9 Battalion C Company 24 August 1918
Battle of Albert. 24th August 1918
C Company, 9th Tank Battalion, with 99th Brigade, 2nd Division, VI Corp, 3rd Army (OH)
C Company, 9th Battalion had 6 fighting tanks in action on 24th August 1918 (W23a)
C Company – Maj Padfield L, 2IC Capt Mabb VL (W9a)
Lt Rae
2Lt Manners
2Lt Steeple
2Lt Malleson
Plus two unidentified tanks
Notes
“C” Company had 9 tanks on strength, only 6 were assigned to this action.
Orders
To co operate with 1st Berkshires and 1st KRR [Kings Royal Rifles] to capture Mory Copse and a line running form B21b.9.8 – 7.3 along road to camouflage Copse B16b.2.5. (W9a)
Company to assembly SW of Courcelles in A21d at 5am. (W9a)
Tanks assembled in a sunken road at A17c.9.3 SE of Courcelles at &:50am. (W9a)
Lt Rae’s 2 tanks to operate on the right and mask the north side of moray village.
2Lt Manners tank to destroy MGs in B15c and B15d, then patrol sunken road between Mory Village and Mory Copse until infantry had captured the road and consolidated ahead of it. (W9a)
Lt Steeple’s 2 tanks to attack Mory Copse and trench system to the north of it and mop up MG posts in B16a.8.2 and Camouflage Copse B16b.2.6 then patrol the front until the infantry had consolidated. (W9a)
The left flank was supposedly secured as the 1st Grenadiers were in Mory Switch (B.9.d) and had a company forward at B19c.6.6
The attack was to be covered by a barrage consisting of 6 parts shrapnel to one part smoke which would lift 100yds every 3 minutes
Zero hour was at 3:30pm, six tanks set off at 2:30pm, arriving at the start point at Zero – 6 mins. The infantry were shelled in B13a and B13c on the approach march, the tanks were not shelled. (W9a)
Account of Operations
The barrage came down at Zero as arranged but was ineffective. Enemy Mgs fired on the advance from Behagnies Spur but the long range cause the fire to be ineffective. (W9a)
One tank broke down and failed to start. (W9a)
Littler opposition was met until Mory copse and the sunken road were reached, these were held in force. The three tanks still in action (H9) dealt with many enemies here, 12 Germans being killed with 2 strips of MG fire, another 60 by 4 rounds of case shot. Almost all the enemy refused to surrender and had to be killed. The two tanks on the left helped clear Mory Copse and then stood by to resume the advance. Both were then hit and knocked out. One being hit 5 times, the other 3. 2Lt Steeple’s crew managed to recover 4 HGs, 2Lt Malleson’s only one as their tank caught fire. On the right 2Lt Rae’s tank was hit and burnt out. (W9a)
The other two tanks rallied. (W9a)
Casualties: 1 other rank killed, one wounded and one wounded but remained on duty. (W9a)
The attack succeeded in taking Mory Copse but did not secure Mory Village (OH)
Summary
Total Tanks: 6
Failed to Start: 1
Engaged enemy: 5
Ditched / Broke Down:
Hit and Knocked out: 3
Rallied: 2
Note
Aftermath
“C” Company were next in action on 2nd September 1918.
Sources
W9a – 9th Tank Battalion War Diary Appendix – Reference operations on 24th August 1918 in PRO WO 95-107
H9 – 9th Tank Battalion’s War History, Transcript from Bovington tank Museum.
OH – Official History. 1918. Volume IV. Pg.255.