Cambrai 1917

Cambrai was the last - and most influential - battle fought by the British on the Western Front in 1917.

The Battle of Cambrai has become synonymous with one of the Allies’ first large-scale use of tanks on the Western Front. Cambrai certainly saw over 450 Mark IV tanks lumber across No Man’s Land and penetrate the Hindenburg Line. For the Germans on the other side of these defences the sheer scale of these ‘iron monsters’ was terrifying, however they quickly rallied and the battle was about much more than the tanks deployed.Chris McNab explores how new techniques of sound-ranging and artillery strategy played a greater part on the battlefield than the tanks which have dominated the history of the battle.At dawn on 20 November 1917 over 1,000 guns fired on German positions and 400 tanks and thousands of men stepped out into the barren land between the trenches. At first, it seemed that success was inevitable, with over 5 miles of ground gained – a significant amount for such an operation, however on the first day of battle 180 tanks were out of action and the attack began to flounder. After days of attack and counterattack, both sides had gained ground, but no definitive success and with over 70,000 casualties. Yet, Cambrai was an important training ground for both sides, proving the effectiveness of new tactics that would lead to greater victories later in the war.

After the great victory in the famous tank battle at Cambrai in 1917 the church bells, having been silent for three years, rang out joyously all over Britain But within ten days triumph turned to disaster. How did this hapPen & why?William Moore, a distinguished First World War historian, attempts to explain what went wrong. All the advantages gained were thrown away; thousands of British troops were captured and hundreds of guns were lost. Seventy years after these events Mr Moore has studied the evidence (much of it previously unpublished) contained in the inevitable enquiry that followed the disaster and he seeks to answer a number of questions. Was Field-Marshal Haig really as dour as he has been portrayed or was he a reckless gambler and was General Byng, whose troops and guns were captured, really a brilliant planner or a haughty aristocrat dedicated to proving that cavalry still had a place on the battlefield? And why were they both obsessed with capturing Bourlon Ridge on which stood the sinister Bourlon Wood? A Highland Division, a Welsh Brigade, a Yorkshire Division (twice), the Guards, Ulstermen, Lancashire-men, Londoners and Midlanders- all were drawn into the maelstrom in an attempt to consolidate the Cambrai victory They failed. It was left to the Canadians to carry the Bourlon position in one of the finest feats of arms of the Great War. The British are always reputed to take a perverce interest in their own military blunders. This strange episode is one that most people have been happy to forget. All those involved in hight places sought to make excuses; some indulged in a profound exercise of duplicity implying that the soldiers themselves were to blame. Mr Moor's book throws new light on a dark episode in British Military History.

This crucial new study of one of the seminal events in military history dispells many of the myths surrounding Cambrai 1917 of World War I (1914-1918). Common perception classifies it as the "world's first tank battle" but Alexander Turner shows us that the real importance of Cambrai was that it saw the first use of armor as an operational shock tactic. With the pre-eminence of armor, the conduct of war was irrevocably changed. The battle also heralded the combined use of aircraft, armor, and artillery, marking the birth of modern combined-arms techniques. Written by a military historian and serving soldier, this is a fascinating analysis of a battle which was a stalemate, yet spawned a host of war-winning tactics.

The story of the first great tank battle, and the genesis of one of the most formidable weapons of the twentieth century. Cambrai was the last - and most influential - battle fought by the British on the Western Front in 1917. With many of the Allies on the brink of collapse, only Britain was still capable of holding the Germans at bay. Over time, many myths have grown up around what happened at Cambrai. The events of this iconic attack are now buried beneath accumulated legends and misrepresentations built up over almost a century. It is remembered as the world's first great tank battle, but it was the brilliant British innovations in artillery techniques that most shocked the enemy. Equally important were the new 'stormtroop' tactics the Germans pioneered. Drawing on previously unpublished letters, diaries, first-hand accounts and official reports, Bryn Hammond's definitive account examines this military milestone, how the myths were created, and how they changed the face of warfare for ever.

It is probably true to say that no land battle of this century passes Cambrai in importance. Up to the winter of 1917 warfare had changed only in degree since the coming of gunpowder. The scenario, with parts for horse, foot and guns, remained essentially the same. All this was part of a world about to disappear for good with the introduction of the tank. The British Army, hammered by years of war and facing almost alone the vastly increasing strength of its enemy, was expected by most observers to be near to going down in defeat. Instead of that, using British designed and built fighting machines of a novel kind, it attacked and drove the Germans from the strongest fortifications ever built. Nobody, save for a dedicated few, had believed such a feat possible. After profiting from its lessons the same Army, 12 months later, achieved its greatest victories of all time and saved Europe, for a time, from German dictatorship. The methods used made obsolete everything that had gone before and laid out the ground for each serious operation of war from Amiens to the Gulf.

Cambrai Campaign 1917 is an account of the British Expeditionary Forces battles in November and December of 1917. It starts with the plan to carry out a tank raid on the Hindenburg Line at Cambrai. The raid grew into a full scale attack and Third Army would rely on a different style of attack. The preliminary bombardment would be done away with and the troops would assemble in secret.Predicted fire had reached such a level of accuracy that 1,000 guns could hit targets without registration. Meanwhile, over 375 tanks would lead the infantry through the Hindenburg Line, ripping holes in the wire and suppressing the enemy. The study of the German counterattack ten days later, illustrates the different tactics they used and the British experience on the defensive.Each stage of the battle is given equal treatment, with detailed insights into the most talked about side of the campaign, the British side. It explains how far the Tank Corps had come in changing the face of trench warfare. Over forty new maps chart the day by day progress of each corps on each day.Together the narrative and the maps provide an insight into the British Armys experience during this important campaign. The men who made a difference are mentioned; those who led the advances, those who stopped the counterattacks and those who were awarded the Victoria Cross.Discover the Cambrai campaign and learn how the British Armys brave soldiers fought and died fighting to achieve their objectives.

The 1917 Battle of Cambrai featured the first massed tank attack in military history and provoked the biggest German counter-attack against the British since 1914. The British aimed to break through the German Hindenburg Line, then threaten the rear of the German positions to the north. The battle is one of the most famous and controversial episodes of the First World War, and the battlefield is one of the most commonly visited on the Western Front. Jerry Murland’s clearly written, highly illustrated guide is the ideal introduction to it. Visitors can trace for themselves the course of the battle across the modern landscape and gain a fascinating insight into the nature of the fighting – and the wider conflict across the Western Front – throughout the war. Included are a series of routes that can be walked, cycled or driven. Among the key sites covered are Haverincourt, Flesquières, Mœuveres, Graincourt, Cantaign, Marcoing and Masnières, Bourlon, La Vacquerie and Villers-Plouich, Gouzeaucourt and Gonnelieu. In each place Jerry Murland describes the fighting that occurred there, recording what happened, exactly where it happened and why, and he points out the sights that remain for the visitor to see. His guidebook is essential reading for visitors who wish to enhance their understanding of the Battle of Cambrai and the war on the Western Front.