102 years ago today: Brits break through with massed tank attack

Realizing the uselessness of using tanks in the Flanders swamps, the British Tank Corps looked for an area where they could achieve some success. Their chief General Staff officer, Col. Fuller, drew up a plan for a large-scale raid to scour a canal-enclosed "pocket" near the strategically important railhead at Cambrai in northern France, where the gently rolling hills were more suited for tank movement. With the bloody horror of Passchendaele demonstrating the need for fresh tactics on the Western Front, the British Command adopted the scheme. While retaining Fuller's basic idea, they transformed the raid into a full-fledged offensive with far-reaching aims (including the capture of Cambrai itself and a thrust toward Valenciennes), for which they didn't have the resources because of the drain of Passchendaele. The operation would be carried out by the Third Army under Gen. Sir Julian Byng in order to relieve pressure on the French front. The offensive plan consisted of an assault against the Germans' Hindenburg Line and an encirclement of Cambrai. Nineteen British divisions were assembled for the offensive, supported by tanks (476 in all, of which about 378 were fighting tanks; the rest were supply and service vehicles) and five horsed cavalry divisions. The British armored force was moved into position at night, so as to avoid detection by German aerial reconnaissance craft. For the initial attack, eight British divisions were launched against three German divisions. Attacking by complete surprise on November 20, the British tanks ripped through German defences in depth and took some 7,500 prisoners at low cost in casualties. Bad weather intervened, however, so cavalry could not exploit the breakthrough. Mechanical failure affected half the tanks, and adequate infantry reinforcements were not made available in time to exploit the initial success. By November 29 the offensive had been halted after advancing about 6 miles. Compared to the tiny gains made at battles like the Somme and Verdun, such a distance was astonishing. On November 30 the German Second Army, under Gen. Georg von der Marwitz, launched a counterstroke with 20 divisions against the flanks of the salient created by the British advance. In the north the attack was parried, but in the south it broke through, and a disaster for the British was averted only by the superb counterattack, first by the Guards Division and later by a tank brigade. By December 5 the British had been driven back almost to their original positions. Casualties on both sides were about equal-45,000 each. Despite the British failure to exploit the initial success of their tanks, the battle demonstrated that armor was the key to a decision on the Western Front. Vid focuses not on the battle itself, but instead the British Mark IV tank used in the battle.

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