15 September 1916 - Supporting 14th Division
The Tanks on the Somme. 15th September 1916.
D Company, 1 section, with 14th Division, XV Corps, 3rd Army
D Company, 1 section intended to get 4 tanks into action on 15th September 1916
1 Section, Capt Mortimore HW
D1, 765 “Daredevil I”, Capt Mortimore HW
D3, 728, 2Lt Head HG
D4, 516, 2Lt Storey CE
D5, 540, “Dolphin”, 2Lt Blowers AH
Notes:
Each section also had two other tanks which were detached and operated with other units on the 15th September 1916.
Orders
765 and 540 were to attack and eliminate a German pocket east of Delville Wood, each tank was to attack from a different side. Tank C24, 512, “L” tank was to start later and attack the pocket from a third direction.
540’s start point was S12d.5.5.
765 was to start from T13c.2.8 at 5:10am, z – 1 hour 10 mins; move to the point where Hop Alley abutted the wood, reaching there at 5:30am just as the infantry began their attack. Having dealt with the Germans there he was to move along Hop Alley back to Beer Trench, turn along Ale alley, meet 540 [ and presumably 512] and, at Zero, follow her along Pint Trench and Flers Road. No gaps had been left in the barrage and the three tanks were to advance alongside the infantry and eliminate the MGs at the top of Pint Trench.
728 and 516 were to start at Zero – 53 mins form S12d.5.5 then follow Cocoa Trench as far as the German front line in Tea support, he was to pause there and clear the trench of Germans. Then resume its advance ahead of the infantry as far as the Green line, help them capture it and then cover their consolidation. Then he was to advance with the infantry to Gap Trench on the Brown Line.
Account of operations
516 reached Delville Wood but became badly ditched and was abandoned.
728 started on time, crossed no mans land and engaged the enemy, it probably drifted off course to the left as it was hit on the track and stopped, probably at the southern end of the bluff now known as the Rideau des Filoires close by the Longueval – Flers Road.
765 started five minutes late at 5:15am, and advanced on Delville Wood with the KOYLI advancing down a communication trench behind it. The tank reached Hop Trench, the Germans fled at its approach and were shot down by the tank’s MGs. The tank then advanced on Ale Alley and cleared it too. When the main attack started at zero the tank set off with the infantry but after 300 yds, at T13a.30.95, was hit by a shell which broke the left track.
540 became ditched on the way to its start point, was unditched by 728 but reached the start point late. The tank advanced from the Wood’s Northern edge well behind the infantry who had already captured the first objective before the tank got there. The tank continued to the second objective, Gap Trench and crossed from the east to the west side of Watling Street which he followed. The tank fired on two 77mm guns by the road, unaware that these had already been captured by the British , and continued its advance until it crossed Bulls Road on the Third Objective the Blue Line. By now the tank had outstripped the infantry who had been thinned out and eventually stopped by enemy fire. 540 turned back but was intercepted by an infantry runner who asked for the tank’s assistance in clearing a German strongpoint nearer to Flers. 540 turned towards the village, and entered the field between the street and the village where it was hit by a shell, knocked out and set afire. Two crewmen were killed, two others and the OIC were wounded.
Summary
Intended: 4
At start: 3
Failed to Start: 0
Engaged enemy: 3
Ditched / Broke Down: 0
Hit and Knocked out: 3
Rallied: 0
Penetrated by AP bullets: 0
Aftermath
765, 516, 540 No further record
726 failed to get into in action on the 26th September
Source
S1 - The Tanks at Flers (1995) Trevor Pidgeon