Book description
The Battle of Cambrai has become synonymous with one of the Allies'
first large-scale use of tanks on the Western Front. Cambrai certainly
saw over 450 Mark IV tanks lumber across No Man's Land and penetrate the
Hindenburg Line. For the Germans on the one side of these defences the
sheer scale of these 'iron monsters' was terrifying, however they
quickly rallied and the battle was about much more than the tanks
deployed. Chris McNab explores how new techniques of sound-ranging and
artillery strategy played a greater part on the battlefield than the
tanks which have dominated the history of the battle. At dawn on 20
November 1917 over 1,000 guns fired on German positions and 400 tanks
and thousands of men stepped out into the barren land between the
trenches. At first, it seemed that success was inevitable, with over 5
miles of ground gained - a significant amount for such an operation,
however on the first day of battle 180 tanks were out of action and the
attack began to flounder. After days of attack and counterattack, both
sides had gained ground, but no definitive success and with over 70,000
casualties. Yet, Cambrai was an important training ground for both
sides, proving the effectiveness of new tactics that would lead to
greater victories later in the war.
Chris McNab is a freelance writer and historian, who has written a
number of bestselling titles on the history of warfare and weaponry. His
books include: The Machine Gun Story, lThe World War I Story, The World
War II Story (all, The History Press) and The Somme 1916 (Pitkin
Publishing).
