9 Battalion C Company 24 August 1918

Battle of Albert. 24^th August 1918

C Company, 9^th Tank Battalion, with 99^th Brigade, 2^nd Division, VI Corp, 3^rd Army ^(OH)

C Company, 9^th Battalion had 6 fighting tanks in action on 24^th 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 1^st Berkshires and 1^st 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 1^st 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 2^nd September 1918.

Sources

W9a – 9^th Tank Battalion War Diary Appendix – Reference operations on 24^th August 1918 in PRO WO 95-107

H9 – 9^th Tank Battalion’s War History, Transcript from Bovington tank Museum.

OH – Official History. 1918. Volume IV. Pg.255.

Albert - 21 to 29 August 1918