FIRST TANK ATTLE
One hundred years ago today tanks were used for the first time in battle. In the most famous tank that day was Scalby man Laurence Rowntree ...
On 15 September 1916 the British Army sent tanks into battle for the first time, on The Somme, on the opening day of the battle of Flers-Courcelette.
Of the 49 tanks deployed on that day almost half did not make it to their starting points. Others were damaged by artillery fire or became stuck in shell holes as they made their cumbersome way across no man’s land. However, the few tanks that did break through the German defences had a superb effect on the morale of the troops they supported, whilst their effect on the German troops was quite the opposite. One of the brave pioneers who crewed a successful tank on that day was 21 year-old Lawrence Rowntree of Scalby, grandson of the Quaker chocolate manufacturer and social reformer Joseph Rowntree of York.
Laurence Rowntree was born in York on 4 March 1895. His father, John Wilhelm Rowntree, was Joseph Rown- tree’s eldest son. In 1899 John’s deteriorating health resulted in him leaving the factory in York and moving to Silverdale, now 18 & 18A Station Road, Scalby, with his wife Constance, daughter Margaret, son Laurence and newborn daughter Sarah Antoinette (Toni). They built Low Hall on Hay Lane which became the new family home, and next door stood Friedensthal, a large house with spacious grounds that they provided as a Quaker guest house and holiday home. Friedensthal later became Uplands School (1952-65) but all that now remains of this is a gate post to the right of Wordsworth Close, hidden by trees. Low Hall became a holiday home for the National Union of Miners.
Like many of his family, Laurence attended Bootham School in York from 1907-12, the school originally built for the sons of Friends (Quakers). He became a medical student at King’s College, Cambridge in October 1913 but left in 1914 at the outbreak of the war to join the Friends Ambulance Unit. On 31 October he was part of a group that set off for France, where they had a grim introduction to the Unit’s work, helping hundreds of wounded soldiers who had been lying in straw in the evacuation sheds at Dunkirk railway station for 3 days, the living, dead and dying side by side.
Laurence took his grandfather’s Daimler abroad with him, despite his grandmother’s disapproval, and adapted it for war work. Whilst in France and Belgium he wrote a diary, entitled ‘A Nightmare’. The original is in the library at Friends’ House in London, and a copy is in the Borthwick Institute, at York University. His main role was transporting supplies from Dunkirk to Poperinghe and Ypres and he came under fire quite often. After 10 months he felt he was no longer contributing to the war effort, and enlisted in the Motor Machine Gun Training Corps in Coventry on 16 May 1916. This was a huge step for the grandson of one of the most prominent Quaker families in the UK. Perhaps the best clue as to why he took this action can be found at the end of his 1914-15 diary where he wrote “At times the desire to get out again is very strong. The excitement of it, even the fear is enticing; the glorious feeling when you overcome difficulties you thought were insuperable, and the jolly companionship of everyone which you get in the face of common danger, and never so truly anywhere else”.
He was sent to Bisley Camp at Brookwood near Woking for training where he joined ‘C’ Company of the newly-formed Heavy Section of the Machine Gun Corps, later known as the Tank Corps. In due course they arrived at a guarded area at Elveden near Thetford where they saw a tank for the first time, Her Majesty’s Land Ship (HMLS) Centipede, later known as ‘Mother’: a prototype built at the Foster’s factory in Lincoln. Driving classes began on 7 June 1916 and the first production tanks arrived on 18 June, mainly built in Birmingham. Secrecy was vital, and these were offloaded at night at a specially built railway siding. The name ‘Tank’ was used to hide their real nature from possible spies. In July Minister of Munitions David Lloyd George and King George V visited Elveden to see a mock battle take place.
Conditions inside the Mark 1 tank were truly appalling, owing to intense heat, noise and exhaust from the engine, violent movement as the tank crossed the ground and molten metal splash as bullets struck the plating. There was no suspension and the engine was located in the centre of the tank, not in a separate compartment. The interior became hot and full of gasses, since there were neither exhaust pipes nor a silencer. The 8-man crew had to use hand signals to communicate. The commander operated the brakes and indicated enemy positions to the 4 gunners. Two gearsmen supplied ammunition to the gunners and helped the driver by controlling secondary gears. All were needed to start the engine using a huge crank handle. Men would often be violently sick or badly incapacitated by the conditions and were often in no fit state to continue after quite short journeys.
Gunner Laurence Rowntree was in No. 1 Section of C Company. They arrived in France on 16 August 1916 and every precaution was taken to keep the Mark 1 tanks from view. On 26 August the British Commander in Chief, General Douglas Haig with Lieutenant-Generals Henry Rawlinson and Hubert Gough observed a demonstration of a tank attack, and were encouraged by their cross-country capability. Edward, Prince of Wales, a frequent visitor, was not so impressed by the tanks, saying, “They are good toys but I don’t have much faith in their success. But their crews … are damned brave men.”
They arrived on The
‘I don’t have much faith in their success. But their crews … are damned brave men’