The 56th Division were on the very right flank of the operation, just to the right of 6th Division.

Map of 56 Divn area Map of C14’s area

56 Division, on the right of 6 Division were primarily tasked to work on a narrow front, on the extreme right of the offensive and to secure the right flank facing Combles and towards Morval.  This would take in Leuze Wood and Bouleaux Wood.  Like 6 Division, 56 had been allocated three tanks; C16 (2/Lt Purdy, C14 (2/Lt Arnold) and C13 (Lt Sir John Dashwood).  C14 and C13 were to operate to the left of Bouleaux Wood, and C16 to the right of Leuze Wood.  As with the tanks of 6 Division, those of 56 had assembled in Chimpanzee Valley and had begun their move up to the front at 8 pm on the 14th. They would need to move on a circuitous route of some little less than three miles, but these early machines would not do this easily. The first to have a problem was Dashwood and around midnight near Angle Wood his tank broke a track. On this journey to the front the tanks were following a guide, Rifleman Gray, who was on foot finding the route with a shaded light. The start point for C16 was the south-east corner of Leuze Wood, while C14 would start from the north-west corner.  2/Lt Purdy in C16 was to support the attack of the infantry whose start point was south-east of Leuze Wood, going towards the Sunken Road and the Orchard. C16 advanced and made it across Combles Trench but was hit by an English 18 pounder shell which damaged its track. The crew were stuck there, using their Vickers guns for some five hours before the infantry got close enough for them to abandon the tank and set fire to it.

The infantry (2nd Londoners) did not make it to the Sunken Road, and so at 5am the following day they had to stop, leaving the Germans with Loop trench from the Strong Point to the Sunken Road.  Purdy was awarded the Military Cross for his part in the action.

Map from IWM CD of Trench Maps.  It shows the start point of C14 & C16.  The position of the infantry supported by C16 is shown at the bottom.  The strong point (‘X’) on the map helps to prevent them making the sunken road in the middle of the map. The Green Line, or first objective, is shown.

At the northern end of Leuze Wodd was the start point for C14, they had had further to travel than C16, further tiring the crew in their noisy beast, and because of the mechanical failure of C13 they would have to operate on their own.

Map shows start point for C14, also ‘X’ has Bystander Trench immediately to its left, to the left of ‘Y’ is Beef Trench while to the right of ‘Z’ is Bully Trench.

The infantry (1st London Regiment) that C14 would support were in the bottom end of Bully Trench, ‘C’ Coy in Bouleaux Wood with ‘D’ Coy in the open to the north-west (left of the 21 on the map). Their objective was to take the German positions in Bystander Trench, Beef Trench and then Middle Copse. C14 was to time its advance so that it crossed the British trench, a little west of Bouleaux Wood, at 12 minutes before zero, or 6:08am.  Ten minutes were allowed for the tank to cross No Man’s Land, getting to the Germans in Beef Trench two minutes before zero.  Unfortunately, while this allowed Arnold to give support to D Company, C Company were coming under withering fire from enemy positions in Bouleaux Wood that had not been hit by the artillery barrage. D Company were luckier and reached Middle Copse, with A Company in support.

Arnold in C14 continued his advance to the northern edge of Bouleaux Wood, but the infantry were not able to stay with him because of the enemy positions in the woods. C14 turned round and came back to Beef Trench where it eventually became stuck and had to be abandoned. Arnold, like Purdy, was awarded the Military Cross.

56 Division did not reach its objectives on the 15th, and both tanks that made it to the start point were to be put out of action during the battle, so were unable to provide all the support needed.  While there is no doubt that they provided valuable assistance to the infantry, two tanks can only do so much, and as with the single tank left supporting 6 Division, it was not sufficient.