Battle of Cambrai Kyle, shuang, jenny, Taylor

What was it? Cambrai is a French town in the Nord department The battle was launched in November 1917 British campaign of the first world war The enemies were the Germans First successful use of tanks in armed combat The British attack showed that the Hindenburg line could be penetrated

The use of the tanks “By the autumn of 1917 the popular reputation of tank effectiveness had suffered. Aside from their undoubted initial value as a surprise tactic they were deemed to be of limited use in offensive operations, unwieldy and prone to malfunction.” This caused the Germans to not fear tanks as they saw them coming on to the battle field. The Germans knew that tanks could be destroyed by use of concentrated field artillery. This also caused the German development of tanks to come later in the war.

The use of the tanks British tank corps were determined that tanks would be effective when used in more suitable weather conditions. Lieutenant-Colonel John Fuller of the Tank Corps recommended wide-scale use of tanks upon the dry battlefield sited between the Canal du Nord and the St. Quentin Canal.

The use of the tanks An attack was launched at dawn on November 20 th 1917 with all the tanks that were available advancing across a 10km front. “476 tanks were accompanied by six infantry and two cavalry divisions (the latter to exploit any breakthrough), plus a further 1,000 guns.” The Germans were lightly defended due to the fact that they didn't think tanks were practical and war, so within hours they were drove back some 6 km to Cambrai. the three trench systems of the Hindenburg Line were pierced for the first time in the war.

The German's response the effective head of the German Third Supreme Command, Erich Ludendorff immediately ordered a counter attack, but discovered the reserves could not be brought forward for two days. He contemplated a general withdrawal from the Cambrai front. Marwitz (the local German commander) was stunned by the British attack on November 20 th, but worked to regain all ground lost to the British. About 20 divisions were deployed during the counter attack and new tactics were used and within a week the Germans regained almost all of the ground they has lost.

Battle Casualties Germans suffered losses of approximately 50,000 the British 45,000 If the tanks failed in the breakthrough, the potential of tanks in armed combat would have never been demonstrated.

Map charting progress during the battle

British offensive

References rai.htmhttp:// rai.htm brai_%281917%29#The_battlehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cam brai_%281917%29#The_battle