Today 106 years ago, on November 20, 1917, the First Battle of Cambrai began on the Western Front.
Following
the conclusion of the Third Battle of Ypres, the British were desperate
for success. An offensive was planned towards the French city of
Cambrai, as this was fresh ground that hadn't been ravaged much by the
war.
Cambrai was also an important supply hub for the Germans. The
attack were to be carried out by the British Third Army, which would
deploy more tanks at once than ever before in the war, as well as new
artillery techniques to break through the German lines.
On
November 20, 1917, following a hurricane bombardment, the British
attacked at Cambrai with 476 tanks and 110,000 infantrymen. As the
British infantry only attacked 20 minutes after the bombardment, the
Germans were caught by surprise and the British broke through in
numerous places.
In six hours, the British advanced further at
Cambrai than in 3 months in Flanders. By the end of the day, the British
had advanced 6 km along a 11 km wide front, taking 4,200 prisoners.
The
British consolidated their positions and attacked the next day on
November 21, which did not go as smoothly, as German reinforcements were
sent in and offered stiff resistance.
The fighting was especially
fierce at Anneux and the Bourlon Woods near Cambrai. After a week of
futile attacks, the British offensive was called off on November 28, the
Germans still being in possession of Cambrai.
Then on November
30, the Germans launched an incredibly ambitious counter-attack with gas
and Stormtrooper infiltration tactics. The attack took the British by
surprise, who were pushed back and by December 7, the frontlines were
the same as it had been on November 20.
In the First Battle of
Cambrai, the Germans had suffered 54,720 casualties, of whom 8,817 were
deaths, and the British had suffered 75,681 casualties, of whom 10,042
were deaths, and nearly 180 British tanks were destroyed.
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