Editing Combined arms (section)

===First World War===
The development of modern combined arms tactics began in the [[First World War]]. Early in the Western Front, fighting descended into stagnant [[trench warfare]]. Generals on both sides applied conventional military thinking to the new weapons and situations that they faced. In these early stages, tactics typically consisted of heavy artillery barrages followed by massed frontal assaults against well entrenched enemies. These tactics were largely unsuccessful and resulted in large loss of life.

As the war progressed new combined arms tactics were developed, often described then as the "all arms battle". These included direct close [[artillery]] [[fire support]] for attacking soldiers (the [[creeping barrage]]), [[Air support#World War I|air support]] and mutual support of [[tank]]s and infantry. One of the first instances of combined arms was the [[Battle of Cambrai (1917)|Battle of Cambrai]], in which the British used tanks, artillery, infantry, small arms and air power to break through enemy lines.<ref>{{cite web |last=Palmer |first=Peter J. |url=http://www.westernfrontassociation.com/great-war-on-land/61-battlefields/955-cambrai-1917-myth-great-tank-battle.html |title=Cambrai 1917: The myth of the great tank battle |website=WesternFrontAssociation.com |date=2009-05-31 |access-date=April 5, 2017 |df=dmy-all |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304002249/http://www.westernfrontassociation.com/great-war-on-land/61-battlefields/955-cambrai-1917-myth-great-tank-battle.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Previously such a battle would have lasted months with many hundreds of thousands of casualties. Co-ordination and planning were the key elements, and the use of combined arms tactics in the [[Hundred Days Offensive]] in 1918 allowed the Allied forces to exploit breakthroughs in the enemy trenches, forcing the surrender of the [[Central Powers]].