eight of the 9th Battalion co-operated with the 52nd and 56th Divisions in an attack on the Hamelincourt-Heninel spur. Both these objectives were carried with small loss.
On August 24 the attacks of the Third and Fourth Armies were pushed with vigour, the 1st, 3rd, and 4th Tank Brigades co-operating.
At 2 a.m. on the IVth Corps front four Mark IV machines assisted the 37th Division west of Sapignies; later on, seven Mark IV tanks and nineteen Whippets attacked with the New Zealand and 37th Divisions on Grevillers, Biefvillers, and Loupart wood, which were captured. On the front of the 56th Division a bloody engagement began at 7 a.m. for the ownership of the line St. Leger—Henin-sur-Cojeul, eleven tanks of the 11th Battalion co-operating after an approach march of 10,000 yards. All objectives were gained. At 2 p.m. this attack was continued, two tanks leading the infantry north of Croisilles as far as the Hindenburg Line, which was strongly held. Both these machines had particularly exciting experiences. One received a direct hit which rendered the officer commanding it unconscious; recovering his senses, he at once took charge of his machine and pushed on. In the other the crew were forced to evacuate the tank on account of the enemy surrounding it with phosphorus bombs; before leaving it the officer in command turned the tank’s head towards home and then, getting out, walked between the front horns of the machine until the fumes had cleared away. All this time the tank was surrounded by the enemy. This attack failed; it is interesting, however, to note that one tank of the 11th Battalion covered during this operation 40,000 yards in some twenty-six hours.
At 3.30 p.m. five tanks of the 9th Battalion took part in an attack on the line Mory copse—Camouflage copse. At first there was not much opposition, but after Mory copse was reached the enemy put up a stout resistance and, refusing to surrender, was killed almost to a man, one party of about sixty being put out of action by four rounds of 6-pounder case shot.
At dawn this day on the Fourth Army front five tanks of the 1st Battalion assisted the 47th Division in the recapture of the Happy Valley, which had been lost on the previous afternoon. This attack was entirely successful, and besides the Happy Valley the extensive village of Bray was added to our gains.
On the evening of August 24 the 3rd Tank Brigade was transferred from the Third Army to the Canadian Corps of the First Army for the forthcoming attack on the First Army front, which was to initiate the Second Battle of Arras. This entailed a lengthy night march of 29,000 yards from Blaireville and Boisleux-au-Mont to Moyenneville, thence to Achicourt.
On August 25 minor tank attacks were carried out on the IVth Corps front against Favreuil, Avesnes, Thilloy, and Sapignies, and on the 26th tanks of the 9th Battalion, some of which had moved 37,000 yards since the night of the 24th–25th, attacked with the Guards Division north of Mory. This attack was not a great success, due to the dense mist, which made co-operation almost impossible and the maintenance of direction most difficult. During this engagement one tank had five members of its crew wounded by anti-tank rifle bullets.
On the Canadian Corps’ front an attack was carried out opposite Fampoux and Neuville-Vitasse, the 2nd and 3rd Canadian Divisions operating with tanks of the 9th and 11th Divisions against Wancourt, Guemappe, and Monchy-le-Preux. Near Monchy several tanks were knocked out, the crews joining the infantry to repel a local counter-attack. The sergeant of one crew, hearing that the enemy had captured his tank, collected his men and charged forward to recover it, arriving at one sponson door of the machine as the enemy were scrambling out of the opposite one.
On the following day, the 27th, operations continued east of Monchy-le-Preux, and in the Guemappe-Cherisy area, but ceased altogether as far as tanks were concerned until the 29th. On this day minor tank operations were carried out on the Third Army front south-west of Beugnatre by the 1st Brigade, the enemy having evacuated Thilloy and Bapaume. This Brigade, on the 30th, co-operated with the 5th British and New Zealand Divisions against Fremicourt, Beugny, Bancourt, Haplincourt, and Velu wood, whilst the 2nd Tank Brigade attacked Vaux-Vraucourt. All these attacks were successful.