Landships II

One factor in the success of British tank operations in the later part of 1918 that is often overlooked is the increasing cooperation between the Tank Corps and the newly formed RAF that resulted in squadrons dedicated to tank support. (One possible reason why this has not received adequate coverage is that many tank modellers and historians are not interested in aircraft and a number aircraft enthusiasts take a similar attitude to tanks).

In November 1917 RFC ground attack squadrons had been tasked with locating and destroying German anti tank gun positions at Cambrai. The aircraft involved would have primarily been Sopwith F1 Camels armed with twin machine guns and Cooper bombs (although some Airco DH5 fighters may also have been involved). This was very much a roving commission seeking targets of opportunity rather than one of close cooperation with the tanks. In general this had little success, not because of any inadequacy of the Camel as a ground attack fighter (it was just as deadly effective in this role as it was as an interceptor, two squadrons of Camels, RAF and AFC, destroying a small Turkish army in 1918 for example). The problem was that it is difficult for the pilot of an unarmoured and somewhat unstable single seat fighter flying, under rifle and machinegun fire, at very low altitude (at about 120 mph) and constantly having to watch out for enemy fighters to spot a dug in and camouflaged gun. Casualty rates amongst ground attack squadrons were in any case high.

In June 1918 No 8 Squadron RAF (an army cooperation unit which had already begun to specialise in spotting anti tank guns) was assigned to the Tank Corp with the specific task of detecting anti tank guns in the path of the tanks and calling down British artillery fire on them. No. 8 were equipped with Armstrong Whitworth FK 8 (‘the Big Ack’) two seaters. This aircraft had been designed by a Dutchman Frederick Koolhoven (hence the FK) and was a bigger, tougher development from the FK2/3 (‘the Little Ack) that had been designed to replace the BE2C. The Big Ack was a superior aircraft in many ways to the RE8 the RAF’s other spotter aircraft and regarded as better able to fight off German fighters whilst carrying out its tasks. That this was so had been proven by one of No 8 Squadrons Big Acks in March of that year when it was attacked by no less than six Fokker DrI triplanes from the famous Richtoffen Flying Circus, shooting down three of them before being forced to land in flames in no mans land (its pilot A A McLeod being awarded the VC and the observer A W Hammond the MC). The typical armament of the FK8 was up to eight 25 pound Cooper bombs and a Vickers mg firing forwards with a Lewis for the observer (some may well have been unofficially fitted with a twin Lewis mounting). At low altitude it had a top speed of 98.4 mph.

In action the pilot would concentrate on spotting the dug in guns whilst the observer would keep watch for enemy fighters (the pilot had the best forward and downwards view). On spotting a target the aircraft would note its position and would notify the tanks, artillery and HQ by dropping a message at a designated forward communications point equipped with telephone and possibly radio communications. The aircraft also had the option of using its Cooper bombs to attack the gun position itself. This was the sort of work carried out by No.8 Squadron at the Battle of Hamel.

By the Battle of Amiens No.43 Squadron RAF (a ground attack Camel squadron) had also been assigned to the tanks. At the same time No. 8’s role had been expanded. Over the rest of the war lessons were learnt and the approach and roles continually refined. In essence however these were as follows.

- Provided a noise barrage to cover the sound of tanks on their approach - so that it would be impossible to detect the direction from which they were coming. With a throaty 190hp Beardmore engine the Big Ack would provide this service very well.
- Provided contact patrols to provide information as to what was ahead of the tanks and forewarn of counter attacks.
- Spotted anti tank positions (guns, ambushes etc.) and report these back to the tanks, artillery and HQ
- Provided regular updates for HQ as to the position of the tanks in relation to the map, the enemy and flanking units. This was vital to prevent infantry and tanks being separated and avoid ‘friendly’ fire incidents. They also provided vital information on the ground ahead (such as, for example, that the bridge at Demuin remained undamaged so that the tanks would be able to cross).

- Stopped anti tank guns entering the area of action in which the tanks were operating. This was done by shooting up and bombing guns (horse drawn or motorised) that were easily spotted moving along the roads or trackways to attack the tanks. In the case of motorised artillery the Camels would have an extra incentive as these guns could double as anti aircraft weapons so that it would be a case of ‘get them first before they can deploy’.
- Shot up and bombed any troops, transport or guns ‘flushed out’ by and retreating from the advancing tanks (in this of course they might be joined by other ground attack aircraft).
- Broke up any infantry counter attacks
- Provided fighter cover for No 8 squadron although this was very much a secondary role.

Of course these roles were fluid and overlapped to some extent, for example at Amiens No. 8 Squadron joined in bombing and strafing retreating forces. No 43 squadron would operate from an airstrip close enough for aircraft to quickly re fuel, arm and bomb up and get back into action with as little delay as possible.

It is interesting to observe how much progress was made in the period between the 1st Battle of Cambrai and the 2nd Battle of Cambrai. In the first case German anti tank guns at Fontaine and Bourlon halted the British tanks, in the second German guns in these positions were bombed and machine gunned before they could deploy.

I have attached a couple of shots of Big Acks, the observant amongst you will spot differences between both the under carriage and the cooling radiators on these aircraft. In fact several versions of both were used and some FK8’s refitted at various time and so could show different configurations at various times in their career.