3rd Tank Battalion OB. 24th March 1918
Composite Light Tank Battalion OB 24th March 1918
The Composite Light tank battalion was formed on 24th March 1918 from “A” and “C” Companies 3rd Tank Battalion (15 tanks each) and “C” Company 9th Tank Battalion (16 tanks) (H3) The Brigade War Diary Appendix indicates 3rd battalion had 48 tanks on this date this presumably includes the 16 with 9th Tank Battalion (W23)
A Company, 3rd Tank Battalion – Maj. Hedderwick G MC (W23)
15 tanks total
1 Section – Capt Firth F (W23)
A226, "China II", Capt Firth
A263, "Cyprus III", 2Lt O’Dowd
A269, 2Lt Breen
A276, "Cardiff", 2Lt Jenkins
2 section
Possibly the following four tanks
A213, “Ca’Canny”
A223, “Comme-Ci”
A237, “Ceylon II”
A247, “Comme-Ca”
3 Section – Lt Bower LeClair CM MC (H3)
A215, “Cambrae II”
A225, “Cirencester”
A246, “Canada”
4 Section – Capt LeClair CM MC (H3)
A252, “Celtic II“
A258, “Cargo II”
A267, “Cork II“
A270, “Chaperon II”
B Company, 3rd Tank Battalion
No tanks
C Company, 3rd Tank Battalion – Capt Price TB MC
15 tanks total
9 Section - Capt Henderson AM
A253, "Conqueror III", Capt Henderson
A290, "Cherubim II", 2Lt Sewell
A259, "Caesar II", 2Lt Parry
10 Section - Capt Gates WS MC
A264, "Cleopatra", Capt Gates
A265, "Conviviality", 2Lt Archibald
A271, "Chaperon II", 2Lt Wilson
11 Section - Capt Weber
A229, "Coquette III", Capt Weber
A211, "Challenger", 2Lt Laing
A241, "Carnoustie", Lt Dean
A234, "Chanticleer", Lt Norman
12 Section - Capt Purdy EL MC
A240, "Cayenne", Lt Hope
A266, 2Lt Elsbury
A281, "Comet III", 2Lt Thomas
Plus two more tanks probably drawn from A227, A273, A280, A291 which were with the Company on 5th August. The other tanks listed above except 266, were all still with the company on 5th August.
Note:
Tank names, 2 section's tanks and 3 and 4 section tank allocations correct for 5th August, may not be correct for March (W3)
C Company, 9th Tank Battalion - Maj. Lord Summers MC (W23)
16 tanks total.
Presumably including the following six whippets which had been drawn by 9th Battalion in February 1918 (W9) :
A206
A219
A236
A255
A256
A257
Also possibly A212, A267 and A277 which were all filmed on the Bray - Serre Road on 26th March 1918: IWM 179: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060022680
Also possibly whippets A249 and A220 which were captured by the Germans in March 1918: S74 p46ff.
A236, A255, A256 and A277 were all with "X" company 3rd Tank battalion on 24th April 1918.
A212, A219, A236 and A277 were with “B” Company 3rd Tank Battalion on 5th August 1918. A267 was with "A" company 3rd battalion (W3). A257 was with 6th battalion (W6Bv)
21 March 1918 - Tank Battalion OB