Both the 6-pounder guns worked splendidly, only giving one misfire the whole time. There was no hostile shelling of any kind in the village of Rœux or immediately in the district where I was operating, but the enemy barrage falling round the railway was of a very severe nature. When I found that it was impossible for me to proceed towards the railway station, I sent off a pigeon message at the request of an O.C. requesting that one of the cars operating in the Chemical Works district should be detailed to deal with the machine-gun on the embankment.
I cannot speak too highly of the efficiency and general work of the crew.
I have handed two German diaries, which came into my possession, to the Company Intelligence Officer.
(Signed) H——, 2nd Lieut.,
O.C. Tank No. 716.
CHAPTER XI
THE SECOND BATTLE OF GAZA
On account of the assistance rendered to the British infantry by tanks during the battle of the Somme a decision was arrived at in England to despatch a number of these machines to Egypt to assist our troops in the Sinai peninsula, especially in the neighbourhood of El Arish, south of the Turkish frontier. The number originally decided on was twelve, but this was eventually cut down to eight, and, through an unfortunate error, old experimental machines were sent out instead of new ones as intended.
The detachment, under the command of Major N. Nutt, consisted of 22 officers and 226 other ranks drawn from the original E Company, and together with its tanks, workshops, and transport, it embarked at Devonport and Avonmouth in December 1916, arriving in Egypt during the following month.
Demonstrations and schemes were at once arranged for so that the staffs of the various fighting formations could witness what tanks were able to accomplish. These schemes were carried out on the sand dunes near Gilban, some ten miles north of Kantara on the Suez Canal.