Battle of Cambrai ( 1917 ) The Battle of Cambrai ( 20 November – 7 December 1917 ) was a British campaign of the First World War . Cambrai , in the " Nord département " ( " Nord - Pas - de - Calais " ) , was a key supply point for the German " Siegfried Stellung " ( part of the Hindenburg Line ) and the nearby Bourlon Ridge would be an excellent gain from which to threaten the rear of the German line to the north . The operation was to include an experimental artillery action . Major General Tudor , Commander Royal Artillery ( CRA ) of the 9th Division , suggested trying out new artillery - infantry techniques on his sector of the front . During preparations , J . F . C . Fuller , a staff officer with the Royal Tank Corps ( RTC ) , was in the process of looking for a place to use tanks as raiding parties . General Julian Byng , commander of the British Third Army , decided to incorporate them into the attack . The battle is often erroneously noted for being the first mass use of tank s in a combined arms operation . However , the French had deployed large numbers of tanks in and 1917 , and the British more than Flanders in June and July . Despite the initial success of the Mark IV tank s at Cambrai , German artillery and infantry defences exposed the frailties of their armour and the vehicles became mostly ineffective after the first day . The battle was largely an artillery - infantry engagement that achieved , surprise and technical superiority against strong fortifications but weak German infantry and artillery defences , which were quickly reinforced . The British attack demonstrated that the Hindenburg Line could be penetrated and showed the value of new artillery and infantry methods , such as sound ranging and infiltration tactics that would later play a vital part during the Hundred Days Offensive . The popular perception of the battle as a tank battle was largely from writing by Basil Liddell Hart and J . F . C . Fuller , the latter erroneously claimed credit for the plan . Liddell Hart , whose position as Military Correspondent of the " Daily Telegraph " and " The Times " newspapers gave him great public influence , was a critic of Douglas Haig and attempted to use the battle to indicate a " new " form of doctrine . Several modern studies have rejected their version of events and returned to a view nearer to that of the " British Official History " . Prelude . British plan . Proposals for an operation in the Cambrai area using a large number of tanks originated from Brigadier H . Elles of the Tank Corps and the reliance on the secret transfer of artillery reinforcements to be " silently registered " in order to gain surprise came from Henry Hugh Tudor , commander of the 9th Infantry Division artillery . In August 1917 he conceived the idea of a surprise attack in IV Corps sector that his unit occupied . Tudor suggested a primarily artillery - infantry attack , which would be supported by a small number of tanks to secure a breakthrough of the German Hindenburg Line . The German defences were formidable ; Cambrai having been a quiet stretch of front thus far enabled the Germans to fortify their lines in depth and the British were aware of this . Tudor ' s plan sought to test new methods in combined arms , with emphasis on artillery and infantry techniques and see how effective they were against strong German fortifications . Tudor advocated using the new sound ranging and " silent registration " of guns to achieve instant suppression fire and surprise . He also sought to use tanks to clear extensive barbed wire defences , while supporting the tank force with the No . 106 shell fuze , designed to explode high explosive ( HE ) ammunition without cratering the ground to supplement the armour . Battle . Third Army . The battle began at dawn , approximately on 20 November , with a carefully prepared and predicted but unregistered barrage by on German defences , followed by smoke and a creeping barrage at ahead to cover the first advances . Despite efforts to preserve secrecy , the Germans had received sufficient intelligence to be on moderate alert : an attack on Havrincourt was anticipated , as was the use of tanks . The attacking force was six infantry divisions of the III Corps ( under Lieutenant General Pulteney ) on the right and IV Corps ( under Lieutenant General Woollcombe ) on the left , supported by nine battalions of the Tank Corps with about In reserve was one infantry division in IV Corps and the three divisions of the Cavalry Corps , under Lieutenant - General Kavanagh . Initially , there was considerable success in most areas and it seemed as if a great victory was within reach ; the Hindenburg Line had been penetrated with advances of up to . On the right , the 12th ( Eastern ) Division advanced as far as Lateau Wood before being ordered to dig in . The 20th ( Light ) Division forced a way through La Vacquerie and then advanced to capture a bridge across the St Quentin canal at Masnières . The bridge collapsed under the weight of a tank halting the hopes for an advance across the canal . In the centre the 6th Division captured Ribécourt and Marcoing but when the cavalry passed through late , they were repulsed from Noyelles . On the IV Corps front , the 51st ( Highland ) Division was held at Flesquières , its first objective and this left the attacking divisions on each flank exposed to enfilade fire . The commander of the 51st Division , George Montague Harper had substituted his own tank drill for the standard one laid down by the Tank Corps ; that and excessive distance between the tanks and the infantry contributed to the failure . Flesquières was also one of the strongest points in the German line and was flanked by other strong points . Its defenders under Major Krebs also acquitted themselves well against the tanks , almost forty being knocked out by the Flesquières artillery . Some accounts claim five were knocked out by an artillery officer , Theodor Krüger Field Marshal Haig ' s dispatch praised the gunner ' s bravery in his diary . There is little evidence for Krüger ' s actions , although it is possible that he may have been responsible for as many as nine tanks . were lost in the action , through German artillery - fire and breakdowns . Haig concluded that skirmishing infantry was needed , to bring the artillery crews under small - arms fire to allow the tanks to operate . The common explanation of the " mythical " German officer , ignored the fact that the British tanks were faced with the German 54th Division , one of the few divisions with specialised training in anti - tank tactics and with experience against French tanks in the Nivelle Offensive . The Germans were nevertheless forced to abandon Flesquières during the night . To the west of Flesquières , the 62nd ( 2nd West Riding ) Division swept all the way through Havrincourt and Graincourt to within reach of the woods on Bourlon Ridge and on the British left , the 36th ( Ulster ) Division reached the Bapaume - Cambrai road . Of the tanks , out of action after the first day , although only been destroyed . Of the other casualties , suffered mechanical failure and ditched . The British lost and took a casualty rate half that of Third Ypres ( " Passchendaele " ) and a greater advance in six hours than in three months there but the British had failed to reach Bourlon Ridge . The German command was quick to send reinforcements and was relieved that the British did not manage fully to exploit their early gains . When the battle was renewed on the 21 November , the pace of British advance was greatly slowed . Flesquières , which had been abandoned and Cantaing were captured in the very early morning but in general the British took to consolidating their gains rather than expanding . The efforts of III Corps were officially halted and attention was turned to IV Corps . The effort was aimed at Bourlon Ridge . Fighting was fierce around Bourlon and at Anneux ( just before the woods ) was costly . German counter - attacks squeezed the British out of Moeuvres on 21 November and Fontaine on 22 November ; when Anneux was taken , the 62nd Division found themselves unable to enter Bourlon Woods . The British were left exposed in a salient . Haig still wanted Bourlon Ridge and the exhausted 62nd Division was replaced by the 40th Division under John Ponsonby on 23 November . Supported by almost a hundred tanks and the 40th Division attacked into the woods of Bourlon Ridge on the morning of 23 November and made little progress . The Germans had put two divisions of on the ridge with another two in reserve and was reinforced . The 40th Division attack reached the crest of the ridge but were held there and suffered more than in three days . More British troops were pushed in to move beyond the woods but the British reserves were rapidly depleted and more German reinforcements were arriving . The final British effort was on 27 November by the 62nd Division aided by thirty tanks . Early success was soon reversed by a German counterattack . The British now held a salient roughly by with its front along the crest of the ridge . On 28 November , the offensive was stopped and the British troops were ordered to lay wire and dig in . The Germans were quick to concentrate their artillery on the new British positions . On 28 November more than were fired into the wood . German Second Army . As the British took the ridge , the Germans began reinforcing the area . As early as 23 November , the German command felt that a British breakthrough would not occur and began to consider a counter - offensive . Twenty divisions were arrayed in the Cambrai area . The Germans intended to retake the Bourlon salient and also to attack around Havrincourt while diversionary attacks would hold IV Corps ; it was hoped to at least reach the old positions on the Hindenburg Line . The Germans intended to employ the new tactics of a short , intense period of shelling followed by a rapid assault using " Hutier " infiltration tactics , leading elements attacking in groups rather than waves and bypassing strong opposition . For the initial assault at Bourlon three divisions of under Otto von Moser were assigned . On the eastern flank of the British salient , attacked from Bantouzelle to Rumilly and aimed for Marcoing . advanced from Banteux . These two corps groups had seven infantry divisions . Lieutenant General Thomas D ' Oyly Snow , commander of the British VII Corps to the south of the threatened area , warned III Corps of German preparations . The German attack began at on 30 November ; almost immediately , the majority of III Corps divisions were heavily engaged . The German infantry advance in the south was unexpectedly swift . The commanders of 29th and 12th divisions were almost captured , with Brigadier - General Vincent having to fight his way out of his headquarters and then grab men from retreating units to try to halt the Germans . In the south , the German advance spread across and came within a few miles of the vital village of Metz and its link to Bourlon . At Bourlon the Germans suffered heavy casualties . Despite this , the Germans closed and there was fierce fighting . British units displayed reckless determination ; one group of eight British machine guns fired over in their efforts to stem the German advance . The concentration of British effort to hold the ridge was impressive but allowed the German advance elsewhere greater opportunity . Only counter - attacks by the Guards Division , the arrival of British tanks and the fall of night allowed the line to be held . By the following day , the impetus of the German advance was lost but pressure on 3 December led to the German capture of La Vacquerie and a British withdrawal on the east bank of the St Quentin canal . The Germans had reached a line looping from Quentin Ridge to near Marcoing . Their capture of Bonvais ridge made the British hold on Bourlon precarious . Aftermath . Analysis . On 3 December , Haig ordered a retreat from the salient and by 7 December the British gains were abandoned except for a portion of the Hindenburg line around Havrincourt , Ribécourt and Flesquières . The Germans had exchanged this territorial loss for land to the south of Welsh Ridge . The Germans recovered most of their early losses and gained a little elsewhere , albeit with a net loss of ground . The battle showed that even the strongest trench defences could be overcome by a surprise artillery - infantry attack , using the new methods and equipment , with a mass tank attack as a bonus . The German revival after the shock of the British attack improved morale but the potential for similar attacks , meant that the Germans had to divert resources to anti - tank defences and weapons , an extra demand that the Germans could ill - afford to meet Wherever the ground offers suitable going for tanks , surprise attacks like this may be expected . That being the case , there can be no more mention , therefore , of quiet fronts . ( Crown Prince Rupprecht ) and showed the Germans the effectiveness of the Stormtrooper tactics , recently adopted by General Hutier against the Russians . Casualties . Sheldon wrote that both sides had and questioned the British Official History figure of casualties , calling them " inflated for no good reason " . Miles recorded British casualties from as of whom taken prisoner and an official German total of which Miles increased to the assumption that German figures omitted lightly wounded , which were counted in British casualty records . Harris wrote that and prisoners were taken . Commemoration . The contributions of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment at the 1917 Battle of Cambrai are remembered in the village of Masnières at the Masnières Newfoundland Memorial .