Desmond7 Posted 31 March , 2005 Share Posted 31 March , 2005 First of all ... apologies! Someone, sometime, helped me out with some details on the 12th Royal Irish Rifles on March 21, 1918. I had read that one company of the 12th RIRfles had been subject to a tank attack. I had thought only one tank was involved. The person who kindly replied mentioned that the relevant company of 12th Rifles had been attacked by four tanks .... I did not copy the post and reference at the time, now I can't find it! Anyone out there able to help? IIRC the company was 'C' coy and commanded by a Captain Johnston who later received the MC? Des Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landsturm Posted 31 March , 2005 Share Posted 31 March , 2005 We had something about this in >here< Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desmond7 Posted 31 March , 2005 Author Share Posted 31 March , 2005 Cheers .. and just to clarify ... the FIRST German tank attack was on 12th Rifles? Great job. Des Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Sheldon Posted 31 March , 2005 Share Posted 31 March , 2005 Des I have a German description of this attack, which was conducted by half of Sturmbatallion No 5 (Rohr). If you want it, I can translate some extracts for you and post them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desmond7 Posted 31 March , 2005 Author Share Posted 31 March , 2005 That would be very kind. A pm with details on its way. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Dunlop Posted 31 March , 2005 Share Posted 31 March , 2005 Led by the detachment commander, Captain Walter Greiff, in tank 501, ATD 1 started its first attack. Heavy fog - made even denser by gun smoke - made every movement of the ponderous machines hazardous. Whereas tank 501 was safely guided through the German wire entanglement, the following tank 506 lost contact with the leading vehicle and traversed the wire entanglement. Following 506, 505 got stuck in the wire. Captain Greiff - in agreement with Captain Freiherr Grote - now had all further motion stopped until 11.30 hours, by which time visibility had somewhat improved. Just as they were about to leave their forming-up place, the three remaining tanks were heavily gassed by enemy gas shells. No real harm was done, but the crews now had to put on their gas masks, something not really calculated to ease the strain of combat already pressing on these untried men. After a short while, tank 507 became inoperable because of gear work damage and had to be left behind. But now tanks 501 and 506 closed up with the infantry which until this moment had been checked by scattered but determined enemy resistance. Seeing the German tanks approach with their sneering skull-emblems painted on the front armour, the British infantry broke and turned tail. This is something observed on all German tank actions. At 12.30 hours the two tanks arrived near the Pontchu-Ferme, where a critical situation had just evolved: while attacking it, the German infantry came under heavy fire from a fortified quarry in their rear, which had not yet been detected. While the infantry was pinned down, tanks 501 and 506 advanced. Several machine gun pits were crushed by them, and tank 506 covered the quarry with grape-shots at close range. A German assault party now quickly mopped up those who remained alive in the enemy stronghold. Six officers and about one hundred and fifty men of the London [?sic] Rifles were taken prisoner. By 14.15 hours, the Pontchu-Ferme had also come into German possession. However, during combat, temperatures inside the A7V tank easily climbed up to and over 140 degrees Fahrenheit, and now, because of total exhaustion of the crews, Captain Greiff ordered a pause of fifteen minutes. At 14.30 hours, the two tanks executed a fierce assault against the 'Entente-Position', in front of which the German infantry were again pinned down by numerous machine guns and intensive mortar and rifle-grenade shelling. Two companies of ABn 5 and the flamethrower platoon of the Guards Reserve Engineers accompanied the thrust. As the InfReg 128 [history] puts it: 'At this moment welcome support arrived. Two German assault tanks, mobile fortresses similar to English vehicles yet larger, drove rumbling out of the Grugies-Trough and attacked the 'Entente-Position' from the flank. In a short while, the area had been cleared from all hindrances. We could move on again and immediately advanced... The Tommies now came running in bunches. The crews of the two tanks had successfully infiladed the enemy with shells and a torrent of bullets. Several trenches were thus rolled up. In some cases, details of the crews even dismounted and attacked strongholds with hand grenades and flame-throwers.' Thirteen machine guns and a great quantity of other material were captured by ATD 1. The detachment had now reached its objective and had thus executed its mission successfully. -- From 'The German A7V Tank and the Captured British Mark IV Tanks of World War 1' by Maxwell Hundleby and Rainer Strasheim. ISBN 0 85429 788 X Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desmond7 Posted 31 March , 2005 Author Share Posted 31 March , 2005 (edited) Many thanks Robert - perhaps the 'London Rifles' quote can be explained .... By this stage of the war, as you well know, ranks in Irish Regiments, indeed all regiments were filled from 'wherever' thus many of the casulaties of March 21 1918 in the 12th Rifles were Englishmen .. many of them from the London area! Somewhere in the deep and distant past I posted a list of English KIAs from the 12th RI Rifles. Des Search document repositry for this topic - English RI Rifles Edited 31 March , 2005 by Desmond7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Dunlop Posted 31 March , 2005 Share Posted 31 March , 2005 Des Your explanation makes good sense. It's not a case of Germans mistaking men from Northern Ireland for men from England - the word 'London' is too specific I think. Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Sheldon Posted 3 April , 2005 Share Posted 3 April , 2005 Des Sorry about the delay in posting this promised extract about the preparations for and attack on Pontchu Farm, but I have been up to my ears with other things for a couple of days. It chimes pretty well with the other information you have received, ut expands it in a number of ways Jack Pontchu_Ferme_21_Mar_18.doc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desmond7 Posted 3 April , 2005 Author Share Posted 3 April , 2005 Thanks again for this piece of information. After reading about what happened to the 12th Rifles in various publications - most notably Middlebrook's account - I now have a much better all round picture of the action on this day. In all fairness the Rifles in this little sector did seem to be 'up against it!' Des Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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