History - Elliott 'Boots' Hotblack, Tank Corps Reconnaissance Officer

Elliott Hotblack (Imperial War Museum)

As the First World War dragged on, the need to break the stalemate caused by trench warfare intensified, and this need played a big part in the development of the tank.

Britain was the first country to develop the tank, which it then used in battle, hoping it would give the British Army the advantage over the German Army.

In 1915, working alongside engineers and industrialists, the military designed and completed a prototype, Little Willie, which was used in the development of the Mark I tank, and subsequent British tanks up to the Mark VIII, made between 1918 and 1920.

'Little Willie' prototype tank at Tank Museum (Andrew Skudder - W.Commons)

Mark I tank - Tank Museum (own photo)

Tanks were first used in combat by the British Expeditionary Force at the Battle of Flers-Courcelette on the 15th of September 1916, fought during the Battle of the Somme.

Although tanks launched a new form of armoured warfare, training for the tank crews was nowhere near comprehensive.

Reconnaissance training was non-existent as much of the men’s time was spent driving and repairing the tanks and firing the guns.

Corps staff who worked out the routes did so without knowing if the tanks could actually negotiate the terrain.

To be effective, these mechanised beasts needed to be guided into action once the area had been reconnoitred.

What they needed were reconnaissance officers, whose importance would be fully recognised within the Tank Corps but whose contribution would be practically unknown to the world at large.

One of the most decorated and well-known reconnaissance officers was Frederick Elliott Hotblack.

Born in March 1887 into a wealthy Norwich family, Hotblack was commissioned into the Norfolk Regiment in 1915.

He first served as an intelligence officer in the Intelligence Corps in France during the First World War.

The first Intelligence Corps, responsible for gathering and analysing military intelligence, was formed in August 1914, and left for France that same month.

In 1916, Hotblack, with the interesting nickname of ‘Boots’, transferred to the ‘Heavy Branch’ of the Machine Gun Corps; the ‘Heavy Branch’ was the first to use tanks.

These tanks were not only poorly manoeuvrable, their drivers also had limited visibility, which made negotiating the unforgiving terrain difficult and dangerous.

Instead of simply checking the area and relaying the information to the tank drivers, Hotblack used techniques, including marking the route with tape, that would become the norm for guiding the tanks to the right position to launch their attacks.

In November 1916, after reconnoitring the terrain near Beaumont-Hamel, Hotblack made the decision, despite enemy fire, to walk ahead of the leading tank to make sure it reached its objective.

For this amazing act of courage, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO), a military decoration awarded for gallantry for successful command and leadership, typically in actual combat.

He was also immortalised on the cover of The Graphic, a British weekly illustrated newspaper:

Elliot Hotblack on the cover of The Graphic

Hotblack earned a bar to his DSO when he took control of infantry who had lost their officers and, with tanks, organised an attack – apart from a date, the 23rd, I haven’t been able to find any details as to the year or battle when this occurred.

The London Gazette printed the citation for his bar in July 1918 – “For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty during an attack. He reorganised the infantry whose officers had become casualties, collected tanks, and succeeded in launching a fresh attack under heavy fire. He set a splendid example of courage and initiative on this and many other occasions.”

On the 9th of April 1917, Hotblack suffered head wounds at the Battle of Arras, and was evacuated to a hospital at Le Touquet.

Despite a suspected fractured skull, he didn’t want to risk being sent back to Britain.

Hotblack escaped from the hospital, struggling through a snowstorm and with blood seeping through his bandages, to return to his comrades.

A few months later, in July 1917 in Belgium, Hotblack was injured in the leg.

On the 15th of May 1918, Hotblack was, once again, wounded in the head.

This time he remained in the hospital where, for a couple of weeks, he was unable to sit up for too long or to eat properly.

He was discharged in June.

On the 8th of August 1918, the Allies began the Battle of Amiens, the first of a series of offensives, known collectively as the Hundred Days Offensive, that would lead directly to the end of the war.

The name – Hundred Days Offensive – refers to the rapid series of Allied victories, not to a specific battle.

By September, the German Army had been pushed back to the Hindenburg Line, but still the Allies advanced, breaking through the line, starting with the pivotal Battle of St Quentin Canal on the 29th of September.

Battle of St Quentin Canal 29 Sept 1918 (W.Commons - American Battle Monuments Commission)

The Tank Corps suffered heavy losses, with the tanks being especially vulnerable to the German anti-tank measures; in one instance, German field guns destroyed 4 heavy tanks and 5 medium tanks in about 15 minutes.

This further highlighted the tank crews’ dependence on infantry to tell them where the danger was.

While assessing the front, Hotblack found a German position blocking the advance.

He organised 2 tanks, riding in one himself, and overran the position.

The tanks were knocked out in the attack and, despite being partially blinded by a head wound, Hotblack got the injured to safety then arranged infantry to hold the captured position.

For this, he was awarded the Military Cross, for “conspicuous gallantry, initiative and devotion to duty”.

After the war, Hotblack attended the Staff College then served in the War Office, becoming a brigade major in 1921.

In 1935, he was appointed military attaché at the British Embassy in Berlin, and in 1937 Deputy Director of Staff Duties at the War Office.

The start of the Second World War saw him serving on the General Staff of the British Expeditionary Force, then as General Officer Commanding 2nd Armoured Division in 1939.

Unfortunately, Hotblack was no longer destined to return to action on the battlefield; an accident in April 1940 resulted in him being invalided out of the army in 1941.

I couldn’t find any information on Hotblack after this.

Being a staff officer, Hotblack was never required to be on the front line, which meant he never had to place himself in danger.

Yet, time and again, he did just that, serving a fundamental role in keeping the vulnerable tank crew as safe as he was able.

For someone who must have been larger-than-life to those who knew him, and who could quite easily have been a fictional action hero, I wonder how he felt about living the rest of his long life out of the army…

Frederick Elliott ‘Boots’ Hotblack died in January 1979, aged 91.