Somme September 1916 - the British Secret weapon?

On September 15th 1916, the British launched an attack on their Front north of the river Somme.  The French magazine 'Illustration' described the attack thus.
'The first English (sic)tanks enter the frontline. Vomiting fire, battering down all obstacles, shredding with ease any nest of barbed wire, the troops were accompanied that day by terrific machines. The appearance of these mechanical monsters engendered panic in the German ranks. In a few hours, the British lines were advanced by two kilometres. A wood, three villages and 4000 prisoners fell into the hands of our allies.'

This detail from a drawing by J. Simont shows a Mark 1 tank. The artist has accurately depicted the 'trail' - the two stabilising wheels supplementing the tracked main body. We can just see that this was the deign fitted with six machine guns. Other tanls were fitted with two six-pounder guns. It has been casmouflaged, to break up its outline. From 'Illustration' magazine, courtesy collection of M.D. Wright

The 'tank' was long in gestation and many have claimed to be father. In fact, in 1919, a special committee was set up to judge between competing claims between nineteen individuals! Names such as Winston Churchill, Swinton, Tritton were included.  H.G. Wells had written a story called the 'Land Ironclads' in 1903. In those days, Ironclad was a name given to battleships and the description 'land ship' and 'land destroyer' was often applied. The name 'tank' was meant to be a secret code designed to confuse the enemy.
I would like here to mention my great-grandfather, Gen L.C. Jackson in connection with the tank. From 1914 to 17, he was in the department of trench warfare. In September 1915, he had recruited my grandparents to work there. In October, my Granny recalled:
'I remembered my father-in-law coming home fuming one day because the Prime Minister, Mr Asquith, had come down to see the secret inventions they were trying out (the tank.). He had brought not only his wife Margot, but also his small schoolboy son Anthony with him. "Security" in those days was non-existent.' This story was recalled elsewhere, with other member's of the Asquith entourage named.

By September, the Germans defending in the Somme were already hard pressed. It says a tremendous amount for them that they were hanging on. After the War, Ernst Junger wrote 'Storm of Steel', a very patriotic account of his experiences. Even he used the phrase from Dante 'lasciate ogni speranza/abandon hope all ye' to describe the Somme:
'A man in a steel helmet reported to me as guide to escort my platoon to the reknowned Combles. .. I asked him what it was like...I heard a monotonous tale of crouching in shell holes with no one on either flank and no trenches communicating with the rear, of unceasing attacks, dead bodies littering the ground, of maddening thirst .. and more  besides. ... In front of us, the artillery fire rose to a higher and higher pitch. Lasciate ogni speranza.'

German prisoners (standing in the trench) guarded by French soldiers. From 'Illustration' magazine courtesy of M.D. Wright

The first attack, with troops following tanks as they broke down barbed wire etc had a dramatic effect. Yet once again, as before, the Germans adapted to the new pressure and soon the gains were minimal. Though historians criticise the British for their lack of success, the Germans clearly had great respect for their opponents. Soon after the first tank attack, German prisoners remarked of the new weapon that it was ganz gut/not half bad. In 1929, Ernst Junger was to say of the British:
'Of all the troops who were opposed to the Germans on the great battlefields the English (sic) were not only the most formidable but the manliest (sic) and most courageous'
While the tired waves vainly breaking
Seemed no painful inch to gain
Inland by creek and inlet making ....
The tank alone could not win the War. Much else was needed. Soon, the might of the USA was to join the Allies. Another new 'ally' was to be efficient trench transport. Up until the battle of the Somme, the British had been unwilling to invest in trench railways. During the battle they saw on their southern flank a smaller French force making equal or better advances than they did. Since 1888, the French had artillerie 88 railways, essentially a portable 60cm system which could be quickly laid and relaid wherever supplies and ammunition were needed. This had been designed by Propser Péchot, an officer in the French artillery - he was the first to grasp how vital they were to be. The British had some experience of these 60cm gauge railways - they inherited a few from the French. On 17th September, Sergeant Edward Miles noted in his diary:
'Phew!These three days seem like a nightmare. . We went up (to take Thiepval wood). We passed field guns wheel to wheel from Crucifix corner to Railway Alley (a trench leading to the front line').
There was always a jokey logic to these names. There were plenty of crosses in the Somme, from traditional 'Calvaires' to modern memorials. There were not so many railways.
At the same time, Allied aeroplanes and other military intelligence could have pointed out that the opposition were using trench railways to great effect, bringing much-needed supplies and reinforcements close to the German Front. In 1889, the Prussian army had begun to experiment with a 60cm system suspiciously similar to the French one. Grasping its potential, they soon moved ahead of their rivals, but they had clearly copied much.
Early in August, a circular emerged from the British Quartermaster General's office. 'Find a substitute for motor transport. Light railways are to be used as soon as possible' What the French and Germans had spent years preparing could not be built up overnight. Sir Eric Geddes, Trouble-shooter-in-Chief to Lloyd George was invited to report on transport. He recommended that a proper syste of tactical light railways should be built along the Front in advance of standard gauge railways. Basing their designs very much on the Péchot originals, track in the very un-British gauge of 60cm and portable rail in lengths of 10m were ordered. The War Department Light Railways WDLR were born.

A 16mm model Baldwin 4-6-0T built by Wrightscale and a Hunslet 4-6-0T built by the late Henry Holdsworth show some of the War Department Light Railway locomotives.

After World War 1, most of the stock of the WDLR was sold off and found its way on to civilian lines. The Baldwin 4-6-0 was one example, and many of the characteristic bogie wagons worked at quarries and small narrow-gauge lines. German stock was taken for reparations. Any enthusiast for narrow gauge will know of surviving examples of the Feldbahn 0-4-0 D-lok.
What did not appear for sale were the original Péchot designs - the wonderful 0-4-4-0 Péchot-Bourdon locomotive and the rugged bogie wagons. The French army loved them too much!  During the darkest days of Wolrd War 2, all but two of these precious locomotives was scrapped in an occupied Europe desperate for metal. It is this which explains the strange dearth of the most interesting and influential rrailway material - artillerie 88/Péchot system 60cm railways.
If you want to know more, read
'Colonel Péchot: Tracks to the trenches' - Sarah Wright Birse Press 2014
Also Light Railways of the First World War WJK Davies David and Charles 1967
'Book of the Somme' Malcolm Brown IWM/Pan 1997
The fascinating work of Gen L.C. Jackson in the Trench Warfare Department should appear in a forth coming book by John Mason Sneddon. Watch this space!