Cambrai- Fear Naught

I make no apologies for this post.

November is always a long month of laughs, tears, beer and the Last Post.

Remembrance Day; Armistice Day; the Royal Tank Regiment reunion; the Royal Tank Regiment, Royal Tank Corps, Tank Corps and Heavy Branch the Machine Gun Corps march to the Cenotaph; and tomorrow - Cambrai Day. A day celebrated by all Royal Tank Regiment soldiers, past and present everywhere.

On Monday 20 November 1917, the Battle of Cambrai marked the end of the cavalry as an effective military asset. It was the first battle to utilise a large number of tanks, well over 350. Cambrai was chosen because of the ground in the area as most of the Western Front was mud and early tanks were unable to cross this terrain.

The build up of the tank force was a surprise to the British soldiers as well as the Germans as it had been kept a secret. The aim of the tanks was to break through the German’s Hindenburg Line. This line consisted of three layers of trenches and barbed wire entanglements supplied by light railway and defended by many soldiers with guns fortified in concrete pill boxes.

Bundles of brushwood, bound together by think chains to make huge bundles or fascines, each weighing 2 tons, would be carried by each tank and dropped into the trenches to form a bridge.

As darkness fell, late in the afternoon of the 19 Nov, the tanks began to leave their positions and made for their starting positions on the front line. Dawn came up very slowly, gray and overcast with a fine ground mist. The British began to cut through their own wire, ready for the assault.

At zero hour, 0620hrs, there was a devastating blast as one thousand British guns opened up a creeping barrage. The sight of so many tanks, their huge fascines on top making them seem twice as large, lumbering ever forward was too much for many Germans, who fled in panic. Those who remained were dismayed when they realised their armour piercing bullets would not penetrate these new tanks.

When the tanks returned fire with their 6 pounders and their own raking machine gun fire, the rout and demoralisation of the enemy was complete. By midday, the tanks had broken through the three trench systems of the Hindenburg Line for the first time in the war. This was the line the Germans believed was impregnable. They advanced nearly 5 miles on a 13,000 yard front, a deeper penetration than that achieved after 3 months of fighting on Passchendaele. It was the largest gain in one day ever and over 100 guns and 8,000 German prisoners were taken, apart from the other thousands that were killed. The British casualties were 4,000. Church bells rang in London acclaiming a great victory.

This is the orders given to the Tank Corps on the eve of the battle:

SPECIAL ORDER NO 6

1. Tomorrow the Tank Corps will have the chance of which they have been waiting for many months – to operate on good going in the van of the Battle.

2. All that hard work and ingenuity can achieve has been done in the way of preparation.

3. It remains for Unit Commanders and tank crews to complete the work by judgement and pluck in the battle itself.

4. In the light of past experience, I leave the good name of the Corps with great confidence in your hands.

5. I propose leading the attack of the centre Division.

19th November 1917 Major General M J Elles CB, DSO Commanding the Tank Corps in France

The Regimental flag depicts the stages of the battlefield our forefathers fought on (Brown, Green and Red).

‘From mud, through blood to the green fields beyond’

The City of London’s most recent military memorial is a tribute to the soldiers of the Royal Tank Regiment and depicts the 5 dismounted crew members of a Comet tank and is located 100 yards from the North door of the MOD towards the Embankment. It was unveiled by the Regiments’ Colonel in Chief ‘Her Majesty the Queen’.

So when you start work today and things seem a little stressful, take a moment to think of what life was like for the soldiers of the Tank Corps 91 years ago when fighting in the horrific conditions of WW1 to ensure our freedom.

Happy Cambrai Day

Fear Naught