We survived 3-day blitz in a WW1 tank called Fray Bentos
Crew bombarded by Germans and Brits
A TANK crew bogged down in the remorseless mud of Passchendaele survived a three-day onslaught in no-man’s-land… from both sides.
All but one of the nine-man crew made it back alive from the bombardment as German troops tried to capture the new British weapon.
The British were also shelling the tank, risking their own men’s lives to prevent it falling into enemy hands.
The astonishing First World War tale of bravery began unfolding 100 years ago today, less than a month after the formation of the Tank Corps.
It has come to light in an account by one of the crew, Sgt Robert Missen.
He wrote: “I got out of right sponson door but I heard bullets hitting the tank and saw some Boche about 30 yds off firing at me. I got in again.
“Braedy had got out of the other side to help me. They shot him and he fell under the side that was sinking, Arthurs said he was dead.
“We kept on firing and killed several Boche close to the tank, we expected the infantry to come up any time.”
The body of Gunner Ernest Braedy was never found. For the next 60 hours Germans tried to reach the Mark IV but were held at bay. The tank, commanded by Captain Donald Richardson, was named Fray Bentos – as he was a grocer who used to sell the tinned meat.
Its crew included Second Lieutenant George Hill and Gunners William Morrey, Ernest Hayton, Frederick Arthurs, James Binley and 21-year-old Percy Budd.
They endured German machine gun fire, snipers, grenades and heavy artillery – yet all but Braedy made it back, crawling one by one through the mud to reach British lines. All were awarded medals for gallantry.
David Willey, curator of the Tank Museum at Bovington, Dorset, said: “You cannot help but be taken aback by the tale.
“Eight men, stuck in a tank for three days and nights in no-man’sland being continually shot at with bullets flying around inside. “Their heroism and calmness under sustained attack was astonishing.”