1914-1918 WWI CENTENARY LEICESTER 2014-2018
Leicester in the First World War
The Tank Corps and Samuel Collis Harding Leicester’s Tank Regiment Motto:
‘Through mud and blood to the green fields beyond’
To find out more about the story of Leicester during World War I, visit www.storyofleicester.info
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Leicester’s Role in the First World War
The Tank Corps
The Development and use of “Tanks” in World War One
“Tanks” have always been a dream of those who wished to wage war; they wanted a fully
armoured vehicle that could get amongst the enemy and provide protection for themselves. The
Renaissance artist and polymath, Leonardo Da Vinci drew sketches of a “tank”. However, it was to
remain in the realms of metaphysics for another four hundred years.
Da Vinci’s cartoon of the “tank”.
And the “mock-up”.
However impracticable, thoughts were set in motion.
By 1915 it became all too apparent that trench warfare had created an appalling stale-mate on
the Western Front and in other war theatres. The mood and prevailing attitude of the strategies of
the generals on all sides, was to wage a war of attrition. However, as the casualties mounted on an
unprecedented scale, morale deteriorated. Something had to be done to make manoeuvres more
mobile.
Why Were They Called “Tanks”?
They became known as “tanks” because, in order to deceive German intelligence, they were
shipped from England to France encased in huge wooden boxes with the words “water tanks”
emblazoned on the sides. This subterfuge seemed to have worked because there are extant
reports of wide spread panic and chaos among the German soldiers when they were first deployed
in September, 1916.
Some Facts About Tanks in World War One:
- In World War 1 tanks first appeared at the Battle of Flers-Courcelette, in September 1916 - It was
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the first time tanks had ever been used in a military conflict.
- The British sent 49 tanks into the battle.
- WW1 tanks were very slow and couldn’t exceed 4 miles an hour.
- Tanks in WW1 played an extremely important role as they increased mobility on the Western
Front and eventually broke the stalemate of trench warfare.
- By 1918 Britain and France had produced 6,506 tanks between them. Germany had produced
just 20.
- Germany learnt to deal with WW1 tanks very effectively
- During the Battle of Amiens in 1918 72% of allied tanks were destroyed in just 4 days
- 6 days before the end of World War 1 the British Tank Corps only had 8 tanks left.
A British Mark I tank on 26 September 1916. Photo by Ernest Brooks.
Conditions for the Tank Crew
In the interior of the tank men worked in very cramped and noisy conditions. Early tanks were
very uncomfortable, and gave a really rough ride for the crew. There were no windows, just “vision
slits” so the air was turgid with petrol from the sixteen litre engine, and cordite fumes from the
armaments.
Flying metal and shrapnel was also a serious hazard. The men were given face masks to protect
their eyes and face. These were called “splatter masks”.
A First World War ‘splatter mask’. Image: http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/File:Splatter_Mask_(WWI).jpg
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Tanks Corps at the Front
In November 1916 the eight companies then in existence were each expanded to form battalions.
They were lettered A through H; another seven battalions, I through O, were formed by January
1918, when they all were converted to numbered units. On 28 July 1917 the Heavy Branch was
by Royal Warrant separated from the rest of the MGC and given official status as the Tank Corps,
meaning that by the beginning of 1918 the fifteen units were changed from letters to numbers
as 1st Battalion to 15th Battalion, Tank Corps. More battalions continued to be formed, and by
December 1918, 26 had been created. (At this time there were only 25 tank battalions. However;
the 17th had converted to using armoured cars in April 1918). The first commander of the Tank
Corps was Hugh Elles.
The Corps saw heavy action through 1917 and 1918, with special note being given to the Battle
of Cambrai (1917), which the regiment continues to commemorate annually. During the war, four
members of the Corps were awarded the Victoria Cross. However, heavy losses and recurrent
mechanical difficulties reduced the effectiveness of the Corps, leading the Bovington Tank School
to adopt a doctrine that emphasised caution and high standards of maintenance in equal measure.
In the autumn of 1914, Lieutenant-Colonel E.D. Swinton suggested the idea of an armoured
vehicle to the military authorities at home. It was not until January 1915 when Winston Churchill,
then the First Lord of the Admiralty, interested himself in Col. Swinton’s suggestion that the idea of
a “land battleship” began to take official form.
The first experimental machine had been completed in December 1915 and in March 1916 the
headquarters of what was to be known as the Heavy Section Machine Gun Corps was established
at Bisley under the command of Col. Swinton. Later this section was moved to Elveden Camp,
where six companies of tanks were raised.
On 13 August 1916 four of these companies began to embark for France, but the Headquarters
of the Heavy Section and its commander remained in England. The supply of machines was the
responsibility of the “Mechanical Warfare Supply Department” of the Ministry of Munitions, which
was controlled by Lieutenant-Colonel Albert Stern.
Tanks were used for the first time in action on the battlefield of the Somme on 15 September
1916. 36 Mark 1 tanks of C and D Companies arrived on the start line for the renewal of the
Somme offensive: this action was later designated as the Battle of Flers-Courcelette. Arguments
continue as to whether it would have been better to wait until much larger numbers of tanks were
available before they were used in battle. The Heavy Section MGC was re-designated as the
Heavy Branch MGC in November 1916.
Tank Organisation
The Tank Corps was formed from the Heavy Branch MGC on 27 July 1917 and the Battalions
adopted numbering rather than letter designations (although tank names followed the same
lettering: for example, 7th Battalion tanks were all named with a letter G, like Grouse, Grumble,
etc.) Each Tank Battalion had a complement of 32 officers and 374 men.
The Tanks in Action
At the Battle of Flers-Courcelette on 15 September 1916, the tanks were organised into
subsections of two or three tanks, and were sent in action ahead of the infantry. Open lanes were
left in the British artillery barrage, through which the tanks could pass. It was realised that the
tanks would draw enemy fire and the infantry followed at a cautious distance. Overall, this battle,
while notable for the entry of the tanks, with heroic stories of a tank moving through Flers with the
infantry “cheering behind”, was hardly a great success.
Only 36 of the 49 tanks deployed even made it as far as the start line; 14 of them ditched or
broke down. 10 tanks were hit by enemy fire and damaged sufficiently for them to take no further
part, and another 7 were slightly damaged. The surprise and in some cases effective use of the
tanks helped the attack, but in overall terms the effect was the same: one could break into an
enemy position but not through it. GHQ however saw the potential, and planned on acquiring
masses of tanks. There has been much debate over the use of the small numbers of tanks that
were available.
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60 tanks - mostly Mark 1s - saw action at the Battle of Arras in April 1917. Very wet and cold
weather, creating poor ground conditions, proved the undoing of the tanks on this occasion. Many
broke down and many more simply could not tackle the ground and became bogged down. The
non-appearance of tanks as planned caused a serious disruption to the costly Australian attack at
Bullecourt, which created an unfortunate mistrust. The fact that tanks were an obvious target for
enemy artillery and bombing did little for infantry confidence.
By summer 1917 tank numbers had increased and the better Mark IVs were available. But the
tanks deployment in the Third Battle of Ypres (July-November 1917) proved to be another slog
through deep mud. The area became a tank graveyard as machine after machine ditched in
deep trenches and shell holes, sank, stuck and shelled. Morale in the Tank Corps was low and
confidence of the rest of the army destroyed. Although there was a bright incident when tanks did
well at St Julien, the tanks needed to be given a fighting chance.
On 20 November 1917, Byng’s Third Army launched a limited and tactically radical attack at
Cambrai, where ground conditions were far more favourable than any seen to date. Following a
surprise, hurricane artillery bombardment, 378 Mark IV tanks smashed through the Hindenburg
Line positions, temporarily creating a rupture to the German lines and the chance for a
breakthrough. The insufficient mobile reserves could not get through in time to exploit the success,
and within days the chance had gone. However, Cambrai proved to be a key learning experience
for the British command.
National War Bonds and ‘Tank Banks’
The success of Cambrai’s tanks inspired ‘Tank Banks’ to be set up around
the country. Six tanks toured England to encourage the public to buy
National War Bonds. Leicester raised a total of £2,063,250 through the
‘Leicester Tank’.
A postcard of one of the six travelling battle worn tanks “Egbert”. “Egbert” would
later be the prize to the town that invested the most money through the ‘Tank
Banks’. The winner was West Hartlepool which raised £ 2,367,333.
Image: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Egbert_(tank).jpg
An advert from
the Leicester Daily
Mercury encouraging
people to buy National
War Bonds at the
Leicester Tank.
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Another of the six tanks that travelled the country ‘Old Bill’ stands in Leicester Town Hall Square as part
of National Tank Week in January 1918. Image: Four Years Remembered Leicester During the Great War,
Ben Beazley, Breedon Books.
The tank ‘Old Bill’ in Town Hall Square, Leicester being demonstrated by Colonel R. Dalgliesch, January
1918. Image: Four Years Remembered Leicester During the Great War, Ben Beazley, Breedon Books.
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The music hall star, Vesta Tilley encourages the people of Leicester from the top
of ‘Old Bill’ in Leicester’s Town Hall Square in January 1918 to buy National War
Bonds. Image: Four Years Remembered Leicester During the Great War, Ben
Beazley, Breedon Books.
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Samuel Collis Harding
2nd Lieutenant, Tank Corps
Samuel Collis Harding was born in October 1893 in Leicester. He was the eldest of three boys.
Parents were William Warrington Harding and Cary Louise Collis and the family lived at 8 Belmont
Villas, New Walk, Leicester. Samuel Collis Harding attended the Wyggeston Grammar School for
Boys between 1903 and 1909. The 1911 census shows that William Warrington Harding was a
master yarn dyer and Samuel Collis Harding was a foreman yarn dyer’s assistant at the age of 17.
Samuel was 21 at the outbreak of war and enlisted in the Leicester Regiment as a Private No.
2653. On 24 November 1916 at the age of 23 he was 2nd Lieutenant with the Machine Gun
Company serving with the 18th Company of F Battalion of the Tank Corps in Passchendaele,
France.
The 18th Company of the F Battalion was newly formed at the British Army military base in
Bovington Camp, Dorset in May 1916.
By August 1917 the 18 Coy F Bn was serving in
Passchendaele as part of the large offensive that was the
Third Battle of Ypres. The battle took place between July November 1917 for the control of the ridges south and east of
Ypres, Belgium.
On 20 August 1917 new British Mark IV tanks together
with artillery and infantry captured strong points along the
St Julien-Poelkappelle road. By August 22 further ground
was gained and operations were resumed to capture Nonne
Bosschen, Glencorse Wood and Inverness Copse around
the Menin Road. This operation failed with many losses, one
loss being Samuel Collis Harding. He was killed in action on
22 August 1917, his body was sadly never recovered so he
is remembered on the Tyne Cot Memorial, France as well
as at home on the Welford Road Cemetry First World War
memorial. Samuel was awarded the Military Medal, which is
the equivalent of other regiments’ Military Cross, for acts of
gallantry and devotion to duty under fire.
© David McCormack, Maya Stigner & Helen Musson, 2014
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In Memory of
Second Lieutenant
Samuel Collis Harding
MM
18th Coy. "F" Bn., Tank Corps who died on 22 August 1917 Age 23
Son of William Warrington Harding and Cary Louisa Harding, of 8, Belmont Villas, New Walk, Leicester.
Remembered with Honour
Tyne Cot Memorial
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Municipal buildings in Leicester were converted into recruiting
offices, circa 1915.
The Tank Corps and Samuel Collis Harding is part of the Story of Leicester in the First World War.
The rest of the story will be available on www.storyofleicester.info
All photographs courtesy of the Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester & Rutland.
Thanks to:
Helen Musson, Maya Stigner and Graham Jagger for research and Maya Stigner for her design
skills.
© David McCormack, Maya Stigner & Helen Musson April 2014
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