Cambrai (Bourlon Village & Wood)

On the evening of the 23rd, Haig and Byng met to assess the merit of continuing the operation or pull back to Flesquieres Ridge. After weighing various considerations, Haig decided to continue the operations. Also on the 23rd, the 40th …

1917-11-23

132

On the evening of the 23rd, Haig and Byng met to assess the merit of continuing the operation or pull back to Flesquieres Ridge. After weighing various considerations, Haig decided to continue the operations. Also on the 23rd, the 40th Division (Major-General I. Ponsonby) attacked Bourlon Wood, and after four and a half hours of hard fighting, captured almost the whole of the wood and entered Bourlon Village.

Cambrai, 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