From Hunslet to Hesse and Back - A Leeds Rifleman Transfers to the Tank Corps

1759 Rifleman Harry Eastbourne Sykes, 1/7^th Battalion, and 5 Company, B Battalion, Tank Corps.

There was great technological innovation during the Great War, which radically changed the manner in how a modern war was prosecuted. As the value of these advancements was embraced by the armed forces and they were adopted for use in war, they needed men to operate them and many men were transferred from their original regiments and corps, as well as being directly recruited to serve in new units that were being created

Some of the advancements which developed at pace during the war had clear benefits to wider society and could easily be repurposed for use in peacetime and in civil life, such as medicine and medical practices, and aviation improvements. Others, however, were exclusively of military orientation, and had no other conceivable use than to either make the life of a soldier safer, or that of the enemy more dangerous. The tank was one such development. From the concept of mounting an armoured fighting compartment on an agricultural caterpillar tracked chassis, through to the finished vehicle, the tank was a true war machine that rapidly found its champions in every modern army in the world.

This blog post will tell the story of one Leeds Rifleman who was transferred out of the West Yorkshire Regiment, first, to the Army Cyclist Corps, and then to the Tank Corps.

Harry Eastbourne Sykes was the son of Edwin Sykes, a packer, and his wife, Emma. He was born on 21^st October 1895, the eldest of seven children in the family, although two of the siblings died as children. Edwin Sykes later took jobs as a glass bottle washer, and a capstan lathe operator.

Harry Sykes left school and became the office boy in a mechanic’s shop, before training as a mechanical fitter. His work would be physically hard, dirty and with long hours for six days a week, and it is unsurprising that, in the early summer of 1913, he enlisted, aged 17, into the 7^th (Leeds Rifles) Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment. The Territorial Force offered its part-time soldiers the opportunity to go away on a two-week training camp in the summer. Often they were by the coast, often they were reached after a long railway journey, and this kind of adventure is often quoted as a reason behind a young man’s enlistment, over and above any thoughts of ‘King and Country’.

Early 20th Century advertisement for Leeds Forge, close to where the Sykes family lived

Many employers in Leeds, including those concerned in engineering had strong links to the County Territorial Force Association, indeed, the commanding officer of the 8^th Battalion, Lt Col Kitson-Clark came from the family that owned one of the largest engineering companies in Leeds. During the late 19^th century, two of the companies of the Leeds Rifles Volunteers recruited exclusively from among the workers at Kitson’s Foundry, and at Fairburn and Lawson’s Foundry. The Tetley Brewery also recruited a company from their employees, as well as providing officers from their staff. They were sympathetic towards the Territorial Force and some employers actively encouraged their employees to become part-time soldiers by way of an easier promotion path in the day job, or by still paying a partial wage to the employee when he was away on camp with the local territorials at a time before the holiday with pay was a right enshrined in law.

The annual camp for the Leeds Rifles in 1913, deploying along with the rest of the West Riding Division, was in Aberystwyth and the men were looking forward to spending two weeks under canvas in glorious mid-summer weather, which was in marked contrast to the camp of 1912, which was largely miserable for the fortnight’s training. The area that the two Leeds Rifles battalions were to make camp on were at the small village of Bow Street, some four miles outside Aberystwyth. Some of the ground was marshy and wet, but the advance party was able to drain some and avoid the rest.

The camp of 1913 would have been a particularly busy one for Harry Sykes, as he would have undergone his recruit training and the all-important musketry course that the Leeds Rifles attached great importance to. It would have been a great introduction for him to Territorial soldiering as the Aberystwyth area allowed for division sized manoeuvres, whereas the previous year’s camp on the Yorkshire coast had not, but he would find that out for himself the following year, as the Leeds Rifles went to camp in the summer of 1914 in Scarborough.

Harry Sykes went to France as the battalion, with the rest of the West Riding Division, deployed to the continent in April 1915, landing at Boulogne and concentrating in the Merville area. Here, the trail of Harry Sykes cools. His service records have not survived, meaning that his subsequent transfer out of the Leeds Rifles to the Army Cyclist Corps, and then on to the Tank Corps must be deduced, as near as possible, from the surviving records of other men. Records do survive for men with Tank Corps numbers very close to the one allocated to Harry Sykes, one has a lower number, and the other, a higher one. Both the other men were transferred from the Army Cyclist Corps to the Tank Corps on 19^th December 1916 with authority for the transfer coming from Army Order 204 of 1916, actioned by the Deputy Adjutant General, 3^rd Echelon, General Headquarters. Like Harry Sykes, both the other men had been in infantry battalions before a very brief transfer to the Army Cyclist Corps, as if the Army Cyclist Corps was intended to be for a brief holding period only.

In the period of his service with the Leeds Rifles, he had fought the supporting action at Aubers Ridge, served in the canal area near Boesinghe, north of Ypres, where he was badly gassed, in the phosgene attack on 19^th December 1915. He was also twice wounded and had served as a Rifleman through the Somme Campaign in the second half of 1916.

Ian Verrinder, the author of “Tank Action in the Great War – B Battalion’s Experiences 1917” tells a similar story about nine volunteers who transferred from the Royal Sussex Regiment. They had answered a call for volunteers to join Heavy Branch, Machine Gun Corps, which later became the Tanks Corps. Those men received consecutive Tank Corps service numbers.

Harry Sykes was a young man with the valuable skills gained from his mechanical fitting work in civilian life that the Tank Corps was looking for. His mechanical aptitude would have helped him understand the machinery that was to be the tool of his trade for the rest of his war. He was assigned to B Battalion and became a driver.

The Badge of the Tank Corps

B Company, Heavy Branch Machine Gun Corps had begun its life as a company sized establishment based at Bullhouse Camp in Surrey, but it soon moved to John O’ Groats Camp at Thetford in Norfolk, before moving to nearby Elvedon Camp, returning to John O’ Groats Camp in the middle of September 1916. It was here that the members of the Company learned that they would be fighting their war in tanks. The tanks themselves were in a secret area of the camp, guarded by men of the Royal Defence Corps, and no one could enter this area of the camp without a written pass. The company moved to France on 16^th October 1916, landing at Le Havre.

In November 1916, the Company transferred into B Battalion, Heavy Branch Machine Gun Corps, and the battalion continued to receive officers and men to bring it up to established strength. The remainder of the year was spent in organising billeting arrangements and the men were able to make themselves very comfortable in their new home. In January 1917, the officers and men began training for their new roles. The training was hampered by the extremely cold winter weather, but it seems it was carried out with good humour, and that the men were grateful to see out the worst of the weather living in reasonable accommodation, even if the rooves of their huts did allow the snow in.

The battalion went into action for the first time on 8^th May 1917, when it was involved in supporting the New Zealand Division in the Battle of Messines. Although the terrain the tanks had to cross was responsible for more than half their number getting stuck or ditched in enemy trenches, the battalion gave a good account of itself, and a number of the officers and men were recognised for their determination and bravery. One tank crewman received a Military Medal for leaving the relative safety of the tank to rescue two trapped airmen from their crashed and burning machine.

British Mark IV Female and Male Tanks of 'C' Battalion, including 'Crusty' and 'Centaur II' loaded aboard a train at Plateau Station in preparation for movement to the forward area prior to the opening of the Battle of Cambrai. (IWM Q46941)

In their next battle, at the opening of the Third Battle of Ypres, the battalion’s tanks had to struggle over similar ground as they had at Messines, although mechanical problems were more prevalent, which accounted for the loss of some of the tanks before they had left the start line. Others were hit by enemy artillery and knocked out. The battalion’s own history says the day was not a success, however the staff overseeing the performance of the tanks were of the opinion that the arrival of one of the tanks in the fighting area was enough to give the attacking infantry enough of a confidence boost to be counted as a success. More awards for gallantry were won, including the first Distinguished Order and the first Distinguished Conduct Medal to the battalion.

Valuable lessons had been learned in their previous two engagements, and by the time the tanks were called upon to take their place in the Battle of Cambrai, their problems in crossing the destroyed ground were solved by there being no preliminary bombardment.  It was the first time since the Tank Corps came into being that the battle plan was formulated according to their needs. Instead of ranging the guns by shooting, the artillery used the fledgling method of sound ranging, which was made possible by arranging microphones along the British line and using flash spotting to plot where the enemy guns were firing from. The time delay between the flash being spotted, and the sound being picked up on the microphone gave an accurate range. Triangulation of two or more sound signals gave an accurate compass bearing. Combining the range and the bearing gave a location on which the artillery could fire with a good degree of accuracy. Because there was no preparatory bombardment, the enemy wire defences would be left intact until the attack began, and that would prevent the infantry penetrating enemy territory. The tanks would need to reach the wire and either crush it flat or drag it out of the way using specially designed grapples. To ensure that the tanks reached the enemy defences, they were reliant on the infantry to help protect them and to deal with any German guns firing in the anti-tank role. Both elements depended on each other for success.

On 20^th November 1917, B Battalion, 5 Company, in particular, captured Marcoing, south west of Cambrai. The tanks of 5 Company then concentrated beside the village cemetery. The remaining companies of the battalion were at Grand Ravine, south of Havrincourt, where supply tanks were refuelling them and running through mechanical checks, in preparation for the fighting of the coming days. The crews of the tanks of 5 Company had to carry out their own maintenance during the morning of 21^st  November, cannibalising parts and transferring fuel from the tanks which were not fit to fight that day into the ones which were. During the morning, the battalion was tasked with assisting the attack on the village of Cataing, and the Commanding Officer, Lt Col Bryce used the fit tanks of 4 and 6 Companies, allowing 5 Company to continue with repairs and maintenance until a request came to them for assistance in helping the troops fighting in Noyelles to fend off a German counterattack. Two tanks were ready for action and they were dispatched to help. Their intervention was successful, and a little over an hour after they had set off for the village, their job was done.

Orders were received on 22^nd November for an attack on Bourlon Wood the following day, and it was to be undertaken by another composite company of tanks seven of which would be drawn from 5 Company. A further six were pressed into service from 4 and 6 Companies. At just past midnight on the morning on 23^rd November, the commanding officer of 1/6^th Battalion, Gordon Highlanders received orders to attack the village of Fontaine-Notre-Dame which straddled the road into Cambrai from Bapaume, just east of Bourlon Wood. By 08:30 am that morning, the orders of B Battalion, and 5 Company were changed to task 5 Company with supporting the attack on Fontaine by the Gordons.

Second Lieutenant Thomas Milbourne Mercer pictured in the uniform of King Edward's Horse
(with permission of Eric Ambler, 2Lt Mercer's cousin)

Harry Sykes was one of the drivers of a crew of eight in female Tank B30 – Bally Hackle II, commanded by Second Lieutenant Thomas Milbourne Mercer, a young officer commissioned into the Tank Corps from King Edward’s Horse, a Special Reserve mounted regiment based at Duke of York’s Headquarters in Chelsea, London. Other crew members were Corporal Brown – Lewis Gunner, Private Bentley – Lewis Gunner, Private Fisher – Lewis Gunner, Private Hunter - Driver, Private Marshall - Gearsman and Private Hopkinson, Gearsman. A female tank was armed with Lewis guns only, whereas a male tank also had a six-pounder gun mounted in the sponsons of either side.

The tanks were collected in a sunken road, and here the men had breakfast and carried out final maintenance and checks while their officers attended an orders briefing by the Brigade Commander, Brigadier General Pelham Burn. On the return of the officers, the orders, objectives, and methods of execution were briefed out among the men. The attack would commence at 10:30 am, with the start line being just north of Cataing Mill, and in order to reach the start line on time, the tanks must leave their hide at 10:00 am. They would have their advance covered by smoke to hide them from the view of the Germans in La Folie Wood, which lay south east of the village of Fontaine-Notre-Dame, but which was not scheduled to be attacked in this action. 

Map section showing Fontaine-Notre-Dame, and lower right, La Folie Wood

As the tanks left the sunken road in single file, they began to spread out by sections, with each section headed for its designated objective. Number 6 Section, to which Bally Hackle II belonged headed straight into the village and proceeded to deal effectively with the outer defences, which were predominantly machine guns sited in the buildings and houses. In all, thirty-five tanks were now on the move, but as the smoke screen dissipated in the wind, the infantry and tanks came under fire from the garrison of La Folie Wood, causing the progress of the infantrymen to falter and fall back. Three tanks were diverted to deal with the fire from the wood. The male tank among them was knocked out almost immediately, and the remaining two female tanks were ultimately unable to silence the machine gunners in the wood.

Meanwhile, the section of tanks including Bally Hackle II with Harry Sykes on Board was making good progress up the main street through the village, despite the Germans in the houses attacking with grenades and continuous machine gun fire. The infantry that was meant to be supporting the tanks was pinned down outside the village, leaving the tanks to do what they could unaided. The men inside the tanks were largely protected, but when bullets struck the outer casing, they sent flakes of armoured steel flying around inside which could easily destroy an eye. Crews were issued with a helmet that had eye protection built in to protect them. The grenades the Germans were using were noisy and a nuisance to the crews, but they were not powerful enough make any penetrative damage to the tank. Such was the intensity of the fighting taking place in the main street of Fontaine, that the Lewis Gunners were firing almost continually, and working their way steadily through the 2000 rounds of ammunition each gun was allocated.

The Gatehouse at La Folie Wood. The extension to the left is a fortified and camouflaged bunker

Within an hour, the leading two tanks, including Bally Hackle II were in trouble at a road junction near the far end of the village. A following tank passed them, and then swung left to patrol a road, but after a further 100 yards, it too came under fire and was hit by two shots from an anti-tank gun, forcing the wounded tank commander to relinquish control to his corporal, a driver was also wounded and his place was taken by one of the gunners, who following the orders of the corporal, engaged reverse gear and drove the badly damaged tank to relative safety around a corner out of sight of the German gunners. Whatever the trouble was that afflicted Bally Hackle II, it did not disable the tank, as it too swung down a road off the main street. Whether it came under fire from the same gun as had damaged the previous tank is unknown, but Bally Hackle II found a gap between the houses lining the street and went through it into the open field behind them, getting itself out of the killing zone in the street. It then turned and headed towards La Folie Wood, as if 2Lt Mercer had decided to try to put the German gun out of action in the hope that this would improve the chances of the other tanks in the area. 2Lt Mercer did well to fight his tank as far as he did, but Bally Hackle II was knocked out as it turned to approach the apex of La Folie Wood, where the gatehouse stands. Bally Hackle II was one of four tanks hit and put out of action on the far side of Fontaine. Of the thirty-two men crewing and commanding those tanks, twenty-four were killed in action. Second Lieutenant Mercer died exiting his tank and his body was found as the Germans approached the tank at the side of Bally Hackle II underneath the crew hatch. It is not known if the Germans were able to give him any kind of burial, but he is now recorded as missing, and his name appears of the Cambrai Memorial at Louverval. A photograph exists of the terribly burnt body of 2Lt Mercer beside Bally Hackle II, and I’ve taken the decision not to reproduce here because of its graphic nature, but what it shows may be evidence of a fairly prolonged, but ultimately doomed fight to the finish, as scattered around his body are at least six empty magazines for a Lewis Gun.

Even in 2019, with a modern hedgerow and a raised dual carriageway, there is still a commanding view of the slope down from the village from La Folie Wood Gatehouse

Harry Sykes was a good deal more fortunate than his commander. He was captured alive by the Germans and spent the rest of the war as a prisoner. He was not unscathed though, and his Prisoner of War processing documents record that he had two wounds in the heel and instep of his right foot.

By December, Harry Sykes had reached Germany and was sent to a prisoner processing camp at Limburg an der Lahn.

B30 Bally Hackle II with German captors (Courtesy of Peter Cosgrove)

On their return from captivity, whether it was after the war ended, or in some cases men were repatriated because of illness and disability repatriated Prisoners of War were interviewed with a view to gathering evidence relating to any mistreatment the men may have suffered at the hands of their German captors, and the conditions in which they were kept. Many of the men gave testimony that while their treatment overall was generally humane, and they were not unnecessarily deprived of medical treatment when that was required, they told how conditions deteriorated as the war progressed. By late 1917, interviewed returning prisoners accounts of life in captivity generally told of how the quality of and frequency of meals became much poorer as Germany struggled to feed its own population. They tell of how their incoming aid parcels were searched, and any medicines and dressings were taken for use by the German army, and most food items were taken as well. The accounts paint a picture of increasing deprivation within the camp system, and that while there were a few German officers and guards who indulged in brutalising prisoners, the majority remained humane, despite the rapidly worsening state of the German war effort.

Map showing the final position of tanks put out of action by enemy fire, mechanical failure or ditching. (Courtesy of Peter Cosgrove)

Limburg an der Lahn is a small, medieval town in the state of Hesse. The prisoners sent there were employed in agriculture, for which they were paid. There were some, limited facilities for the prisoners to buy things such as tobacco and soap, but many of the prisoners stated in their interviews that there was no opportunity to buy extra food. The International Committee of the Red Cross had an office on the periphery of the camp, which enabled the staff to make inspections and report on the conditions of this huge camp and the smaller satellite camps that were administered through the main Limburg camp.

Bally Hackle II was disabled approximately where the corner of the yellow crop is, as it appeared in 2019.

After the war ended, Harry Sykes was quickly repatriated to England, perhaps because of the engineering skills he possessed. He married Amelia Cook, a warper in a weaving mill, at Hunslet Parish Church on 15^th February 1919. Harry Sykes was still in the army at the time of his marriage, but is likely to have been on final furlough, as he was discharged from the army the following month and went back into engineering. There is no record of children between Harry and Amelia Sykes.

Harry Sykes died in June 1973, and the age of 77, and is buried in Hunslet Cemetery.

The grave of Harry Sykes and his wife, Amelia in Hunslet Cemetery, Leeds.