The following is a little more on the action around Monchy-le-Preux.  I hope to add more later.

Map drawing 15 Division enters first? Tanks have a hard time Tank photos from Tank Museum

The little town of Monchy-le-Preux was to become an important objective for the British, east of Arras, in 1917, and was to change hands a couple of times before the end of the war.  The ‘objective lines’ on the map below show the advance expected by the British when they attacked on the 9th April, 1917. Their plan was to reach the Brown Line by zero hour (5 am) + 10 hours, and then another 2 hours should take them through Monchy to the Green Line.  In the event, it took longer, until the 11th April.

The main attack on Monchy was to be made by 111 Brigade of 37th Division, supported by units of the 3rd Cavalry Division and some tanks of 1st Tank Brigade. North of 37 Division, with a front extending to the River Scarpe, was 15 Division. 63rd Brigade (with 10th York & Lancs) was north of 111 Brigade by Lone Copse, east of Orange Hill, while to the south was 112 Brigade attacking towards the road from La Bergere to Monchy.

By 9 am on the 11th April, two days later than planned, 111th Brigade was in Monchy, but there was some controversy over who had been the first into the town.  There is a memorial to the 37th Division in Monchy, so they certainly claim that distinction, but they are not alone.  The boundary between the 37th and the 15th Divisions was a line east/west, north of Monchy, running close to Lone Copse, so putting the 10th York & Lancs on the extreme left flank of the division. About 2 miles due east of Monchy-le-Preux was the village of Boiry Notre Dame, and the advance of 15 Division was planned to be on the left of the divisional boundary towards a line due north from Boiry Notre Dame to the River Scarpe.  The advance of 15 Division would have their 45 Brigade on their left, with the 46th Brigade on their right.

As can often happen in an advance, especially in low light and poor weather, the line of advance was not straight ahead as planned. Lone Copse, on the divisional boundary, was pretty well destroyed, and so did not form the visual marker in reality that it did on the planners maps. 45 Brigade wandered right in their advance, causing 46 Brigade to do the same. This swing to the right caused 45 Brigade, according to their version of events, to enter Monchy first, leaving “the work of consolidation” to be “undertaken by the 111th Brigade”.  The Highland Light Infantry then left Monchy towards their original objective of the Boiry Notre Dame - Scarpe line, but they were unable to get that far because of the German units in the woods and especially those on Infantry Hill.

Photo of a WW1 tank at the Tank Museum, Bovington. I have modified the photo to get rid of the museum roof etc.

As mentioned above, the attack of the 37th Division was also supported by tanks, six of them from C Battalion of 1st Tank Brigade. The tanks formed up at Feuchy Chapel on the night of the 10/11 April, and would split into two sections of three tanks each for the attack on the 11th.  Three would go north to come in at the northern edge of Monchy, three would go south to Les Fosses Farm and then approach Monchy from the crossroads at La Bargere.

Out of the three taking the northern route, two failed to get under way with mechanical faults, but C/26 did get into Monchy, claiming not to have seen any British infantry until the Germans pulled out.  C/26 was hit by the British barrage and had to be abandoned.  Of the three on the southern route, they too were all knocked out on their approach; C/21 was hit by the British barrage while C/36 and C/29 were hit by enemy fire with the loss of many of their crew.  Tanks were still unreliable beasts, and, when hit, could burn fiercely, causing the crews to die a horrible death trapped in their metal monsters, as happened to some of those in C/29

In the Bovington Tank Museum there is a diorama of a WW1 tank followed by infantry.  The above is a composite photo of mine mixing in a sky to get rid of the museum roof and other distractions.  Similarly, below.