THE SECOND BATTLE OF LE CATEAU—THE RUNNING FIGHT
I
“Tank Corps Intelligence Summary, October 8th”
“An attack was launched this morning between Cambrai and St. Quentin on a front of eighteen miles, which was entirely successful—all objectives being gained—in spite of obstinate machine-gun defence.
“Heavy Tanks and Whippets co-operated.
“The line now runs N. and E. of Niergnies—E. of Seranvillers and La Targette—Esnes Mill—E. edge of Esnes—through Briseux Wood—Walincourt—Audigny trench line to Walincourt Wood—W. of Walincourt—N. and E. of Serain—E. of PrÉmont—E. of Brancourt—E. of Beauregard.
“Depth of penetration varies, the maximum being 6000 yards.
“The French continued the attack on the southern portion of the battle front and made progress in the vicinity of Fontaine Utetre and Essigny le Petit.
“A large number of prisoners have been taken, but the actual numbers are not yet known.
“The enemy made a heavy counter-attack from the direction of Awoingt against our line between Niergnies and Seranvillers, and the situation at Forenville is not quite clear.
“In this counter-attack the enemy used captured British Tanks. Seven appeared in the sunken road N.E. of Niergnies without any infantry support. Our infantry used enemy anti-Tank rifles, and four or five enemy Tanks are reported to have been put out of action.”
This was the form in which the news of what proved the last set action of the war reached resting Tank Battalions, and the great Tank organisation behind the lines.
The whole action had somehow seemed unusually dramatic. There was now everywhere a sense of momentousness of events. We knew in our hearts that the hour had come. Still, the enemy had so often revealed unexpected strengths, we had so often been tricked into optimism, and now we fought with a sort of surprised joy in thrusting home, of feeling the German resistance really crumble under our blows.
Every time we struck we were feverishly impatient at our own weariness, a weariness which delayed the next blow. We longed to be sure, to strike again and again, no matter how, and so end the long nightmare.
All through that last month we hurried on, blind with fatigue, too eager for the next battle to have been fought, too deeply concerned with the culmination of the great drama, to care what had been the details of our achievements in the last action.
It is difficult in attempting any chronicle of this period not to feel again the impatience of the hour, or to achieve enough detachment to describe the individual threads out of which the great pattern of victory was woven.
II
To return to the attack of October 8.
Besides the very good action fought by Whippets of the 3rd and 6th Battalions near Serain and PrÉmont, there were two particularly interesting features in the attack: first, the action fought by the 301st American and 1st Tank Battalions; and, second, the German counter-attack with Tanks which is mentioned in the Summary.
Nineteen Tanks of the 301st went into action opposite Serain, doing great execution.
99“In one railway cutting near Brancourt, which was a mass of machine-guns, I counted nearly fifty mangled Boches who had been caught in enfilade with case shot as the Tanks crossed the line. The infantry casualties were very low, and all agreed on the masterly way the American Tank gunners had dealt with M.G. opposition.
“The piÈce de rÉsistance of the battle was the performance of Major Sasse, D.S.O., for which he received his decoration.
“As on a former occasion, he went into action in the Wireless Tank. After the capture of Brancourt he left his Tank this side of the village and went forward to reconnoitre. He eventually ascended the church tower in order to get a forward view of the battle. While doing this a very heavy bombardment of the village commenced, and Major Sasse noticed that the infantry had begun to retire. He accordingly descended and tried to find the officer in charge of the troops on the spot. Not being able to do this he assumed command himself, stopped the retirement and organised the troops as a defensive force round the outskirts of the village. Lewis guns were posted and the men ordered to resist any attempt on the part of the Boche to retake the village, should this be made. As was expected, a determined counter-attack developed, which was successfully beaten off by Major Sasse’s detachment. This occurred a second time, and Major Sasse sent off a wireless message for help. He was rescued some hours later from a somewhat precarious position by American reinforcements.”
It was to Tanks of the 12th Battalion that the interesting lot fell of meeting captured British Mark IV. Tanks in action.
Four Tanks belonging to “A” Company were in the neighbourhood of Niergnies when the enemy launched a strong counter-attack. The battlefield was thick with smoke and it was not yet fully light, and when in the half-dark the Tank crews and infantry saw four Tanks advancing to meet them, they supposed that the strangers belonged to “C” Company, who had been sent to execute an encircling movement, and who had, they imagined, somehow been able to outflank the enemy with extraordinary speed. “L 16,” commanded by Captain Rowe, was near a farm named Mont St. Meuve when the Tanks appeared in sight, and the foremost was within fifty yards before Captain Rowe realised that it was an enemy machine. He immediately fired a 6-pounder shot at it which disabled it, but almost at the same time “L 16” was hit by two shells, one of which came through the cab, wounding Captain Rowe and killing his driver. The Tank Commander immediately got his crew out and crossed over to “L 19,” which was near at hand, and led it forward towards the German machines, of whose presence it was still unaware. “L 19” had already had five men wounded, had been on fire, and having no gunners left, could not use its 6-pounders. Its Commander, Second Lieutenant Worsap, however, nothing daunted, immediately engaged the enemy with his Lewis guns until the Tank received a direct hit which set it on fire a second time. There was nothing now to be done but to evacuate the machine, and as the German counter-attack seemed to be succeeding, Mr. Worsap blew up the wreck of his Tank.
“L 12,” the third Tank, a male, was hit and finally disabled before its Commander and crew had discovered that the strange Tanks did not belong to “C” Company. There remained “L 8” under Lieutenant Martell, but this Tank had a leaky radiator and was almost out of water. It, too, had been hit, and three of its Lewis guns put out of action. Lieutenant Martell, however, sent his crew back, and he and an artillery officer managed to get up to a captured German field gun, which the two turned round and used against the enemy’s Tanks, almost immediately obtaining a direct hit on one of them. Two of the German machines were now accounted for. And now at last a genuine “C” Company Tank—a female—appeared and finally drove or scared away the two remaining German machines. The situation was restored, and the infantry, who had retired before the counter-attack, went forward again and reoccupied the ridge beyond Niergnies. A comparison of the British and German accounts of this action is not unentertaining.
German Wireless News
“During the heavy fighting south of Cambrai on October 8, German ... Tanks and a column of infantry advanced ... behind a wall of artificial fog. The German Tanks, which were feeling their way forward, surprised a large number of Englishmen who were standing in disordered groups. By means of machine-gun fire and Tank gunfire the English were driven back. The English troops on the eastern outskirts of Niergnies took to flight and evacuated. On the Cambrai-CrÉvecoeur Road there were five English Tanks advancing in support of their own infantry. As they came into sight of the German Tanks the English Tanks stopped, and they were set on fire by their own crews.”
By the end of the day we had advanced and widened our line along the whole front of the attack, and the next day was devoted to exploitation.
HIS MAJESTY THE COLONEL-IN-CHIEF AND GENERAL ELLES
SPECIAL ORDER NO. 18.
By Major-General H.J. Elles, C.B., D.S.O., Commanding TANK CORPS in the Field.
18th October, 1918.
1. His Majesty the King was graciously pleased to become COLONEL-IN-CHIEF of the Tank Corps on the 17th instant.
2. The following telegram was sent on behalf of the TANK CORPS:
“To H.M. the King,
“The news that your Majesty has graciously consented to become Colonel-in-Chief of the Tank Corps has just been received here. All ranks are deeply sensible of this signal honour conferred upon the Corps and are determined to continue worthy of it.
GENERAL ELLES.
“Advanced H.Q. Tank Corps.
In the Field. 17th October.”
3. The following reply has been received:
“To MAJOR-GENERAL H.J. ELLES.
H.Q. Tank Corps, In the Field.
“I sincerely thank you for the message which you have conveyed to me in the name of all ranks of the Tank Corps.
“I am indeed proud to be Colonel-in-Chief of this great British organization invented by us which has played so prominent a part in our recent victories.
“I wish you all every possible good luck.
GEORGE R.I., Colonel-in-Chief.
Buckingham Palace.
LONDON, 18th October.”
(Signed) H.J. ELLES, Major-General.
Commanding Tank Corps in the Field.
The enemy was in full retreat and a rapid advance met with the feeblest opposition. The contemporary record in the Tank Corps Intelligence Summary remarks this feature.
“October 9.
“A penetration of over six miles has been made towards Le Cateau, and in the area gained, twenty-six villages have been occupied.
“Tanks again co-operated.
“Shortly after midnight our troops commenced the attack N. of Cambrai, capturing Ramillies and securing a bridgehead over the Escaut Canal at Pont D’Aire.
“The whole of Cambrai was occupied this morning....
“Air reports state that there is great confusion on roads N.E. and S.E. of Le Cateau, and that our low-flying scouts have been shooting at record targets....
“The number of prisoners taken in yesterday’s attack by the British Armies amounted to 6300, and by the French in the St. Quentin area 1200. No detail yet received of captures to-day.”
The Battle of Cambrai-St. Quentin was at an end, and the Hindenburg Line had now to all intents and purposes ceased to exist, broken as it was on a front of nearly thirty miles.
Before the whole British forces in France, from north of Menin to Bohain, seven miles north-west of Guise, open country stretched, uncut by trench, unhung by wire. The time for exploitation had arrived.
Considering our comparative numerical weakness, the lateness of the season and the nature of the country, to have fought their way so far had been a notable performance. Now to carry out a rapid pursuit was beyond even the endeavours of the infantry. For the German Army, though beaten, was not yet broken.
100“A pursuit by cavalry was unthinkable, for the German rearguards possessed many thousands of machine-guns, and as long as these weapons existed, pursuit, as cavalry dream it to be, was utterly impossible. One arm alone could have turned the present defeat into a rout—the Tank, but few of these remained, for since August 8 no less than 819 machines had been handed over to salvage by the Tank Battalions, and these Battalions themselves had lost in personnel 550 officers and 2557 other ranks, out of a fighting state of some 9500.”
The 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th and 15th Battalions—or what was left of them—had all to be withdrawn into G.H.Q. reserve on October 12.
III
The Battle of the Selle
As fast, however, as the weariness of our infantry and the fewness of our Tanks allowed, we pursued the flying but still coherent German Divisions.
Again and again the enemy tried to turn, to stand just so long behind some natural defence as should enable him to organise his retreat. He still had a hope that a shortened line might enable him to make a final rally, if only, meantime, too headlong a flight had not reduced his army to a mob, and if the advance of the Allies could be stemmed for a little before the vital centre of Maubeuge.
Seven Tanks of the 5th Battalion had advanced with the French and the 9th Corps near Riquerval Wood; but the first action of this new type, in which any considerable number of machines took part, was the Battle of the Selle River, which began in the 4th Army area on October 17.
101“Our operations were opened on October 17 by an attack by the 4th Army on a front of about ten miles from Le Cateau southwards, in conjunction with the French 1st Army operating west of the Sambre and Oise Canal. The assault, launched at 5.20 a.m., was delivered by the 9th, 2nd American and 13th Corps.... The enemy was holding the difficult wooded country east of Bohain, and the line of the Selle north of it, in great strength, his infantry being well supported by artillery.”
The 4th was the Tank Brigade concerned.
The 1st Battalion was allotted to the 9th Corps on the right.
The 2nd American Corps in the centre fought as usual with the 301st American Battalion.
On the left the 13th Corps had the 16th Battalion, while the 6th Tank Battalion was in Army reserve.
The Germans had chosen their battle ground with great skill. They held the right bank of the Selle, and the river itself, therefore, threaded No-Man’s-Land. This particular choice of a defence was undoubtedly dictated by a fear of Tanks. There had been heavy rain, and the river was in flood.
102“Very little was known of the stream, except that it varied every few yards in nature, breadth and depth; and the only way of establishing safe crossing-places for the Tanks, was by personal reconnaissance.
“This work was done successfully by the R.O.’s of the 1st and 301st Battalions, which were fighting alongside each other.
“The reconnaissance necessary on the front of the 301st promised to be extremely dangerous and the success rather doubtful, owing to the presence of several unlocated Boche posts on our side of the stream. It was a question of slipping through these unobserved, gaining the necessary information, and coming back again through their lines.
“Lieutenant T.C. Naedale, Battalion R.O., undertook to do this in the company of an infantry guide from the sector. This officer walked down the stream 500 yards, literally under the noses of the Boche posts, and returned to our lines with the requisite intelligence. He was thus able to pick safe crossings for all his Tanks.”
At 5.30 a.m. on October 17, the fog was so thick that Tanks had to move forward on compass bearings. The infantry could see nothing, and had, in many cases, to rely almost entirely on the Tanks as guides. Every Tank of the forty-eight carried a crib, and with their help, north of St. Souplet and of Molain, both Tank Battalions crossed the river in safety at the previously selected fords.
The Germans had clearly relied almost entirely upon the flooded river for their defence, and it was only here and there that we met with any opposition. Isolated posts would, however, occasionally hold out with great vigour, and what with the fog and the irregular speed of our advance, the whole battle was an exceedingly confused one. The enemy was well supplied with artillery, and wherever the fog permitted made good use of it.
At about 10 a.m. the infantry, who were badly held up by machine-guns near Demilieue, summoned Whippets of the 6th Battalion to their help. A number of machines immediately hurried up, but even then, so heavy was the machine-gun fire, that it was only with great difficulty that the infantry could advance even under cover of the Whippets. Just as they were approaching the village, three Whippets were knocked out in rapid succession by a single field gun. Deprived of the cover of these machines, the infantry had to retire again. It was not till considerably later that the village was taken.
On the 18th and 19th the infantry managed to make good progress, and at 2 p.m. on the 20th we made another attack, still on the line of the Selle, north of Le Cateau.
Only four Tanks of the 11th Battalion were employed. The enemy’s resistance was serious, for he had been able to erect strong wire entanglements along the greater part of the line. This time, there being no available fords, the Tanks successfully crossed the river by means of an under-water sleeper bridge, which the Sappers had secretly constructed at night, the enemy being quite unaware of its existence, until, to their dismay, they saw the Tanks crossing over it.
There was severe fighting round Neuvilly, Solesmes and Haspres, but we gained all our objectives on the high ground east of the Selle, all the four Tanks successfully reaching their final goal.
Our capture of these positions on the river Selle was immediately followed up by a larger bid, this time for the general line running from the Sambre Canal along the edge of Mormal Forest to the neighbourhood of Valenciennes. We were to make a night attack on a fifteen-mile line in the 4th Army area, the 9th, 5th and 13th Corps being supported by thirty-seven Tanks from the 10th, 11th, 12th and 301st (American) Battalions.
Zero hour was 1.30 a.m. Unfortunately the hoped-for moonlight was shrouded, and the night misty and dark. To add to our difficulties, the enemy was shelling freely with gas. Gas-masks had to be worn, and through them it was impossible to see anything. Consequently we did not make much progress until dawn. But directly it was light we went ahead, the Tanks had fine shooting at “ground game,” and a great amount of case shot was fired, and both Tanks and infantry ultimately won through to their objectives.
Next day the 17th Corps took up the attack in the 1st Army area, so extending our line of assault a further five miles north to the Schele. No Tanks, however, operated at this stage of the 1st Army’s offensive, but six machines belonging to the 10th Battalion attacked near Robewsart. One of these Tanks managed to explode a German ammunition dump with a lucky shot from one of its 6-pounders. This threw the enemy into great confusion, whilst the explosion of his own shells helped us considerably with the killing.
IV
We had now reached another—the last—stage of the battle. The nature of the terrain had begun to change, for we were travelling at last.
103“Despite the unfavourable weather and the determined opposition at many points from the German machine-gunners, in two days our infantry and Tanks had realised an advance of five or six miles over difficult country.”
We had now reached the half wooded, half pasture and orchard country which lay on the outskirts of the Forest of Mormal, “like fringe upon a petticoat,” and the last of our battles had been fought amid the trees of the Bois L’EvÊque and of Pommereuil.
We were within a mile of Le Quesnoy, which lay in a clearing in the Forest.
There was no chance of giving our machines an overhaul. It was therefore in a state of mechanical “efficiency,” which a little while before we should have said made any sort of fighting out of the question, that most of the remaining Tanks gaily tackled this difficult piece of the advance.
