2 Battalion 11 August 1918

The Tanks at Amiens. 11^th August 1918

2 Battalion, with 2^nd and 3^rd Brigades, 1^st Australian Division, Australian Corp, 4^th Army ^(OH)

2 Battalion had 9 tanks in action on 11^th August 1918 ^(H2)

Composite Company – Major Diamond HV MC ^(H2)

Probably ten of the following tanks :

9002

9302

9305

9031

9415

9003

9004

9010

9256

9325

9398

9401

9432

Notes:

Tanks are those that rallied on the 8^th and 9^th. Identities may be incorrect for the 11^th. OICs had been changed on the 10^th, new OICs are not recorded. The report of operations states all the tanks committed on the 11^th had also been in action on the 8^th and 9^th August.

Orders

Zero 4am. 6 tanks with 2^nd Brigade, 4 with 3^rd Brigade. ^(H2)

5 tanks to 7^th and 8^th Australian Battalions of 2^nd Brigade ^(OH) 6 tanks ^(w2bAus)

4 tanks to 10^th, 12^th and 11^th Australian Battalions of 3^rd Brigade ^(OH)

Account of Operations

9 tanks advanced from the point of assembly, all reached the deployment point but almost all were late at the jumping off point, only 3 tanks made it into action, the others all breaking down or ditching on the 6 mile approach March. One of the tanks that went into action got lost in the dense mist and accidentally encountered a party of the enemy. ^(H2)

2^nd AIF Brigade advanced without tanks as they either arrived late or they strayed into 3^rd Brigades sector in the dense mist. Later two tanks were sent to mop up Lihons but weren’t needed as it had already been cleared by 2^nd Brigades reserve battalion, 7^th AIF Battalion.^(W2bAus)

The Official history states three of 3^rd Brigades supporting tanks were an hour late. The other tanks all arrive a few minutes late and thus followed the infantry mopping up, seven tanks broke down, none were hit by the enemy. ^(OH)

3^rd AIF Brigade only one tank had arrived by 4am, the others arrived later, final objective taken by 5:15am. The first two tanks to arrive attempted to mop up Lihons; two other tanks did good work around Auger Wood and in front of Crepy Wood. One tank was ordered to move in front of 11^th Battalion to cover them but refused as it was light and the tank would have proven to be an obvious target ^{(W3bAus) (W10Aus)}

Summary

Total Tanks: 9

Failed to Start: 6

Engaged enemy: 3

Ditched / Broke Down: 3

Hit and Knocked out:

Rallied: 9

Rallied is a guess.

Aftermath

The following tanks were all in action on 23^rd August: 9002, 9004, 9031, 9305, 9312.

Sources

H2 – 2^nd Battalion War History. Transcript form Bovington Tank Museum.

OH – Official History, 1918, Vol IV, pg.147f

Amiens