The object of the collective training was:
“To apply, in conditions as near as possible to those which will be met with in battle, the detail learnt during individual training.
“This comprises:
“(i) Close co-operation with the other arms.
“(ii) Rapidity of movement across ground in fighting formations.
“(iii) Selection of objectives with reference to the plan of operations.”
During January and February all officers took part in a long indoor scheme which when completed formed a tactical and administrative basis for future operations, and all ranks were lectured to on discipline, esprit de corps, moral, and leadership.
Whilst the above work was in progress a Reinforcement Depot was formed, first at Humerœuil, later on it was moved to Erin, and eventually to Mers, near Le Treport. The Depot was the receiving station of all drafts arriving for the Tank Corps, whether from the Training Centre in England, or from units or hospitals in France. The duty of the Depot was to hold on its strength all reinforcements until fully trained, and when fully trained to continue refresher training until they were required to fill vacancies in the battalions.
Besides the Depot and the schools attached to it, two main schools—Gunnery and Tank Driving—were instituted in the Bermicourt area. In the early summer of 1917 the first was moved to the sea coast at Merlimont, and the second to Wailly, a village close to the zone devastated by the Germans during their retreat in the preceding February and March, which permitted of driving being carried out without damage to crops. This school remained at Wailly until January 1918, when, on account of the threatening German attack, it was moved to Aveluy near Albert. As it happened, Aveluy fell into the German hands towards the end of March 1918, whilst Wailly remained in ours until the end of the war.
Closely connected with the training of the men was the general administration of the Heavy Branch. It was fully recognised that the efficiency of all ranks depended to a great extent on the cheerfulness and comfort of their surroundings, and nothing was left undone, or at least unattempted, which could increase the men’s happiness and health.
On January 1, 1917, baths and laundries were opened at Blangy. The arrangements first made enabled 450 men to bathe each day; this permitted of every man getting a bath once a week. Cinema theatres were also established at the Depot, and later on at Merlimont and elsewhere, being bought out of funds provided by the canteens’ and supper bars. While at Erin a Rest Camp was formed to which those men who were temporarily incapacitated for work were sent to recuperate. This later institution was found so useful that in the summer of 1917 a seaside Rest Camp was established at Merlimont, the object of which was to provide rest and change of surroundings to men who had been in action, or whose health was impaired. This camp could accommodate 100 officers and 900 other ranks, and the period of rest there was usually limited to fourteen days.
An even more popular institution than the Merlimont Rest Camp was that of the Mobile Canteens: these consisted in lorries fitted to carry canteen stores; they formed the mechanical vivandières of the Tank Corps, following up units to within a mile or two of our front lines or pushing forward across the battlefield when a success had been gained. During the dark days of March and April 1918, they played a notable part in maintaining the esprit de corps of the battalions by providing comforts which would otherwise have been unobtainable. They also formed cheerful rallying-points where men could meet, eat, and chat, and then return to battle refreshed and still more determined to see it through for the honour of the Corps to which they belonged and which, it may without boasting be said, always thought of their needs first and generally supplied them.