Re: British World War I Tanks
Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2015 4:38 am
Hello to all ; a little more................................
TANKS AND ANTITANK DEFENSE DURING THE WORLD WAR.
While the fight for Fontaine was going on, the British 40th Division attacked Bourlon with its 121st Brigade from the west and with its 119th Brigade through the Bourlon Woods. Each brigade was supported by tanks. The 119th Brigade reached the north edge of the woods taking a large number of prisoners. One German battalion had 407 missing. The infantry of the 121st Brigade was stopped west of the Bourlon Woods by an artillery barrage, but the tanks penetrated the German position. A panic, which began in the German lines, subsided when a tank was struck and set on fire by the artillery in sight of everyone. Antiaircraft artillery took part in the antitank defense. But in the afternoon tanks pushed into Bourlon, principally through the gap west of the Bourlon Woods. Then five battalions of German artillery went into action north of the village to prevent the debouchment of about ten tanks! A small part of this artillery would have sufficed if single pieces had been pushed forward in time.
On 24 November there was no fighting in which tanks came into evidence. At 1:15 PM the Germans received a report that 30 tanks and strong cavalry elements were assembled in the area between Graincourt, Anneux, and the main road, Captain von Richthofen took off with a group of 30 airplanes to attack the tanks, but the group sighted hostile airplanes of which 39 were engaged, so there was neither time nor opportunity to attack the tanks. A German counterattack on this day in which artillery platoons followed closely behind the infantry for antitank defense, retook Bourlon.
No important fighting took place on the 25th and 26th. The German 3d Guard Division now held the front from west of BourIon, along the south edge of BourIon, and along the east edge of the Bourlon Woods. The 119th Division extended from Fontaine to La Folie Woods inclusive. Each division had three platoons of artillery emplaced along their front as antitank guns.
On 27 November the British attacked Fontaine and to the west thereof with the Guard and 62d Divisions. Both divisions were supported by large numbers of tanks.
The Germans were expecting the attack, and beginning at 7:15 AM, they fired several interdiction concentrations. Shortly thereafter the British put down a heavy barrage, and forty-five minutes later they launched their attack.
Source: TANKS AND ANTITANK DEFENSE DURING THE WORLD WAR. ["Kampfwagen und Abwehr wahrend des Weltkrieges." Sanct Christophorus, October 1936.] Abstracted by Lieutenant Colonel S.J. Heidner, Infantry. RML. June 1937.
Cheers. Raúl M .
Feliz Navidad - Feliz Natal - Frohe Weihnachten - Joyeux Noël - Merry Christmas - Wesołych Świąt!.
TANKS AND ANTITANK DEFENSE DURING THE WORLD WAR.
While the fight for Fontaine was going on, the British 40th Division attacked Bourlon with its 121st Brigade from the west and with its 119th Brigade through the Bourlon Woods. Each brigade was supported by tanks. The 119th Brigade reached the north edge of the woods taking a large number of prisoners. One German battalion had 407 missing. The infantry of the 121st Brigade was stopped west of the Bourlon Woods by an artillery barrage, but the tanks penetrated the German position. A panic, which began in the German lines, subsided when a tank was struck and set on fire by the artillery in sight of everyone. Antiaircraft artillery took part in the antitank defense. But in the afternoon tanks pushed into Bourlon, principally through the gap west of the Bourlon Woods. Then five battalions of German artillery went into action north of the village to prevent the debouchment of about ten tanks! A small part of this artillery would have sufficed if single pieces had been pushed forward in time.
On 24 November there was no fighting in which tanks came into evidence. At 1:15 PM the Germans received a report that 30 tanks and strong cavalry elements were assembled in the area between Graincourt, Anneux, and the main road, Captain von Richthofen took off with a group of 30 airplanes to attack the tanks, but the group sighted hostile airplanes of which 39 were engaged, so there was neither time nor opportunity to attack the tanks. A German counterattack on this day in which artillery platoons followed closely behind the infantry for antitank defense, retook Bourlon.
No important fighting took place on the 25th and 26th. The German 3d Guard Division now held the front from west of BourIon, along the south edge of BourIon, and along the east edge of the Bourlon Woods. The 119th Division extended from Fontaine to La Folie Woods inclusive. Each division had three platoons of artillery emplaced along their front as antitank guns.
On 27 November the British attacked Fontaine and to the west thereof with the Guard and 62d Divisions. Both divisions were supported by large numbers of tanks.
The Germans were expecting the attack, and beginning at 7:15 AM, they fired several interdiction concentrations. Shortly thereafter the British put down a heavy barrage, and forty-five minutes later they launched their attack.
Source: TANKS AND ANTITANK DEFENSE DURING THE WORLD WAR. ["Kampfwagen und Abwehr wahrend des Weltkrieges." Sanct Christophorus, October 1936.] Abstracted by Lieutenant Colonel S.J. Heidner, Infantry. RML. June 1937.
Cheers. Raúl M .
Feliz Navidad - Feliz Natal - Frohe Weihnachten - Joyeux Noël - Merry Christmas - Wesołych Świąt!.