The parts of this sophisticated system were falling into place, but in the winter of 1917, at Bourlon Wood, Flesquieres and Masnieres, they weren’t quite there yet.Code: Select all = The Battle of Cambrai was a vital part of the learning process the British Army went through as it became the army that won the First World War.
We’ll continue to look at developments during 1918 on this blog. The Hundred Days demonstrated two elements missing at Cambrai – a willingness amongst commanders to shut down a successful attack before it got bogged down, and the resources to quickly launch another in a different area.
Men of war 2 modify tanks full#
This system would reach its full potential at Amiens on the 8 th August 1918, a battle that began the Hundred Days Offensive, which led to victory for the Allies. Artillery, infantry, tanks, aircraft, logistics, staff and signals had all worked together as a system to launch a successful attack with complete surprise against strong defences. The importance of coordination between different arms and services had been shown to dramatic effect. The second reason for Cambrai’s significance is the effect the lessons learned from it would have in 1918. Despite political pressure he kept his job, but the affair weakened his position and further polluted relations between Britain’s political and military leadership. General Byng, who had commanded the battle, put forward another factor – poor training of the soldiers in the front line.įield Marshal Haig, Commander in Chief of the BEF and Byng’s superior, accepted ultimate responsibility for the outcome, arguing that his decision to continue the battle had tired men out who were then unable to resist the Germans. This concluded that a number of factors were to blame, including the strength and surprise of the German attack, the lack of any British doctrine for defensive fighting and poor intelligence of the impending attack. A perception that the Army had not informed its political leadership of the full scale of the counterattack led to a Court of Inquiry being established to determine what had gone wrong. In Britain the shock of the German counterattack hit a nation still celebrating the successes of the 20 th November.
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