Editing Battle of Cambrai (1917)

{{Short description|1917 World War I battle}}
{{Distinguish|War of the League of Cambrai}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Battle of Cambrai (1917)
| image             = File:Bundesarchiv Bild 104-0941A, Bei Cambrai, zerstörter englischer Panzer Mark I.jpg
| image_size        = 300px
| caption           = German soldiers recovering a British [[Mark IV tank]]
| partof            = the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] of the [[First World War]]
| date              = 20 November – 7 December 1917; 2 weeks and 3 days
| place             = [[Cambrai]], France
| coordinates       = {{Coord|50|10|36|N|03|14|08|E|type:event_region:FR|display=inline,title}}
| result            = See [[Battle of Cambrai (1917)#Aftermath|Aftermath]] section
| territory         = * British capture [[Havrincourt]], [[Flesquières]], [[Ribécourt-Dreslincourt]]
* Germans capture [[Gonnelieu]]
| combatant1        = {{Flagcountry|UKGBI}}
* {{Flagcountry|British India}}{{sfn|Miles|1991|p=394}}
* {{flagcountry|Newfoundland}}{{sfn|Miles|1991|p=398}}
{{Flagcountry|French Third Republic}}<br />{{flag|United States|1912}}{{sfn|Miles|1991|p=187}}<br />[[File:Flag of China (1912–1928).svg|22px]] [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|China]]{{sfn|Miles|1991|p=15}}
| combatant2        = {{flagcountry|German Empire}}
| commander1        = {{Flagicon|UKGBI}} [[Douglas Haig]]<br />{{Flagicon|UKGBI}} [[Julian Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy|Julian Byng]]<br />{{Flagicon|UKGBI}} [[William Pulteney (British Army officer)|William Pulteney]]
| commander2        = {{flagicon|German Empire}} [[Georg von der Marwitz]]<br />{{flagicon|German Empire}} [[Otto von Moser]]<br />{{flagicon|German Empire}} [[Hugo von Kathen]]
| strength1         = 15 infantry divisions{{sfn|Miles|1991|p=273}}<br />4 cavalry divisions{{sfn|Miles|1991|p=273}}<br />1,003 guns{{sfn|Miles|1991|p=25}}<br />476 tanks (378 combat tanks)
| strength2         = 20 infantry divisions{{sfn|Miles|1991|p=273}}<br />1,194–1,240 guns{{sfn|Strutz|1929|loc=Order of Battle}}{{sfn|Sheldon|2009|p=208}}
| casualties1       = 44,207 ({{circa| 6,000}} POW){{sfn|Miles|1991|p=273}} (47,596, 20 November to 8 December){{sfn|Miles|1991|p=382}}<br />Tanks, 20 November: 179 (65 knocked out, 71 breakdowns, 43 other)
| casualties2       = 54,720: 8,817 killed, 11,105 POW{{sfn|Miles|1991|p=273}}
| campaignbox       = {{Campaignbox Western Front (World War I)}}
}}
The '''Battle of Cambrai''' ('''Battle of Cambrai, 1917''', '''First Battle of Cambrai''' and '''''Schlacht von Cambrai''''') was a British attack in the [[First World War]], followed by the biggest German counter-attack against the [[British Expeditionary Force (World War I)|British Expeditionary Force]] (BEF) since 1914. The town of [[Cambrai]], in the département of [[Nord (French department)|Nord]], in France, was an important supply centre for the [[German Empire|German]] {{lang|de|Siegfriedstellung}} (known to the British as the [[Hindenburg Line]]) and capture of the town and the nearby Bourlon Ridge would threaten the rear of the German line to the north. [[Major General]] [[Henry Hugh Tudor|Henry Tudor]], [[Commander, Royal Artillery]] (CRA), of the [[9th (Scottish) Division]], advocated the use of new artillery-infantry tactics on his sector of the front. During preparations, [[J. F. C. Fuller]], a staff officer with the [[Royal Tank Corps|Tank Corps]], looked for places to use tanks for raids. [[General]] [[Julian Byng]], commander of the [[Third Army (United Kingdom)|Third Army]], decided to combine both plans.{{sfn|Miles|1991|pp=17–29}}{{efn|The battle is sometimes described as the first use of large numbers of [[tank]]s in combat or even as the first use of tanks at all. Although it was the first big [[combined arms]] operation, tanks had been used since the [[Battle of Flers–Courcelette]] on the Somme in September 1916.{{sfn|Harris|1995|p=62–63}}}} The French and British armies had used tanks en masse earlier in 1917, although to considerably less effect.{{sfn|Littledale|1918|pp=836–848}}

After a big British success on the first day, mechanical unreliability, German artillery and infantry defences exposed the frailties of the [[Mark IV tank]]. On the second day, only about half of the tanks were operational and British progress was limited. In the ''[[History of the Great War]]'', the British official historian Wilfrid Miles and modern scholars do not place exclusive credit for the first day on tanks but discuss the concurrent evolution of artillery, infantry and tank methods.{{sfn|Hammond|2009|pp=429–430}} Numerous developments since 1915 matured at Cambrai, such as [[Predicted fire|predicted artillery fire]], [[sound ranging]], [[Infiltration tactics|infantry infiltration tactics]], infantry-tank co-ordination and [[close air support]]. The techniques of industrial warfare continued to develop and played a vital part during the [[Hundred Days Offensive]] in 1918, along with replacement of the Mark IV tank with improved types. The rapid reinforcement and defence of Bourlon Ridge by the Germans, as well as their counter-attack, were also notable achievements, which gave the Germans hope that an offensive strategy could end the war before American mobilisation became overwhelming.{{sfn|Miles|1991|pp=291, 173–249}}

==Prelude==

===British plan===
{{see also|Western Front tactics, 1917}}

[[File:Cambrai area 1917.jpg|thumb|{{centre|Cambrai area, 1917}}]]
Proposals for an operation in the Cambrai area using a large number of tanks originated from Brigadier [[Hugh Elles]] of the Tank Corps, and the reliance on the secret transfer of artillery reinforcements to be "silently registered" to gain surprise came from [[Henry Hugh Tudor]], commander of the [[9th (Scottish) Division|9th (Scottish)]] infantry division artillery.{{sfn|Miles|1991|pp=4–6}} In August 1917, Tudor conceived the idea of a surprise attack in the IV Corps sector, he 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, was a quiet front and the Germans had built an elaborate defence in depth.{{sfn|Miles|1991|pp=17–30}}

Tudor's plan sought to test new methods in [[combined arms]], with emphasis on joint artillery and infantry tactics to see how effective they were against German fortifications.{{sfn|Miles|1991|pp=17–30}} Tudor advocated using the new [[sound ranging]] and [[Predicted fire|silent registration]] of guns to achieve instant suppression of fire and surprise. He also wanted to use tanks to clear paths through the deep barbed wire obstacles in front of German positions, while supporting the tank force with the [[No. 106 Fuze]], designed to detonate high explosive (HE) ammunition without cratering the ground, to supplement the armour.{{sfn|Hammond|2009|p=57}}

===Air support===

Two weeks before the start of the battle, the [[Royal Flying Corps]] (RFC) began to train its pilots in ground-attack tactics. Before the ground offensive, the RFC was assigned sets of targets to attack, including trenches, supply points and enemy airfields.{{sfn|McNab|2012|p=72}}

==Battle==

===Third Army===
[[File:Cambrai salient north, 1917.jpg|thumb|{{centre|Cambrai salient north, 1917}}]]
The battle began at dawn, approximately 06:30 on 20 November, with a predicted bombardment by {{nowrap|1,003 guns}} on German defences, followed by smoke and a creeping barrage at {{convert|270|m|yd|order=flip|abbr=on}} 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 (United Kingdom)|III Corps]] (Lieutenant-General [[William Pulteney Pulteney|Pulteney]]) on the right and [[IV Corps (United Kingdom)|IV Corps]] (Lieutenant-General [[Charles Woollcombe]]) on the left, supported by nine battalions of the Tank Corps with about {{nowrap|437 tanks.}} In reserve was one infantry division in IV Corps and the three divisions of the Cavalry Corps (Lieutenant-General [[Charles 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 {{convert|8|km|mi|order=flip|abbr=on}}. 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 [[Canal de Saint-Quentin]] at [[Masnières]]. The bridge collapsed under the weight of a tank halting the hopes for an advance across the canal.{{sfn|Miles|1991|p=69}} In the centre the [[6th Infantry Division (United Kingdom)|6th Division]] captured Ribécourt and Marcoing but when the cavalry passed through late, they were repulsed from Noyelles.{{sfn|Miles|1991|pp=66–67}}

[[File:Pont escaut.jpg|thumb|The bridge at [[Masnières]], collapsed by the weight of a Mark IV tank]]
On the IV Corps front, the [[51st (Highland) Division]] (Major-General [[George Harper (British Army officer)|George Harper]]) was held at Flesquières, its first objective, which left the attacking divisions on each flank exposed to enfilade fire. Harper had used a local variation of the tank drill instead of the standard one laid down by the Tank Corps.{{efn|Hammond rebutted claims that Harper's changes contributed to the British failure and wrote that they had been exaggerated by Wilfrid Miles, Christopher Baker-Carr and others. The attack was the sixth occasion when the division operated with tanks and the ground in the 51st (Highland) Division area had far more small fortifications. The methods chosen had been tested in training and were not the cause of the check at Flesquières, which was due to the presence in the German 54th Division of Field Artillery Regiment 108 (FAR 108), specially trained in anti-tank tactics and the reluctance of Harper, to commit his reserve brigade.{{sfn|Hammond|2009|pp=83–86, 435}}}} Flesquières was one of the most fortified points in the German line and was flanked by other strong points. Its defenders under Major Krebs acquitted themselves well against the tanks, almost forty being knocked out by the artillery in the vicinity.{{efn|Some accounts claim five were knocked out by an artillery officer, Theodor Krüger, of FAR 108. Haig's dispatch praised the gunner's bravery in his diary.{{sfn|Sheffield|Bourne|2005|p=348}} There is little evidence for Krüger's actions, although it is possible that he may have been responsible for as many as nine tanks. Twenty-eight 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.{{sfn|Hammond|2009|p=233}}}} The [[Lone gunner of Flesquières]] (a common explanation of the "mythical" German officer) ignored the fact that the British tanks were opposed by a specialist anti-tank unit benefiting from the experience against French tanks in the Nivelle Offensive. The Germans abandoned Flesquières during the night.{{sfn|Miles|1991|pp=59, 108}}

[[File:The Battle of Cambrai, November-december 1917 Q6291.jpg|thumb|{{centre|Men of the 16th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles of the 36th (Ulster) Division moving to the front line 20 November 1917}}]]
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 [[British 36th (Ulster) Division|36th Division]] reached the Bapaume–Cambrai road. Of the tanks, 180 were out of action after the first day, although only {{nowrap|65 had}} been destroyed. Of the other casualties, 71 had suffered mechanical failure and 43 had ditched.{{sfn|Miles|1991|p=90}} The British lost {{circa|4,000 casualties}} and took {{nowrap|4,200 prisoners,}} a casualty rate half that of the [[Battle of Passchendaele|Third Battle of Ypres]] (Passchendaele) and a greater advance in six hours than in three months at Flanders but the British had failed to reach Bourlon Ridge.{{sfn|Miles|1991|p=88}} The German command was quick to send reinforcements and was relieved that the British did not manage fully to exploit their early gains.{{sfn|Miles|1991|pp=98–100}} When the battle was renewed on 21 November, the pace of the British advance was greatly slowed. Flesquières, that 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.{{sfn|Miles|1991|pp=101–107}} The attacks by III Corps were terminated and attention was turned to IV Corps.{{sfn|Miles|1991|pp=88–93}}

[[File:Cambrai salient south, 1917.jpg|thumb|{{centre|Cambrai salient south, 1917}}]]
The effort was aimed at [[Bourlon Ridge]]. Fighting was fierce around Bourlon and at Anneux (just before the woods) was costly.{{sfn|Miles|1991|pp=108–114}} 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 Wood. The British were left exposed in a salient. Haig still wanted Bourlon Ridge and the exhausted 62nd Division was replaced by the [[40th Infantry Division (United Kingdom)|40th Division]] (Major-General [[John Ponsonby (British Army officer)|John Ponsonby]]) on 23 November. Supported by almost {{nowrap|100 tanks}} and {{nowrap|430 guns}}, 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 {{lang|de|Gruppe Arras}} on the ridge with another two in reserve and {{lang|de|Gruppe Caudry}} was reinforced.{{sfn|Miles|1991|pp=115–136}}

The 40th Division attack reached the crest of the ridge but were held there and suffered more than {{nowrap|4,000 casualties}} 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.{{sfn|Miles|1991|pp=126–136}} The final British effort was on 27 November by the 62nd Division aided by {{nowrap|30 tanks.}} Early success was soon reversed by a German counter-attack. The British now held a salient roughly {{convert|11|×|9.5|km|mi|order=flip|abbr=on}} with its front along the crest of the ridge.{{sfn|Miles|1991|pp=144–161}} 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 {{nowrap|16,000 shells}} were fired into the wood.{{sfn|Miles|1991|pp=162–175}}

===German 2nd Army===
[[File:Battle of cambrai 4 - German Counter-Offensive.png|thumb|{{centre|The German counter-attack}}]]

As the British took the ridge, German reinforcements began to arrive. By 23 November, the German command felt that a British breakthrough had been prevented and began to consider a counter-stroke and twenty divisions were assembled in the Cambrai area.{{sfnm|1a1=Rogers|1y=2010|1p=180|2a1=Sheldon|2y=2009|2pp=188–207}} The Germans planned to retake the Bourlon salient and also to attack around Havrincourt, with diversionary attacks to 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 ''[[Oskar von Hutier|Hutier]]'' infiltration tactics, leading elements attacking in groups rather than waves and bypassing strong opposition. Three divisions of {{lang|de|Gruppe Arras}} ({{lang|de|Generalleutnant}} [[Otto von Moser]]) were to conduct the initial assault at Bourlon.{{sfn|Sheldon|2009|p=208}} On the eastern flank of the British salient, {{lang|de|Gruppe Caudry}} was to attack from Bantouzelle to Rumilly to capture Marcoing.{{sfn|Sheldon|2009|p=207}} {{lang|de|Gruppe Busigny}} advanced from Banteux. The two {{lang|de|Gruppen}} had seven infantry divisions.{{sfn|Sheldon|2009|p=208}}

[[VII Corps (United Kingdom)|British VII Corps]] (Lieutenant-General [[Thomas Snow (British Army officer)|Thomas Snow]]), to the south of the threatened area, warned III Corps of German preparations. The German attack began at {{nowrap|7:00 a.m.}} on 30 November; almost immediately, the majority of III Corps divisions were heavily engaged.{{sfn|Miles|1991|p=187}}{{efn|US troops fought in the fighting on 30 November, when a detachment of the [[11th Engineer (Railway) Regiment]], working on construction behind British lines, dug reserve trenches at the village of [[Fins, Somme|Fins]]; they were later engaged in combat and suffered {{nowrap|28 casualties}}.{{sfn|Miles|1991|p=187}}}} The German infantry advance in the south was unexpectedly swift. The commanders of the 12th (Eastern) Division and [[29th Division (United Kingdom)|29th Division]] were almost captured, with Brigadier-General [[Berkeley Vincent]] having to fight his way out of his headquarters and grab men from retreating units to try to halt the Germans. In the south, the German advance spread across {{cvt|13|km|order=flip}} and came within a few miles of the village of Metz and its link to Bourlon.{{sfn|Sheldon|2009|pp=234–242}}

At Bourlon, the Germans suffered many casualties.{{sfn|Sheldon|2009|pp=255–268}} British units displayed reckless determination; one group of eight British machine-guns fired over {{nowrap|70,000 rounds}} against the German advance. The concentration of British effort to hold the ridge was effective but allowed the German advance elsewhere greater opportunity. Only counter-attacks by the [[Guards Division (United Kingdom)|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 curving from Quentin Ridge to near Marcoing. The German capture of Bonavis ridge made the British hold on Bourlon precarious.{{sfn|Sheldon|2009|pp=273–297}} On 3 December, Haig ordered a partial retreat from the north 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 a slightly smaller sector to the south of Welsh Ridge.{{sfn|Miles|1991|pp=257–258, 275–277}}

==Aftermath==

===Analysis===

[[File:Battle of cambrai 1 - front lines.png|thumb|left|{{centre|Front lines before and after the battle}}]]
The success of the first day was greeted in Britain by the ringing of church bells.{{sfnm|1a1=Miles|1y=1991|1p=278|2a1=Smithers|2y=2014|2p=198}} The massed use of tanks, despite being a further increase on previous deployments, was not new but the success of the attack and the resulting Allied press enthusiasm was unprecedented.{{sfnm|1a1=Littledale|1y=1918|1pp=836–848|2a1=Miles|2y=1991|2p=278}} The particular effectiveness of the tanks at Cambrai was the initial passage through barbed wire defences, which had been previously "supposed by the Germans to be impregnable".{{sfn|Sheldon|2009|pp=9–10}}

The victory showed that even the most elaborate field fortifications could be overcome by a surprise attack, using a combination of new methods and equipment, reflecting a general increase in the British capacity to combine infantry, artillery, tanks and aircraft in attacks.{{sfn|Sheldon|2009|p=ix}} The German revival after the shock of the British advance improved German 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,

{{quote|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.|[[Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria|Crown Prince Rupprecht]]{{sfn|Sheldon|2009|p=312}}}}

The German counter-attack showed the effectiveness of artillery, trench mortars and evolving [[Stormtroopers (Imperial Germany)|storm troop]] tactics, adopted from methods introduced by Hutier and his artillery commander, Colonel [[Georg Bruchmüller]], against the Russians.{{sfnm|1a1=Miles|1y=1991|1p=16|2a1=Sheldon|2y=2009|2p=ix}}<!--such tactics evolved in all the armies and began in early 1915 at 2nd Artois--> From the German perspective, questions arose regarding battlefield [[logistics|supply]] beyond rail heads and the suitability of the [[MG 08]] [[machine gun]] for rapid movement.{{sfn|Sheldon|2009|p=xi}} By the end of the battle, the British retained some of the ground captured in the north and the Germans a smaller amount taken in the south. The British conducted several investigations, including a [[Public inquiry|Court of Enquiry]].{{sfn|Miles|1991|pp=297–298}}<!-- PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE. This hidden text (for now) needs much more detailed and cited support before it is added back to visible main space. | Several factors have contributed to the popular perception of the battle as a tank battle, "largely from" (not what sources say exactly, not Hammond, nor Liddell Hart, nor Fuller) 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 {{nowrap|(1925–1939)}} gave him great public influence, was a critic of [[Douglas Haig]] and attempted to use the battle to indicate a "new" form of doctrine.-->

===Casualties===

According to the Statistics of the Military Effort of the British Empire during the Great War, the British forces in France, in the period of the Battle of Cambrai suffered {{nowrap|75,681 casualties,}} {{nowrap|10,042 killed}} or died of wounds, {{nowrap|48,702 wounded}} and {{nowrap|16,987 missing}} or prisoners of war.{{sfn|Stat|1922|p=326}} Wilfrid Miles, the official historian, gave British losses in the Third Army, Tank Corps and the RFC from 20 November to 8 December {{nowrap|as 44,207,}} {{nowrap|40,000 of}} them in the main battle. On the first day, {{nowrap|179 tanks}} were lost, {{nowrap|65 being}} knocked out, {{nowrap|71 suffering}} mechanical defects and {{nowrap|43 by}} other causes. the British took {{nowrap|11,105 prisoners,}} {{nowrap|98 field}} guns and howitzers and {{nowrap|forty heavy}} guns and howitzers, {{nowrap|456 machine-guns}} and {{nowrap|74 trench}} mortars. The British recorded casualties on the basis of a daily head count and during the war the Germans counted the number of patients in hospital every ten days, which omitted lightly wounded, expected to return to service in a few days, not evacuated from the corps area.{{sfn|Miles|1991|pp=90, 273–274}} After the war the Germans compiled the "''Sanitätsbericht''" (1934) the German Army Medical report of the World War 1914–1918, in which the Germans suffered {{nowrap|54,720 casualties}} at Cambrai, {{nowrap|8,817 killed}} and died of wounds, {{nowrap|22,931 wounded}} and {{nowrap|22,972 missing}} and prisoners of war.{{sfn|Sanitätsbericht|1934|p=55}}

==Memorials and cemeteries==

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-S12137, Westfront, bei Cambrai erbeuteter Panzer.jpg|thumb|A captured British tank in 1917 (Battle of Cambrai).]]
The Battle of Cambrai is commemorated annually by the Royal Tank Regiment on Cambrai Day. The contributions of the [[Newfoundland Regiment]] at the 1917 Battle of Cambrai are remembered in the village of Masnières at the [[Masnières Newfoundland Memorial]]. Cambrai Day is also celebrated by 2nd Lancers (GH) of the Indian Army on 1 December every year as Lance Dafadar [[Gobind Singh (VC)|Gobind Singh]] of that unit was awarded the Victoria Cross during this battle.{{sfn|Nicholson|2006|p=517}} The name [[Cambrai, South Australia|Cambrai]] was chosen in 1917 as the new name for the South Australian town of Rhine Villa, one of many [[Australian place names changed from German names]] during the First World War. During the [[Remilitarization of the Rhineland]] in the late 1930s, Germany named a newly built [[Kaserne]] in [[Darmstadt]] after the battle, which was later merged with the nearby [[Werner von Fritsch|Freiherr von Fritsch]] Kaserne to become Cambrai-Fritsch Kaserne.  The [[United States Army]] occupied Cambrai-Fritsch Kaserne from the end of the [[Second World War]] until 2008, when the land was returned to the German government.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.army.mil/article/11482/darmstadt-garrison-bids-germany-farewell/ |title=Darmstadt garrison bids Germany farewell}}</ref>

===British burial sites===

The [[Commonwealth War Graves Commission]] has four Memorials with the names or remains of {{nowrap|9,100 Commonwealth}} servicemen dead during the Battle of Cambrai:
* [[Cambrai Memorial to the Missing]] – the monument lists {{nowrap|7,048 missing}} soldiers of the [[United Kingdom]] and [[South Africa]] who died and have no known graves.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ww1battlefields.co.uk/others/cambrai.html |title=The Cambrai Battlefields: Louverval Memorial to the Missing |work=World War One Battlefields |year=2011 |access-date=3 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070907164919/http://www.ww1battlefields.co.uk/others/cambrai.html |archive-date=7 September 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="malvern">{{cite web |url=http://www.malvernremembers.org.uk/CWGCMemorials.html |title=CWGC Memorials |work=Malvern Remembers |access-date=28 December 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071225143907/http://www.malvernremembers.org.uk/CWGCMemorials.html |archive-date=25 December 2007}}</ref>
* Flesquieres Hill British Cemetery – 900 servicemen were buried, one third unidentified.<ref name="CWGC">{{cite web |url=https://www.cwgc.org/history-and-archives/first-world-war/campaigns/western-front/battle-of-cambrai/ |title=Battle of Cambrai |work=Commonwealth War Graves Commission |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190814180930/https://www.cwgc.org/history-and-archives/first-world-war/campaigns/western-front/battle-of-cambrai/ |access-date=14 May 2020 |archive-date=14 August 2019}}</ref>
* Orival Wood Cemetery – 200 servicemen buried.<ref name="CWGC" />
* Hermies Hill British Cemetery – 1,000 servicemen buried.<ref name="CWGC" />

===German burial sites===
The German War Cemetery on the Route de Solesmes was established before the offensive in May 1917; it accommodates the remains of {{nowrap|10,685 German}} and {{nowrap|501 British}} soldiers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.remembrancetrails-northernfrance.com/trails/the-front/german-war-cemetery-at-la-route-de-solesme-and-cambrai-east-military-cemetery.html |title=German War Cemetery at La Route de Solesmes and Cambrai East Military Cemetery |language=English |work=Office de tourisme du Cambrésis |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211127232530/http://www.remembrancetrails-northernfrance.com/trails/the-front/german-war-cemetery-at-la-route-de-solesme-and-cambrai-east-military-cemetery.html |archive-date= Nov 27, 2021 }}</ref>

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|20em}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last=Hammond |first=B. |title=Cambrai 1917: The Myth of the First Great Tank Battle |publisher=Orion |location=London |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-7538-2605-8}}
* {{cite book |title=Men, Ideas and Tanks: British Military Thought and Armoured Forces, 1903–1939 |last=Harris |first=J. P. |year=1995 |publisher=Manchester University Press |location=Manchester |isbn=978-0-7190-4814-2}}
* {{cite magazine |last=Littledale |first=Harold A. |date=December 1918 |title=With the Tanks: Part I Anatomy and Habitat |magazine=The Atlantic |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1918/12/with-the-tanks-i-anatomy-and-habitat/646627/ |pages=836–848 |via=The Atlantic |url-access=subscription |issn=1072-7825}}
* {{cite book |last=McNab |first=Chris |year=2012 |title=Battle Story: Cambrai 1917 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DuESDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT72 |publisher=The History Press |location=Stroud |isbn=978-0-7524-8371-9}}
* {{cite book |series=History of the Great War Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence |title=Military Operations France and Belgium 1917: The Battle of Cambrai |volume=III |last=Miles |first=W. |year=1991 |orig-year=1991 |edition=Imperial War Museum & Battery Press |publisher=[[HMSO]] |isbn=978-0-89839-162-6}}
* {{cite book |title=The Fighting Newfoundlander: A History of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment |last=Nicholson |first=G. W. L. |author-link=G. W. L. Nicholson |year=2006 |orig-year=1964 |publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press |location=Montreal |edition=Carleton Library |isbn=978-0-7735-3133-8}}
* {{cite book |title=Landrecies to Cambrai: Case Studies of German Offensive and Defensive Operations on the Western Front 1914–17 |editor-last=Rogers |editor-first=D. |year=2010 |publisher=Helion |location=Solihull |isbn=978-1-906033-76-7}}
* {{cite book |ref={{harvid|Sanitätsbericht|1934}} |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Sanitätsbericht über das Deutschen Heeres, im Weltkriege 1914–1918 Die Krankenbewegung bei dem Deutschen Feld- und Besatzungsheer |trans-title=Medical Services of the German Army During the World War 1914–1918 Transport of Casualties about the German Field and Garrison Armies |year=1934 |publisher=Verlag Ernst Siegfried Mittler und Sohn |location=Berlin |volume=III |language=de |oclc=493867080}}
* {{cite book |title=Douglas Haig: War Diaries and Letters 1914–1918 |last1=Sheffield |first1=G. |last2=Bourne |first2=J. |year=2005 |publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson |edition=1st |isbn=978-0-297-84702-1}}
* {{cite book |title=The German Army at Cambrai |last=Sheldon |first=J. |year=2009 |publisher=Pen & Sword |location=Barnsley |isbn=978-1-84415-944-4}}
* {{cite book |last=Smithers |first=A. J. |title=Cambrai: The First Great Tank Battle |year=2014 |orig-year=1992 |publisher=Pen & Sword |location=Barnsley |isbn=085052-268-4}}
* {{cite book |ref={{harvid|Stat|1922}} |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Statistics of the Military Effort of the British Empire During the Great War, 1914–1920 |publisher=HMSO |location=London |year=1922 |url=https://archive.org/details/statisticsofmili00grea/ |edition=online scan |access-date=30 May 2021 |url-access=registration |via=Archive Foundation}}
* {{cite book |last=Strutz |first=Georg |series=Schlachten des Weltkrieges: In Einzeldarstellungen bearbeitet und herausgegeben im Auftrage des Reichsarchivs. Unter Benutzung der amtlichen Quellen des Reichsarchivs |volume=31 |title=Die Tankschlacht bei Cambrai 20–29 November 1917 |publisher=German Government Record Office |year=1929 |location=Oldenburg |language=German |trans-title=The Tank Battle of Cambrai, From 20–29 November 1917 |oclc=929262282}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite thesis |last=Fasse |first=Alexander |title=Im Zeichen des "Tankdrachen". Die Kriegführung an der Westfront 1916–1918 im Spannungsverhältnis zwischen Einsatz eines neuartigen Kriegsmittels der Alliierten und deutschen Bemühungen um seine Bekämpfung |trans-title=The "Tank Dragon": Warfare on the Western Front 1916–1918 and the Conflict Between a New Allied Weapon of War and German Efforts to Counter It |chapter=Chapter 9, 'From mud, through blood, to the green fields beyond'. Tanks and tank defence in the Battle at Cambrai, November–December, 1917 |pages=312–466 |language=de |type=PhD |chapter-url=http://edoc.hu-berlin.de/dissertationen/fasse-alexander-2007-06-21/PDF/fasse.pdf |access-date=12 January 2015 |year=2007 |publisher=Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin |location=Berlin |oclc=724056938|doi=10.18452/15684}}
* {{cite thesis |last=Hammond |first=C. B. |title=The Theory and Practice of Tank Co-operation with other Arms on the Western Front during the First World War |year=2005 |url=http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.433696 |access-date=14 January 2018 |degree=PhD |publisher=University of Birmingham |type=pdf |id=uk.bl.ethos.433696 |url-access=registration |oclc=500192984}}
* {{cite book |title=Douglas Haig and the First World War |last=Harris |first=J. P. |year=2009 |orig-year=2008 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |edition=repr. |isbn=978-0-521-89802-7}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Battle of Cambrai (1917)}}
* [https://archive.today/20120805113207/http://www.history.army.mil/html/reference/army_flag/wwi.html U.S. Army Center of Military History: World War I Campaigns]
* [https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/battles/battles-of-the-western-front-in-france-and-flanders/the-cambrai-operations-1917-battle-of-cambrai/ The Cambrai Operations: 20 November to 7 December 1917 from the British Army in the Great War]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060204115938/http://www.1914-1918.net/sacredground/cambrai/Bat21phototour.htm the battlefield today]
* [https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/maps/cambrai.jpg Map 1914–1918.net]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20170928044926/http://www.thebattleofcambrai.co.uk/ Photos of the battlefield taken 89 years to the month of the 1917 battle]
* [https://sites.google.com/site/landships/home/narratives/1917/cambrainarratives Lists of individual tanks and their actions at Cambrai]

{{World War I}}
{{Tank battles|style=wide}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cambrai 1917}}
[[Category:Battles in 1917]]
[[Category:1917 in France]]
[[Category:Battles of the Western Front (World War I)]]
[[Category:Military history of Cambrai]]
[[Category:Battles of World War I involving Newfoundland]]
[[Category:Battles of World War I involving the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Battles of World War I involving the United States]]
[[Category:Battles of World War I involving Germany]]
[[Category:Battle honours of the Rifle Brigade]]
[[Category:Battle honours of the King's Royal Rifle Corps]]
[[Category:November 1917 in Europe]]
[[Category:December 1917 in Europe]]
[[Category:Tank battles involving France]]
[[Category:Tank battles involving Germany]]
[[Category:Tank battles involving the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Tank battles involving the United States]]
[[Category:Tank battles of World War I]]
[[Category:Battles of World War I involving France]]