(iii) That, on account of the secrecy it was necessary to maintain, commanders had little or no conception of the tactics to apply to its use.
(iv) That sufficient time had not been obtainable wherein to give the crews a thorough and careful training.
(v) That tank operations require the most careful preparation and minute reconnaissances in order to render them successful.
(vi) That tanks require leading and controlling in battle, and consequently that a complete system of communication is essential.
(vii) That tanks, like every other arm, require a separate supply organisation to maintain them whilst fighting.
(viii) That tanks draw away much fire from the infantry, and have as great an encouraging effect on our own troops as they have a demoralising one on the enemy’s.
These are the main lessons which were learnt from the tank operations which took place during the battles of the Somme and the Ancre, and the mere fact of having learnt them justifies the employment of tanks during these operations. Further it must be remembered that, whatever tests are carried out under peace conditions, the only true test of efficiency is war, consequently the final test a machine or weapon should get is its first battle, and until this test has been undergone, no guarantee can be given of its real worth, and no certain deductions can be made as to its future improvement.
THE GROWTH OF THE TANK CORPS ORGANISATION
The word “Reorganisation” is a word which will never be forgotten by any member of the Tank Corps Headquarters Staff; it was their one persistent companion for over two years. It dogged their steps through all seasons, over training areas and battlefields in sleuth-hound fashion from the earliest days; and its pace was never stronger or its tongue more noisy than when, on November 11, 1918, it was temporarily shaken off with the armistice. Depressing as this perpetual change often was, reorganisation is, nevertheless, an extremely healthy sign, for it shows that the Tank Corps, a young formation, was not afraid to grow, and that it refused to stand still; and, when all is said and done, should not every organisation be dynamic, should not it move with the times, expand, grow, and absorb difficulties rather than push them aside or ignore them? Whatever, in the eyes of others, the Tank Corps may have been, throughout the Great War it was an intensely virile formation.