3rd Tank Battalion OB. 24th March 1918

Composite Light Tank Battalion OB 24^th March 1918

The Composite Light tank battalion was formed on 24^th March 1918 from “A” and “C” Companies 3^rd Tank Battalion (15 tanks each) and “C” Company 9^th Tank Battalion (16 tanks) ^(H3) The Brigade War Diary Appendix indicates 3^rd battalion had 48 tanks on this date this presumably includes the 16 with 9^th Tank Battalion ^(W23)

A Company, 3^rd Tank Battalion – Maj. Hedderwick G MC ^(W23)

15 tanks total

1 Section – Capt Firth F ^(W23)

A226, "China II", Capt Firth

A263, "Cyprus III", 2Lt O’Dowd

A269, 2Lt Breen

A276, "Cardiff", 2Lt Jenkins

2 section

Possibly the following four tanks

A213, “Ca’Canny”

A223, “Comme-Ci”

A237, “Ceylon II”

A247, “Comme-Ca”

3 Section – Lt Bower LeClair CM MC ^(H3)

A215, “Cambrae II”

A225, “Cirencester”

A246, “Canada”

4 Section – Capt LeClair CM MC ^(H3)

A252, “Celtic II“

A258, “Cargo II”

A267, “Cork II“

A270, “Chaperon II”

B Company, 3^rd Tank Battalion

No tanks

C Company, 3^rd Tank Battalion – Capt Price TB MC

15 tanks total

9 Section - Capt Henderson AM

A253, "Conqueror III", Capt Henderson

A290, "Cherubim II", 2Lt Sewell

A259, "Caesar II", 2Lt Parry

10 Section - Capt Gates WS MC

A264, "Cleopatra", Capt Gates

A265, "Conviviality", 2Lt Archibald

A271, "Chaperon II", 2Lt Wilson

11 Section - Capt Weber

A229, "Coquette III", Capt Weber

A211, "Challenger", 2Lt Laing

A241, "Carnoustie", Lt Dean

A234, "Chanticleer", Lt Norman

12 Section - Capt Purdy EL MC

A240, "Cayenne", Lt Hope

A266, 2Lt Elsbury

A281, "Comet III", 2Lt Thomas

Plus two more tanks probably drawn from A227, A273, A280, A291 which were with the Company on 5^th August. The other tanks listed above except 266, were all still with the company on 5^th August.

Note:

Tank names, 2 section's tanks and 3 and 4 section tank allocations correct for 5^th August, may not be correct for March ^(W3)

C Company, 9^th Tank Battalion - Maj. Lord Summers MC ^(W23)

16 tanks total.

Presumably including the following six whippets which had been drawn by 9^th Battalion in February 1918 ^(W9) :

A206

A219

A236

A255

A256

A257

Also possibly A212, A267 and A277 which were all filmed on the Bray - Serre Road on 26^th March 1918: IWM 179: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060022680

Also possibly whippets A249 and A220 which were captured by the Germans in March 1918: S74 p46ff.

A236, A255, A256 and A277 were all with "X" company 3rd Tank battalion on 24th April 1918.

A212, A219, A236 and A277 were with “B” Company 3^rd Tank Battalion on 5^th August 1918. A267 was with "A" company 3rd battalion ^(W3). A257 was with 6^th battalion ^(W6Bv)

^{21 March 1918 - Tank Battalion OB}