Battle Of Cambrai Research Paper

The Battle of Cambrai, from the 20th November to the 7th December 1917, was the first British campaign in World War One that tanks were used successfully by demonstrating the fact that the Hindenburg line could be penetrated. The town of Cambrai is in the North of France near the border between France and Germany. By 1917, Cambrai had become one of the most important railheads and HQ towns behind the German lines. In front of it lay the immensely powerful Siegfried Stellung - better known to the British as the Hindenburg Line. So strong was the defensive position here that German Divisions decimated during the Third Battle of Ypres were sent here to recuperate and refit. It included two lines of fortifications, with barbed wire belts tens of yards wide, concrete emplacements and underground works. A third parallel line was also under construction.

The initial plan proposed by J.F.C. Fuller in June of 1917 and almost simultaneously proposed by Henry Hugh Tudor, was that the tanks would sweep around the back of Cambrai and encircle the German forces. Both plans were taken up by the commander of the British Third Army, Julian Byng and the final plan was approved by Douglas Haig in September 1917 after another failure at Ypres. The plan was quite complex but basically the
The Germans had exchanged this territorial loss for a sweep of land to the south of Welsh ridge. The total casualties for both sides were around 45,000 each with 11,000 Germans and 9,000 British taken prisoner. In terms of territory the Germans had recovered the early losses and a little more. Despite the outcome, the battle was seen as evidence that even the strongest trench defenses could be overcome. The British had seen the advantage of tanks while the German command had seen the potential of new infantry