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A WORK OF DEDICATION
TANKS IN THE THIRD BATTLE OF YPRES |
![[image] Poelcappelle 1917: book cover](images/new-images/Poelcappelle_1917_book_cover.jpg) |
Colonel J. F. C. Fuller of the Tank Corps, writing after the First World War said From the Tank point of view the Third Battle of Ypres is a complete study of how to move thirty tons of metal through a morass of mud and water… but it wasn’t all like that.
On 4 October 1917, following two months of utter misery, ten tanks from D Battalion Tank Corps took part in an assault on the village of Poelcapelle which achieved its object, albeit at the cost of most of the tanks.
At the end of the war Poelcappelle was little more than a muddy patch of ground and some brick rubble but it could be identified by a Mark IV male tank half buried in the middle of the street. |
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This tank was D29, Damon II (tank No. 2380) commanded by Lt John Coghlan from Dublin. Who later transferred to the Royal Flying Corps.
This was not the only connection with aviation; on 11 September 1917 the French air ace Georges Guynemer was shot down over the village of Poelcapelle and in 1923 a tall memorial was dedicated in his name, close by the rebuilt market place. Damon II, still embedded in the road nearby, provided a useful grandstand. |
![[image]](images/new-images/Damon_II_tank.jpg) |
For years the buried tank just sat there, vehicles had to pass around it and at one point they even laid light railway tracks around it.
Then, in 1924, it was extricated from its muddy grave and set up on a plinth in the market place and here it remained until 1941 when the Germans returned and had it cut up for scrap.
Today the villagers are keen to replace it; Guynemer is now not the draw he once was so the feeling is that a replica tank could restore Poelcapelle’s fortunes. Robert Baccarne’s new book, which is available in both Flemish and English editions, not only takes an affectionate look at Damon II but also looks at the wider picture. The book is full of information and well illustrated. |
Our thanks to Robert Baccarne and the Poelcapelle 1917 Association
for presenting us with a copy of the book. |
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