The Fighting - this is a brief summary
The battle of Cambrai began at 0630 hours on 20 November 1917 when the British 3rd Army launched a surprise attack on Gen Marwitz's German 2nd Army using a total of almost 400 tanks.It was the first mass use of tanks in history. On the first day a six-mile-wide hole was punched in the Hindenburg Line south-west of Cambrai. It was not exploited. Two weeks later the British were back almost where they had started. Casualties on each side were about equal at 40,000.
Close to the British cemetery at Flesquieres 6 miles south west of Cambrai one of the British tanks that fought in the battle was uncovered in 1998 and is now on display in the village in a private museum and members of its crew are buried in the nearby British cemetery.
In Orival Wood Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery on the battlefield is the grave of the poet Lt E.A. Mackintosh MC. He was killed on the second day of the battle. |
