*VIRTUAL TOUR - The Somme Offensive Continued*

Tank Corps Memorial, Pozières

Tank Corps Memorial

 In 1919 the Tank Corps applied for permission to put up a Memorial on this site; the site where three tanks originally moved into their Departure Point, ready for the Battle of Flers-Courcelette between the 15th and 22nd September 1916; the three tanks actually set off into Battle from this very point. On the 11th September 1916, a total of 49 tanks were required to move slowly into their assembly positions in the line. Although, as a measure of their fundamental unreliability, 17 tanks were unable to make it as far as their assembly point. Of the 32 that did, a further seven failed to work at zero hour. Thus, 25 of the 49 tanks rolled slowly into No-Man's-Land with the start of the attack on 15th September. In 1916 the Tank Corps did not exist, they were still known as the Heavy Branch Machine-Gun Corps. It was not until 28th July 1917 that the Tank Corp came into existence. 

The Tank Corps put forward a design comprising of a granite obelisk on a plinth, with four models of tanks. Having been accepted by the ‘British Battle Exploit Memorials Committee’, and the French authorities' ‘Decret d'Hommage Publique’. In July 1922, Representing King George VI, the Tank Corps Memorial was unveiled by Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Morland. On the Memorial, you will notice 2 bronze plaques which are inscribed with the Battles on the Western Front that the tanks took part in from September 1916, to the Armistice in November 1918. A few miles South of the Memorial, tanks were first used at the Battle of Flers-Courcelette on the 15th to 22nd September 1916. Although the Battle resulted in high casualties for many of the British Battalions taking part, and the majority of the tanks were not successful in reaching their objectives; however, there was a great morale boost reported by the British press with the capture of Flers, combined with the fact that some of the tanks did break through the German lines.

Originally, the tank was designed to break the deadlock of Trench Warfare. In their first use on the Somme, they were placed under the command of the Infantry and ordered to attack their given targets in groups or pairs. They were also assigned small groups of Troops, who served as an escort, while providing close defence against Enemy attacks. In 1917, during the Battle of Cambrai, the Tank Corps adopted new tactics. three tanks working together would advance in a triangular formation, with the two rear tanks providing cover for an Infantry Platoon. The tanks were to create gaps in the barbed wire for the accompanying Infantry to pass through, then use their armament to suppress the German strong points. The effectiveness of the tank and Infantry co-operation was demonstrated during a fierce Battle, when Major General George Montague-Harper of the 51st (Highland) Division refused to co-operate with the tanks, a decision that compelled them to move forward without any Infantry support; the result was the destruction of more than 12 tanks by German Artillery sighted behind bunkers. By 1918, the situation had changed again, when tank attacks would have one tank every 100 or 200 yards, with a Tank Company of 12 to 16 tanks per objective. One Section of each Company would be out in front, with the remainder of the Company following behind, and each tank providing protection for an Infantry Platoon. When the tanks came across an Enemy strong point, they would engage the Defenders, forcing them into their shelters, and leaving them to the devices of the following Infantry.

Mark IV Tank