A Lady Called Deborah

[Stephen White]

November 20th 1917 saw 476 British tanks of the Tank Corps attack the Hindenburg line SW of Cambrai. In one day, they penetrated the multiple lines of prepared defences to a depth which had taken six months the previous summer on the Somme. The tank had come of age.

This is Flesquiers Ridge, which saw some of the fiercest action.

You are standing on the forward British line in the area of D Battalion's start line (the green triangle marked 3 on the map below). You're looking north towards Flesquiers Ridge (the wood on the horizon, marked with the green triangle 2 below). Just beyond the light green field in the middle distance, the tanks would have encountered the Siegfriedstellung, the first line of trenches and wire, hundreds of metres deep. Having fought through these by midday, the second echelon of tanks and the remnants of the first regrouped and attacked the Hindenburg support line, forward of the wood on the horizon. Here the German artillery caused the attack to stall but the tank battalions on either side were able to penetrate beyond the wood and attack the third line.

This map shows the German defences in red and the locations where British tanks were knocked out. It gives a feel for the intensity of fighting.

Why post this now? Well, this year is the centenary of the battle and I was fortunate this weekend to accompany a party of fellow officers of the Royal Tank Regiment, successors to the Tank Corps, to France to pay our respects to the Fallen and to re-visit the battlefield.

More about Deborah follows.

Stephen

[Tim Page]

and the reason for Deborah?

[Stephen White]

Monsieur Phillipe Gorczynski MBE is a longstanding friend of the Royal Tank Regiment, a successful local hotelier. He has an unparalleled knowledge of the Battle of Cambrai. For his services to historical research, he was made an MBE.

He first introduced us to Deborah in 1998 and we've visited her from time to time over the years. Now Deborah is soon to move home from Flesquiers to her new purpose built home nearby, to be closer to relatives who are buried in the cemetery next door.

Deborah's story is here:

http://www.tank-cambrai.com/english/home.php

Phillipe Gorczynski re-introduces us to Deborah, alias D51, alias MkIV Female, 2620 of No 12 Section, 12th Company of D Battalion, The Tank Corps:

As her name suggests, Deborah was a D Battalion Tank. Her crew were in the second wave and fought her all the way to the northern edge of Flesquiers village, where she was knocked out by artillery defending the final line. Five of her crew were killed and are buried in the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery near her final resting place. She was buried after the War and was re-discovered by Phillipe and his collaborators after a remarkable feat of research in 1998. She has been stored in a barn in the village but is now to be installed in a place of honour in a new museum.

After Ypres, which was fought on very soft going, the spud was developed to reduce the tanks' ground pressure. These were fitted for Cambrai but the going was good and they were superfluous.

Remarkably, despite years underground, original paint remains inside:

Side view:

Rear view. The damage to the rear horns was caused when the tank was pushed into a hole in 1919. The outer skins have fractured neatly but the inners have simply bent outwards, revealing that the former was hardened steel armour whilst the latter were mild steel.

The commander of D51, 2/Lt Frank Heap (who survived and was awarded the Military Cross) and four of the five crewmen who were killed.

The crew's final resting place:

We shall remember them.

Stephen

[Chris Hall]

Tim -

D51, called Deborah was dug up in Flesquieres in (if memory serves) the late 1990's where it had been buried since the end of WW1. She (a Female, but it's by no means a given) was found by Phillipe Gordzynski, a hotel owner in Cambrai, who intends to permanently display her.

Phillippe showed me all over the Hindenburg Line in 2003, and an amazing trip it was. He is THE expert on Cambrai.

I also took some (probably unique) pictures of Deborah on a previous trip, shortly after she was dug up and under a tarpaulin in a farmer's yard. I'll scan a few and put them up.

All the best,

Chris

(Just beaten by Stephen !)

[Tim Page]

Ahhh, all makes a bit more sense now.
Cheers for the interesting update.

I did actually stumble across an article about this tank last year but forgot her name and the significance here.

Cheers
Tim

[Chris Hall]

As promised, I've scanned my old photos:













These were taken on 24 May 2000, when Deborah was in a farmer's yard covered with a tarpaulin, awaiting a more permanent home. They allowed me to peel back the tarp. for some pictures. These show Deborah prior to any restoration, with 80 years of underground erosion, but still with clearly identifiable features, like the engine block.

Deborah is one of only 7 surviving Mark IV tanks in the World.

All the best,

Chris

(Stephen - I'm not precious about copyright (although it's always nice to be acknowledged), so please feel free to share these with any of your fellow RTR contacts, and even Phillippe himself)