Cambrai (Havrincourt Village)

The 62nd Division with G and E battalion tanks had carried most of their first line objective within a couple of hours, including the German trenches in front of Havrincourt. Captain Soltau and remnants of the 84th German Infantry Regiment, …

1917-11-20

128

The 62nd Division with G and E battalion tanks had carried most of their first line objective within a couple of hours, including the German trenches in front of Havrincourt. Captain Soltau and remnants of the 84th German Infantry Regiment, however, were still holding the village itself. The British 2nd and 6th Battalions of West Yorkshires attempted to enter the village, but they were driven back by a concentration of machine gun fire.

Havrincourt Village, France

The Battle of Cambrai was a British attack followed by the biggest German counter-attack against the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) since 1914, in the First World War. The town of Cambrai, in the département of Nord, was an important supply point for the German Siegfriedstellung and capture of the town and the nearby Bourlon Ridge would threaten the rear of the German line to the north. Major General Henry Tudor, Commander, Royal Artillery (CRA) of the 9th (Scottish) Division, advocated the use of new artillery-infantry techniques on his sector of the front. During preparations, J. F. C. Fuller, a staff officer with the Tank Corps, looked for places to use tanks for raids. General Julian Byng, commander of the British Third Army, decided to combine both plans. The French and British armies had used tanks in mass earlier in 1917, although to considerably less effect.

Wikipedia: Battle of Cambrai (1917)

German

British