25 September 1916 - Supporting XIV Corps
The Tanks on the Somme. 25th September 1916.
C Company with XIV Corp, 4th Army. Morval.
C Company intended to get 12 tanks into action on 25th September 1916
C Company –
A – Capt Hiscocks.
722, 2Lt Arnaud AL
505, 2Lt Murphy TEF
760, 2Lt Ambrose CFN
B – Capt AH Walker.
741, Lt Tull JE
746, Lt Clarke JP
740, Lt Smith LV
C – Lt Dashwood.
705, Lt Henderson AM / Lt Bates LJ
523, Lt Dashwood Sir J
Notes:
Orders
Tanks were to be committed after the infantry had captured the brown Line. The tanks would then be used to help capture the villages of Gueudecourt Les Boeufs and Morval. (S2.p7)
Zero: 12:35pm
A – Support Guards Division. Assemble at South West Corner Trones wood. Start point T13 central.
B – Support 5th Division; assemble at South West Corner Trones wood. Start from T19d.5.7. and assist the infantry as necessary. Especially in Morval by moving into it via Moor Street and then moving down Main Street
C – Support 56th Division. Assemble at Wedgewood. Start point T20d.2.1.
Account of operations
C Company’s tanks arrived very late due to mechanical problems and the state of the ground, none went into action. W3
A – The tanks did not leave the assembly position in Trones Wood until Zero. 505 fell into a dug out soon after and wasn’t dug out until after 8:30pm. The other two tanks made it to the start point but did not go into action as the infantry captured Les Beoufs without assistance and thus did not ask for the tanks. (S2.p12f)
B –
746 ditched and did not reach the start point until Z + 2hrs 10mins. There is no record of it going into action.
Probably photographed ditched (though the tank may be 741): http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205194947, X7.p19, X60.p37
741 broke down but eventually started from the start point at Z + 20 mins. He followed the line of the meter gauge railway, probably crossed the Quadrilateral Ridge 1,000 yds east of Ginchy and then ditched in a trench.
740 also ditched in a disused dugout on the way forward, but was unditched in time to make the start point. The tank stayed in reserve, eventually moved forward to T16a.8.6 in front of Morval but the village had already been taken by the infantry so the tank returned and rallied. (S2.p11f)
C – Both tanks reached the start point but did not go into action as the infantry captured Morval without them. (S2.p13f).
Summary
Intended: 8
At start: 7
Failed to Start: 0
Engaged enemy: 0
Ditched / Broke Down: 1
Hit and Knocked out: 0
Rallied: 6
Penetrated by AP bullets: 0
Note
Aftermath
523 and 705, C group attempted to get into action on the 26th. 523 became stuck in a sunken road (S99.41)
The other tanks were moved forward on the 27th but did not get into action.
All the tanks were back at the Loop by the 1st October. (s2.p16)
Sources
W3 – C Company’s War Diary. Transcript from Bovington Tank Museum.
S2 - Pidgeon, Trevor (2012) Tanks on the Somme
S12 - Chris McCarthy. (1998) The Somme. The Day by Day Account. Brockhampton Press.
S22 - Staedman, Michael (1995) Thiepval, Leo Cooper P. 86ff