Just read a contemporary account in which the author describes the making of fascines and their intended purpose but goes on to say that they were "little used" at Cambrai.
The pictures of them and the method of deployment are very familiar, but does anyone know if they were actually used a great deal?
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It seems to me a strange assertion since both variants of the tank attack tactics used on the first day relied on the use of fascines. I suppose on the other days of the battle they were little used. Overall perhaps he's right but it doesn't seem to sufficiently reflect their importance, at least in my understanding of the battle. I'd be interested to hear other's views though.
There could be some justification of this assertion:
1. If a lot of tanks were KO'd before they could use their fascine.
2. Or a lot of them had their 'gear shot away' or damaged so that it had to be jettisoned before it could be used. I have read a passage to the effect of, 'fascine restraints damaged so that the fascine fell in front of the driver's vision hatch. Crew man sent out to release the fascine.' (In either The Boiler Plate War or Tank Warfare, can't remember which).
The place and the way they were stowed, and the releasing mechanism, certainly were precarious. I wouldn't be surprised if many were unuseable by the time a trench was reached.
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The problem is (and it is an increasingly frequent one) that I can't remember where I read it. While I try to find it again, I shall draw on my worryingly deteriorating memory to say that I think the implication was that the fascines were not greatly required. Whilst actual photographs of the fighting are, of course, not available, I can't even recall seeing a post-battle photo of a fascine in a trench. Of course, I shall be happy to be proved wrong. Nor have I ever seen a photo of a crib anywhere other than on top of a Mk V.
Somewhere in whatever I was reading it also said that the supply sledges, which normally receive an honourable mention, actually performed less than satisfactorily, being built from rough-hewn wood scrounged from areas in the rear and not particularly useful.
I do apologise for not being able to quote the source just at the moment.
-- Edited by James H on Thursday 17th of September 2009 11:12:07 PM
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"Sometimes things that are not true are included in Wikipedia. While at first glance that may appear like a very great problem for Wikipedia, in reality is it not. In fact, it's a good thing." - Wikipedia.
"In the battle (of Cambrai), however, it was hardly found necessary to use them at all."
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"Sometimes things that are not true are included in Wikipedia. While at first glance that may appear like a very great problem for Wikipedia, in reality is it not. In fact, it's a good thing." - Wikipedia.
