5 Battalion 22 August 1918
The Battle of Albert. 22nd August 1918 (or 21st August – war diary)
5th Battalion with 142nd brigade, 47th Division, III Corp, 4th Army (OH)
5th Battalion had 6 tanks in action on 22nd August 1918
Composite Company - Maj Gatehouse MC (H5)
“A” Company
3 tanks
“B” Company
3 tanks
Two, three or four of:
9096 (m)
9176 (m)
9147 (m)
9409 (f)
9034 (m)
Notes
The allocation of 5th Battalion to 142nd Brigade is an educated guess as the 5th Battalion records don’t indicate which units the tanks were supporting and the Official History doesn’t indicate which tanks were supporting the infantry.
The five tanks whose WD numbers are listed were all received by 4th Battalion on 25th August, 4 of these tanks were presumably those handed over by 5th battalion. (W4a)
Orders
“A” Coy were to clear the happy valley. (H5)
“B” Coy to support infantries attack on first objective, a line beyond the Bray – Meaulte Road. (H5)
zero was 4:45am; tanks to start at z -12mins. (H5)
Account of Operations
Tanks were shelled and crews gassed at their lying up place. (H5) K11o.5.c (W5)
The tanks advanced in a thick mist, further thickened by the smoke in the barrage. The tanks and infantry advanced, the tanks silencing MG nest. The infantry took the first objective by 8am with light casualties. All 3 “B” company tanks were hit and knocked out, 2 were burnt out.
“A“ company successfully cleared the happy valley, one tank being knocked out. The other two tanks towed 2 tanks back with them. (H5)
The official history states 5 of the 6 tanks supporting the 142nd Brigade were knocked out, the sixth entered Happy Valley and rounded up some Germans before engine trouble and crew casualties forced its withdrawal. (OH)
One tank was equipped with a wireless, this was also knocked out, it is not clear if this was one of the 6 MK V or a MK IV (W5)
Summary
Total Tanks: 6
Failed to Start:
Engaged enemy:
Ditched / Broke Down:
Hit and Knocked out: 4
Rallied: 2
Aftermath
All four of 5th battalion’s surviving tanks were handed to 4th battalion on the 25th august. (H5) (W5)
Sources
H5 - 5th Battalion War History - transcript from Bovington tank museum.
W5 - 5th Battalion War Diary - transcript from Bovington tank museum.
W4a – 4th tank battalion - Summery of Tanks on Strength – August 1918. - PRO WO 95-110
OH – Official history. 1918. Volume IV p197 and 199