22nd August 1917 Wednesday
A busy time in the skies
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“Wednesday, 22nd August, saw us busy with sick and wounded to attend to. The 11th Division on our right attacked at dawn, and were very successful. The tanks did good work. Air activity was great all day. The Huns crossed our lines in groups of seven and eight at a time, and at night lots of bombs were dropped all along the canal bank.”
The German planes had been active around the Ypres area from at least very early morning and had dropped bombs, scattered around local farms causing damage to civilians as well as military targets. Many horses were killed as well as farmers and of course soldiers. They would keep up activity throughout the day and then by 9.30 pm they set out in strength once more.
The use of tanks had become more widespread since the debacle experienced at the Somme, but as yet not with any great measure of success. By 3rd Ypres their use, although in much greater numbers was restricted to small groups. Many broke down or became stuck where the terrain proved too challenging and were abandoned before reaching their objectives.
(Q 6432) A Mark IV (Male) tank ditched in a German trench. Some men of the battalion are resting in the trench, 20 November 1917. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205213173
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