Chris Noble Posted 12 August , 2015 Share Posted 12 August , 2015 Looking at the War Diary of the 2/10th London's, attached 174th Infantry Brigade, 58th Division, the scheme of operations to capture the village of Sailly-Laurette on the 8th August 1918 required the advance of three tanks ( Source, narrative included in 2/10th London's War Diary). A great emphasis was placed on the Tank "Jutland," I presume with a designation, "J" to rendezvous with companies of the London's on the edge of the village of Sailly. Any information as regards the Tank assault supporting would be most appreciated. Best wishes. Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Davies Posted 12 August , 2015 Share Posted 12 August , 2015 The War Diary says: Battalion went into action with 18 & 58 Divs and carried out operations as per III Corps. 18 & 58 Div Orders attached. One tank (Lt J A McGuire) operated with 35th Inf Bde. The Bn history says a little more: On August 8th the Battalion went into action with 18th & 58th Divisions of III Corps whose plan was to form a defensive flank to IV Army attacking south of the Somme. The attack was in the direction of Morlancourt on the left and Chippilly on the right. 30 Tanks got into action, the remaining 6 having mechanical trouble. The morning was very misty rendering observation very difficult. The ground was in very good condition. During the day 530 rounds of 6pdr. and 14980 rounds S.A.A. were expended with very good effect. The attack generally was successful although the final objective was not captured. 17 tanks rallied Casualties were comparatively slight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Davies Posted 12 August , 2015 Share Posted 12 August , 2015 But if you want even more detail have a look here: https://sites.google.com/site/landships/home/narratives/1918/100days/amiens/10-battalion-c-company-8-august-1918 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidearm Posted 12 August , 2015 Share Posted 12 August , 2015 Chris As you may deduce from the website link that Gareth has provided, 10th Battalion's own records don't mention tanks' names for this period. Consequently, it's of interest to me that the infantry records do. I'd be interested to know what the records of the 2/10th London's have to say about the tank, please. If you respond to this, please accept my prior apologies for a tardy reply. I shall be away from tomorrow for a while and won't have access to the Forum (or emails - Yippee!). Gwyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Noble Posted 13 August , 2015 Author Share Posted 13 August , 2015 Hi Gareth & Gwyn. Many thanks indeed for your input, very much appreciated. Gareth, I did have a look at this link, but this identified two Tanks I believe attached from Ponsfords Southern Section to the attack of the Green Line. J46, Captain Montague Cyril Keynes, and J36, Second-Lieutenant Francis Stephens Lyne. 2/10th mention in Ops Orders/Narrative the Tank "Jutland," I presume "J" Prefix. The actions of a Tank "Jutland" is mentioned in Gareth's 'Link' as in action circa March 1918, I just wonder if the Tank at this period is not one and the same as they say, in other words, the 'name' was perpetuated. Best bet chaps is that tomorrow evening I post a schematic from 2/10 London's War Diary. Gwyn, no need to apologise, two children here on Summer 'Jollys' that are driving me crazy in a nice way I hasten to add. Just drop me a line, or any Forum Pal for that matter and I will send the War Diary entry or Narrative of Operations through. Best wishes. Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Noble Posted 14 August , 2015 Author Share Posted 14 August , 2015 The attached is a map from a narrative contained in the War Diary of the 2/10th London's, WO95/3009/5. The advance of the Battalion Companies are colour coded; "A", Blue, "B," Yellow, "C," Green, and "D" Red. To the north of the village of Sailly-Laurette is first "Track B," then an "avenue" or "lane" for Tank Jutland, then, "Track A." If the definition of the image is not clear enough, I will scan again and post accordingly. Best wishes. Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Davies Posted 15 August , 2015 Share Posted 15 August , 2015 Chris - Ask me a question on tanks in 1917 and I should be able to answer it in detail, sadly the same is most definitely not the case for 1918. I do however know that in March/April 1918 the Bn were equipped with Mk IV tanks which were replaced by Mk Vs in July 1918. By the end of that month the Bn had 42 Mk Vs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Noble Posted 15 August , 2015 Author Share Posted 15 August , 2015 Hi Gareth. This period seems to be a bit of a 'Grey Area' for me included. If I am correct, there was a Tank "Jutland," serving earlier, March/April 1916, designation J26. The Narrative of 10th London's is lengthy, but, I will try and post some 'Snap Shots' during the course of the next few days. Without looking at source, the Tanks arrived late anyhow, ten minutes, due to a variety of circumstances, heavy ground mist, loss of direction etc. Apologies if I have repeated myself on some aspects but at this juncture I have tied myself up in a veritable 'Gordian Knot.' Best wishes. Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidearm Posted 21 August , 2015 Share Posted 21 August , 2015 Hi Chris I shall shortly send you a PM, but I'll confirm that the J26 "Jutland" in March/April 1918 shouldn't be confused with that of August 1918 as they're definitely different tanks. The first would have been a Mark IV. It survived the March offensive and from 13 April 1918 was used for driver training. It may have been sent to Central Workshops on 17 June 1918 in which case it would have been struck off charge of 10th Battalion. As Gareth says, from July 1918 10th Battalion were using Mark Vs so the tank J26 on 8 August must have been a different tank. Whether the 8 August J26 was the same tank as the 25 August J26 (when this number next appears) seems likely but is currently unconfirmed. The commander on 25 August was 2/Lt R.H. Galbraith. We don't know the commander on 8 August - it was possibly the same man. There's nothing I have to suggest otherwise. Gwyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidearm Posted 21 August , 2015 Share Posted 21 August , 2015 Chris I can't PM you as your inbox is full. Can you PM me your email address please? Thanks Gwyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Noble Posted 22 August , 2015 Author Share Posted 22 August , 2015 Good evening Gwyn and my apologies. I will PM now. Best wishes. Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Noble Posted 22 August , 2015 Author Share Posted 22 August , 2015 And just to add chaps, many thanks for everyone's input. Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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