KC In your Memoirs you wrote that the greatest opportunity which came with your appointment as Military Correspondent of The Daily Telegraph was in providing a platform from which you could expound and spread the concept and theory of future war by mechanised forces. But what about Cambrai and the effect General Elles had on the formation of the new fighting units? Sir B L-H It was natural that those who had been so actively connected with the development of the Tank Corps and were so closely acquainted with the technical possibility of producing much faster models of tank, should have gone on to visualise its more revolutionary potentialities. Indeed, it is more remarkable that many of their war-time associates failed to share their vision, and continued to regard the tank as no more than a subordinate aid to the older arms-among the latter was Hugh Elles, the young and gallant commander of the Corps during the war. On Christmas Day, 1915, Churchill's memorandum for the Commander-in-Chief was read by Sir Douglas Haig and he attached a pencilled note: "Is anything known about the caterpillar referred to?". An officer of the operations Branch, Major (later Major-General Sir) Hugh J Elles, RE, (later CB, DSO) (at right) was ordered to make enquiries about the latest situation and, as Churchill could not tell him, went to London for the purpose. One remarkable sequel of that mission was that it led, nine months later, to Elles being appointed to command the tank force in France, immediately after their debut in battle. I have told how Elles was chosen by Swinton, and the young gallant commander of the tanks at Cambrai was indeed a remarkable man. Fearless, full of common sense, a good picker of men, and the possessor of a wonderful tactical eye. Yet I think, perhaps, his main contribution to the Tank Corps was to bind them together with a spirit which expressed their flair, elan and dash. Boyish and reckless in danger; yet one who never failed to listen to his subordinates and who was universally loved and trusted by his followers. Elles was appointed to be Colonel commanding the Heavy Branch on September 29, 1916. His provisional HQ establishment was authorised within a week and consisted of four officers (Brigade Major: Capt G Le Q Martel; DAA and QMG; Capt T J Uzielli; Staff Captain: J H Tapper, and the Intelligence Officer: Capt F E Hotblack). He moved his headquarters to Berimicourt and Major J F C Fuller joined to become the GS02. The whole set-up was completely new. Everything had to be done simultaneously. There were three battalions and an embryo workshop. Elles and his Staff, helped by his three Battalion Commanders and NCO's, set to work on training the new units. By early April, when the battle of Arras was launched, there was no better discplined or led formation than the Heavy Branch. The next few months were disappointing, but Elles was not discouraged and kept on preparing for the next attack after each setback. He was sure of his officers and men, but he was not a free agent and was unable to plan for his command because in battle it was split up among Corps and Divisions. For months he had been pressing for a tank battle on unshelled ground. Then, remarkably, he was given orders to mount an attack in the area he had chosen and the date given allowed him exactly one month for preparations. The morning before the attack he went into Fuller's shell-blasted office, sat down, and wrote his now famous Special Order No 6. It began: "Tomorrow the Tank Corps will have the chance for which it has been waiting for months past-to operate on good going in the van of the battle". He decided to do what was unique in the Great War, to lead his men into battle. Cambrai KC Not long ago I received a letter from the man who drove General Elles' tank 'Hilda'. You yourself have written how Elles chose the silk from which a flag was fashioned and the colours led to the Regiment's motto: "Through the mud and the blood to the green fields beyond". What about the battle of Cambrai? Sir B L H The opening scene of this memorable battle, which was destined to revolutionise tactics, is best described by one of Elles' Staff officers, Ewen Charteris, as follows: ". . . The darkness had paled, partridges were calling to one another, trees began to stand out from the darkness ... It was indescribably still. The hour was very near, it was already 6.15 ... Suddenly the air itself seemed to reel under a colossal blow, a dull and curiously mellow roar broke forth and continued with a peculiar rhythm, the atmosphere became alive with the scream of shells. We were at the end of the spur by now, and on the opposite slope we could see the shells bursting on the German trenches, while behind that again rose a huge black curtain thrown up by uor smoke shells which, as they landed, gave the effect of the embers of a haystack. Splinters of flame were on every side like exploding stars in the night sky. The German trenches were throwing up rockets and SOS signals all the length of the line; these shone out, vivid against the black curtain behind ... On the slope opposite tanks showed up like small, dull-covered huts endowed with moveintent; as they advanced we could see the flashes of their six-pounders along a line which stretched out of sight both right and left. . .". In the centre of the attack was Elles in his tank 'Hilda'; dawn broke and it was his day. What followed is history and you don't need me to tell you about it. It was Elles' battle. He had fulfilled all he had promised. After the war he became the first Colonel Commandant of the Tank Corps Centre at Bovington Camp, where in addition to his normal work he bore the main part of the problem caused by the selection of officers for the Tank Corps which was still waiting to be constituted in a permanent form. In May, 1923, Hugh Elles was appointed to be the first holder of the new post of Inspector of Corps, but in October, a bare month after its permanent formation, he was moved away to command an infantry brigade. That brought to an end his active connection with the Corps of which he had been in charge since its christening seven years before. More Liddell-Hart Interview Prologue Why Call It a "Tank" and not a "Landship?" Ernest Swinton and the Development of the Tank Lt-Gen Sir G le Q Martel Major-General Sir Hugh J. Elles Lieutenant General Sir Charles Broad, KCB, DSO Back to Table of Contents -- Wargamer's Newsletter #146 To Wargamer's Newsletter List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1974 by Donald Featherstone. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com