The Battle of Cambrai
November 20th-December 7th, 1917
When tanks first started to be used in WWI, the Germans were very alarmed as these metal machines made their was across the battle field. But as time went on, the Germans came to regard the tank as something that could be easily destroyed by artillery fire. The British Tank Corps believed that the failing reputation of the tank would be overcomed by using the machine in better land condition then that of the muddy conditions at the 3rd battle of Ypres. In this belief, Lieutenant-Colonel of the Tank Corps John Fuller suggested a full scale attack using tanks on the dry battlefield between the St. Quentin Canal and the Canal du Nord. This plan was accepted by 3rd army commanded Julian Byng but was vetoed by British Commander-in-Chief Sir Douglas Heig who wanted to continue the attacks at Passchendaele.
Due to the shortage of success at Passchendaele, Sir Douglas Heig turned his attention to John Fuller's plan and as a result planned to launch a tank attack before the year was over. The attack was planned to be launched on a 16 mile front on the morning of November 20th. The launch consisted of 476 tanks, six infantry divisions and two cavalry divisions who would exploit the break through that the tanks made. Without first using artillery( in order to perserve the element of suprize) the tanks made their advance across the battlefield causing the lightly defending German 2nd army(under General Georg von der Marwitz) to be pushed back 10 miles to Cambrai. This tank advance for the first time in the whole war had broken through the three trench systems of the Hindenburg Line. This was a significant gain for the British on the Western Front but due to the lack of reiforcements to exploit the breakthrough, the British lost momentum.
Leader of the German Third Supreme Command, Erich Ludendorff ordered that the Germans on the Cambrai Front launch couter-attacks against the British but only to find out that reinforcemts won't arrive till two days later. So General Georg von der Marwitz on Nov. 20th, started to counter-attack the British and after a week of using Hutier infiltration tactics they were able to gain back all the land the British had taken.
During the battle the Germans suffered the most with an estimated 50,000 casualities while the British only suffered 45,000. Even if the tanks didn't give the British a desired breakthrough, the battle did prove that tanks had the able to work in offensive operations.
Due to the shortage of success at Passchendaele, Sir Douglas Heig turned his attention to John Fuller's plan and as a result planned to launch a tank attack before the year was over. The attack was planned to be launched on a 16 mile front on the morning of November 20th. The launch consisted of 476 tanks, six infantry divisions and two cavalry divisions who would exploit the break through that the tanks made. Without first using artillery( in order to perserve the element of suprize) the tanks made their advance across the battlefield causing the lightly defending German 2nd army(under General Georg von der Marwitz) to be pushed back 10 miles to Cambrai. This tank advance for the first time in the whole war had broken through the three trench systems of the Hindenburg Line. This was a significant gain for the British on the Western Front but due to the lack of reiforcements to exploit the breakthrough, the British lost momentum.
Leader of the German Third Supreme Command, Erich Ludendorff ordered that the Germans on the Cambrai Front launch couter-attacks against the British but only to find out that reinforcemts won't arrive till two days later. So General Georg von der Marwitz on Nov. 20th, started to counter-attack the British and after a week of using Hutier infiltration tactics they were able to gain back all the land the British had taken.
During the battle the Germans suffered the most with an estimated 50,000 casualities while the British only suffered 45,000. Even if the tanks didn't give the British a desired breakthrough, the battle did prove that tanks had the able to work in offensive operations.