On September 29 the armoured cars operated with the Australian Corps and the IInd American Corps in the attack on the Hindenburg Line near Bony; here numerous casualties were inflicted on the enemy and four cars were put out of action by being burnt. This position was captured by the Australians on the following day.
On October 8 the armoured cars were attached to the Cavalry Corps, which was operating from Beaurevoir towards Le Cateau. On this day the cars kept touch with the cavalry, but on the following morning they moved forward through Maretz. About two miles beyond this village a section co-operated with South African infantry and drove the German machine-gunners from a strong position they were holding. The cars were able to run right through the hostile machine-gun fire, and by enfilading the enemy’s position killed the German machine-gunners and captured ten machine guns and two trench mortars.
A section of cars made a dash to cross the railway bridge on the Maretz-Honnechy road, but the enemy’s demolition party saw them coming and, lighting the fuse, fled. The leading car, however, got across safely, the charge exploding and blowing up the bridge immediately this car had crossed and thereby cutting it off from the second car, which was some fifty yards behind. The leading car then went through Maurois and Honnechy, all guns firing; both of these villages were crowded with troops. Near Honnechy church the car ran into a by-road by mistake; at the same moment a group of Germans came out of a house and the car accounted for five of them in the doorway. This incident was described with enthusiasm by a French woman, the owner of the house, to Lieutenant-Colonel Carter on the following day. After passing Honnechy the car was run towards a bridge which was known to exist. Profiting by his previous experience the commander of the car determined to save the bridge from demolition and so not only effect his retreat but secure it to the British Army. To accomplish this the car rapidly moved round a corner of the road leading to the bridge, with its guns pointing in the direction where the demolition party would probably be. This action proved successful, the demolition party being scattered by a burst of bullets before the charge could be fired. The bridge was thus saved and proved of great importance to the British forces later on. The car then crossed the river and proceeded to the spot where the second car had been unable to cross, picking it up; both cars returned to report their action, one at least having accomplished a very daring and useful journey.
On November 4 the armoured cars were attached to the XVIIIth Corps and were detailed to operate with the 18th and 50th Divisions in the forest of Mormal. In this district the roads are narrow and at this time of the year were very slippery; armoured-car action was therefore most difficult. On the next day the cars of the 17th Battalion, now much reduced in numbers, were operating with no fewer than five divisions simultaneously. On the 9th all cars were concentrated and attached to the Fourth Army advanced guard to assist in the pursuit of the retiring enemy. In the action which followed the cars were cut off from the advanced guard by all the river bridges being destroyed, but in spite of this they were able to continue advancing on a line parallel to the pursuit. At Ramousies and Liessies three complete trains of ammunition were passed and numbers of heavy guns, lorries and artillery transport, the enemy being in full flight and in a high state of demoralisation.
On November 11 the armoured cars were reconnoitring towards Eppé-Sauvage and Moustier (twelve miles east of Avegnes), near the Belgian frontier, some seven or eight miles in advance of the nearest British troops, when at 10.30 a.m. an officer from the 33rd French Division informed the officer in command that he had heard rumours of an armistice; a few minutes later a dispatch-rider corroborated this information, stating that hostilities were to cease at 11 a.m. Firing went on until about three minutes to eleven, when it ceased, breaking out in a final crash at eleven o’clock—then all was silence; a silence almost uncanny to the men of the 17th Tank Armoured Car Battalion, who had not been out of gunshot since July 17, the date upon which the battalion opened its eventful history with the French Army on the Marne.
Dramatic as had been the short and brilliant career of the 17th Armoured Car Battalion, its work was not yet ended. On November 13 it assembled at Avesnes, and joining the cavalry of the Fourth Army moved forward towards the Rhine. On the 26th four sections of cars were ordered to Charleroi to deal with a reported disturbance. In this town they were received with the greatest enthusiasm by the inhabitants, and at Courcelles were surrounded by excited townsfolk who, having collected all available brass instruments, crowded round the cars playing the British National Anthem at a range of about five yards.
From Charleroi, the 17th Battalion joined the Second Army, moving on Cologne, and were attached to the 1st Cavalry Division. On December 1 the German frontier was crossed at Malmédy, whence the battalion was immediately sent on with the 2nd Cavalry Brigade to deal with disturbances which had broken out in Cologne. Five days later, on the 6th, the cavalry halted outside the town, and the G.O.C. 2nd Cavalry Brigade, escorted by cars of the 17th Battalion, proceeded to the Rathaus to discuss the administration of the town with the burgomaster. Cologne was entered at midday, the crews of the armoured cars being the first British troops to enter. That afternoon the western end of the Rhine bridge was occupied, and the colours of the Tank Corps run up to flutter over the famous river.
The record of this battalion is a truly remarkable one. It was formed, equipped, and landed in France in the short space of six days. In six months it fought in ten separate battles with English, Australian, Canadian, New Zealand, South African, French, and American troops, and was three times mentioned in German dispatches. Every car was hit and some of them many times, and yet the total losses in killed in action throughout this period was only one officer and four other ranks. At the cost of these five men and seven cars totally destroyed, this battalion must have inflicted scores if not hundreds of casualties on the enemy. That the British Army was not equipped with many more of these units will be a problem which will doubtless perplex the minds of future military historians.