German pictures of British tanks & PoWs.

[themonsstar]

[GWF1967]

Thanks for posting. Did they come from the same album as the balloon and gun photographs?

[johntaylor]

Fascinating photos - thanks for sharing. I'd also be interested to know more about the source.

John

[themonsstar]

All from the same photograph album. 

[johntaylor]

The last photo is especially interesting though I'm having trouble reading all of the caption - hopefully some German handwriting experts can fill in the gaps. It says something like "Rückkehr einer deutsche Patrouille mit gefangenen Engländer in [Beaurevoir?] / Gillemont Fme [? ?]" - in other words "Withdrawal of a German patrol with captured Englishmen in Beaurevoir / Gillemont Farm [?]. 

Unfortunately I can't read the small word or words written on two lines at the end, and I'm not 100% sure if it says Beaurevoir, though this location would make sense. If so the picture shows the aftermath of a large-scale German fighting patrol in the area of Gillemont Farm south of Vendhuile - see trench map below (note this is not the same as Guillemont on the Somme).

The raid was carried by Infanterie-Regiment 184 early on 18 November 1917, i.e. a couple of days before the start of the Battle of Cambrai a few miles to the north. It resulted in the capture of around 50 men from 4th Bn Loyal North Lancashire Regiment. The regimental history doesn't specify the number of prisoners, but they clearly suffered considerable losses:

If this is correct then the photo shows survivors of the raid being escorted through the village of Beaurevoir which lies a few miles to the east. The roofs of the houses are quite distinctive and it may even be possible to find the location on Google Maps, though I couldn't see anything at first glance (assuming the buildings have survived).

Anyway the photo gives a fascinating insight into this episode - thanks again for sharing.

John

Edited 6 October , 2022 by johntaylor

[johntaylor]

Just to add that the other photo with prisoners shows Bellevue Farm, also near Beaurevoir, which helps to confirm the location. The caption says "Verwundeter Engländer & Schotte an der Bellevue Fme. Deutsche Cambraischlacht 30 November 17" or "Wounded Englishmen and Scots at Bellevue Farm. German Cambrai battle 30 November [19]17."

This therefore shows prisoners captured during the German counteroffensive beginning on November 30 - this was often referred to as the "Angriffschlacht" (or offensive battle) to distinguish it from the "Tankschlacht" or tank attack launched by the British 10 days before.

The location is therefore close to the other one, but if I'm correct then they were taken around two weeks apart - one just before what we call the Battle of Cambrai, the other at the end, when the battle had entered a new phase.

John

[themonsstar]

Thank you John for this information and posting this on here.

 

Cheers Roy 

[charlie2]

4 hours ago, johntaylor said:

Rückkehr einer deutsche Patrouille mit gefangenen Engländer in [Beaurevoir?] / Gillemont Fme [? ?]" - in other words "Withdrawal of a German patrol with captured Englishmen in Beaurevoir / Gillemont Farm

John

That is exactly what the caption says, but I can‘t read the last two words either. The history of IR 184 records that 45 PoWs and 5 MGs were captured during Op. Undine on the 18th.

https://dfg-viewer.de/show?tx_dlf[double]=0&tx_dlf[id]=https%3A%2F%2Fdigital.wlb-stuttgart.de%2Fmets%2Furn%3Anbn%3Ade%3Absz%3A24-digibib-bsz5052516208.xml&tx_dlf[page]=64&cHash=ab81ab848246c1f26411918f0e7e4ddf

Charlie

 

[johntaylor]

Thanks Charlie - the German unit history is brief but very useful.

I wonder whether Roy might be able to provide a better quality scan of the word(s) at the end please? I've fiddled around on Photoshop but still can't make them out.

All the best,

John

PS I wonder if the second word could be Infanterie?

Edited 6 October , 2022 by johntaylor

[mebu]

Here's a British pic of the second tank, C51 "Chaperon",  (location is bend of D96 behind Lateau Wood).

 

Peter

 

Another pic of same

Edited 6 October , 2022 by mebu