Cambrai tank

Discussion in 'Prewar' started by stolpi, May 30, 2022.

  1. stolpi

    stolpi Well-Known Member

    I toured the battlefield of Cambrai (Nov - Dec 1917) a couple of weeks ago and paid a visit to the Flesquieres tank memorial where the British Mk IV, D51, "Deborah" is on display:

    Deborah 1.jpg

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    Deborah 3.jpg

    The tanks were designed to be able to flatten paths through barbed wire for the assault troops (thus taking over the wire-cutting role of the artillery, a necessarily time-consuming and noisy process which always gave way British intentions), to cross most types of trench (to overcome the extra wide trenches of the Hindenburg line at Cambrai fascines were used) and to destroy machine gun nests. In short to break the enemy main line of resistance. For exploitation the slow cumbersome tanks (max speed 3 - 5 miles an hour) were unfit and the Cavalry still played a role. New on the Cambrai battlefield was the artillery tactic of silent registering, using maps and mathematics instead of registration fire. This artillery tactic contributed in no small measure to the initial surprise and success of the Cambrai attack.

    By the end of the first day of the Cambrai attack, 20 Nov 1917, three German systems of defense had been broken to a depth of four and a half miles on a wide front, some 5,000 prisoners had been taken with many guns, machine guns, trench mortars etc. Or as one Divisional History summed it up: "The tanks proved their worth and justified the claims made for them by their inventors; they alone had made it possible to dispense with artillery preparations, and so conceal the intentions of the British Army from the enemy right up to the moment of attack. In fact - Tanks had, once more, made possible surprise, that greatest of all instruments of victory!".

    Cambrai Map.jpg
    The Cambrai Tank Battle formed the blueprint for the 1918 battles, with the British/French relying on the tank (according to the 'inter-war apostles of armour' Fuller and Liddell-Hart) and the Germans on infantry tactics. In the counteroffensive, launched on 30 November against the Cambrai salient, the Germans successfully used infantry infiltration tactics and almost cut off the salient when their spearheads reached Gouzeaucourt. The British held their ground by some heroic action. It was not the largest attack on the Western Front, as is stated in the caption to the map (Verdun 1916/ First Ypres !?). Maybe it was the largest attack against the British since First Ypres.
     
    Last edited: May 18, 2023
  2. smdarby

    smdarby Well-Known Member

    I seem to remember when I visited Cambrai a few years ago "Deborah" was locked away in a French farmer's barn and you had to contact him to make an appointment to see it. I hadn't done this so I just peered through some cracks in the barn door! Good to see it is now on proper display for all to see.
     
    Last edited: May 31, 2022
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  3. stolpi

    stolpi Well-Known Member

    They no longer use the barn.
    Cambrai Museum.jpg

    They have done a good job and turned it into a small, sober but dignified museum. It shows many of the items that were used by the tanks and the tankcrews.

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    officers outfit and other items such as a pair of leather knee caps for protection, since the gunners had to kneel while firing the guns.

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    Tank Compass to keep direction (like a real Ironclad).

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    Lewis Gun and other ammunition used by the tank

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    A leather tank-helmet and splatter mask for tank crew & anchor mounted behind the wire cutter tanks to clear an opening through the thick barbed wire barriers of the Hindenburg Line for the follow up units (more specifically the cavalry).

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    Tank with fascine used to cross the wide trenches of the Hindenburg Line. Picture with courtesy of Mk. IV tank D-51 Deborah - revisited

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    Tank using a fascine to cross a trench, unfortunately there was no fascine displayed at the museum.

    A wooden unditching beam was attached to each tank, which was used to pull off the tank when stuck in mud.

    Unditching Beam.jpg

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    The wooden unditching beam that belonged to the tank of VC winner William Leslie Wain. His tank was knocked out at Marcoing. Part of the tank and the beam were recovered during roadworks in 2018.
     
    Last edited: Feb 18, 2024
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  4. stolpi

    stolpi Well-Known Member

    Some close-ups of the "Deborah" tank:

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    "Deborah" was a so-called 'female' tank equiped with five Lewis machineguns (two on either side and one in front). It was knocked out by German 77 mm guns hard north of Flesquieres on the first day of the Cambrai offensive, 20 Nov 1917. The tank entered the still enemy occupied Flesquieres without infantry support and fought its way through the main street of the village. The tank ran out of luck when it debouched from the village on the northern side in full view of some German gun batteries. 2/Lt. Frank Gustave Heap in command of Deborah was awarded a Military Cross for guiding his two surviving crew-members to safety after Deborah was knocked out. The other members of the 8 men crew, Lance Cpl G.C.Foot, Gunner J.Cheverton, Gunner William Galway, Private W.G.Robinson and Gunner F.W.Tipping died when the tank was hit by shell fire. They are buried in the Flesquieres Hill British Military Cemetery.

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    Model of a 'female' version of the MK IV.

    Deborah was not the only tank that was lost on the first day of the attack. The number of fighting tanks (378 were available, but not all were used) put out of action was 179: 65 tanks by direct hits, 71 by mechanical troubles and 43 by ditching or other causes. In the Flesquieres sector ('D' and 'E' Battalions) 28 tanks were hit by artillery fire. Most of them fell victim to the German 77 mm field guns deployed in an anti-tank role.

    Cambrai tank-crew-10270_2.jpg
    The five crew members of Deorah who died when the tank was knocked out at Flesquieres by 5 shells.

    Cambrai 77 mm howitzer.jpg
    German 77mm field gun which was effectivly deployed in an anti-tank role at Cambrai. Two batteries near Flesquieres accounted for almost 28 British tanks.

    After the Cambrai battle the Germans towed the tankwreck of "Deborah" to the southern outskirt of Flesquieres and buried it in a big crater. Covered under two meters of dirt, it is believed to be used as an underground enemy shelter. The tank remained hidden until 1998 when it was rediscovered. It now is on display at the spot where it originally was knocked out, along the small road leading from Flesquieres to Anneux.

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    For the full story of the tank and its crew see:

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    For more to read about the Cambrai tank battle (Nov 1917) see: What are you reading at the moment?

    See also: The story of Deborah – Association of the Tank of Flesquières
     
    Last edited: Feb 14, 2024
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  5. stolpi

    stolpi Well-Known Member

    Monument des Nations at Flesquieres

    At the eastern end of the village of Flesquieres, near the walled grounds of the local chateau the Monument des Nations, in memory of the men who participated in the offensives of the Battle of Cambrai in November 1917, was unveiled on 24th November 2007 (90 years after the battle).

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    Imitated caterpillar tracks form part of the monument ...

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    ... as is an information panel with a view across the Grand Ravine towards Havrincourt Wood ...

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    ... with a description in French & English of the Tank Battle.

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    Impression of the tank attack against the Hindenburg Line; the 51st HD was supported by tanks from "D" and "E" Battalion, 72 tanks in all.

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    The wall of the local chateau at Flesquieres next to the monument, which was incorporated in the Germans defense line. The "Deborah" tank followed the road along the wall, which leads around the corner straight into the village.

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    View of the area from the south ... across the Grand Ravin to the Flesquieres ridge. Over the fields to the left of Ribecourt (village to the right) the 51st HD's 152 Bde attacked up the ridge following the tanks of "E" Battalion, after they had overrun the forward- and main line of the Hindenburg position. Along the crest and in front of Flesquieres ran the Hindenburg support line. The village of Flesquieres is situated slightly on the reverse slope and is for the main part out of view. Many of the "E" Battalion tanks were knocked out by the German 77mm field gun batteries when they crested the ridgeline near the Monument des Nations. The same happened to the left where 153 Bde and tanks of "D" Battalion tanks attacked Flesquieres ridge. The tanks that tried to outflank Flesquieres from the west were knocked out by German field guns. Over two dozen of the tanks were blown out of action and the attack on the village of Flesquieres ground to a halt.

    Cambrai Tank Bns.jpg
    Deployment of the British Tank Battalions in the Cambrai Operation; the shaded line for "D" and "E" Battalion indicates the failed attack at Flesquieres. While on the left and right of the Cambrai battlefield the German Hindenburg Line had been broken, in the center a salient bulged towards the British line, denying General Byng's Third Army the clear-cut breakthrough. Each Tank Battalion had 36 tanks, divided into three companies of 12.

    Below: Tank brigades committed in the Cambrai battle 1917 (courtesy Major Clough-Williams Ellis , "The Tank Corps")
    Cambrai tank Bdes.jpg
     
    Last edited: Feb 18, 2024
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  6. stolpi

    stolpi Well-Known Member

    West Riding Monument at Havrincourt

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    On the eastern edge of Havrincourt stands this impressive monument for the 62nd West Riding Division; the running mate of the 51st HD (both in British IV Corps).


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    The Division emblem: The Pelican


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    On 20 November 1917, the West Riding division, the left hand assault formation of the British IV Corps, attacking from Havrincourt Wood, after some hard fighting overcame the enemy resistance at Havrincourt, which was integrated in the Hindenburg Main Line of defense. Supported by the tanks of 'G' Battalion (36 tanks), the Division advanced that day as far as the village of Graincourt and the Sugar Factory on the Cambrai - Bapaume road; a distance of nearly five miles, setting a record for a unit's one day progress since the start of the 'War in the Trenches'. By the end of the afternoon the road to Bourlon Wood and Fontaine-Notre-Dame lay completely open.

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    Not far from the monument is the Grand Ravine Cemetery.

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    The small unpaved track which leads from the West Riding monument into the Grand Ravine. To the left Triangle Wood which was within the 62nd Div's sector; beyond it operated the 51st HD attacking right to left from Trescault to Flesquieres.

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    Grand Ravine Cemetery; a lonely graveyard in a beautiful tranquil setting.

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    View of the nearby Flesquires ridge from the Grand Ravine Cemetery
     
    Last edited: Mar 8, 2024
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  7. stolpi

    stolpi Well-Known Member

  8. Uncle Target

    Uncle Target Mist over Dartmoor

    Sorry to intrude, an interesting thread adding to my family history.
    My Gt Uncle was wounded there.
    He joined the 1/8 Worcester's in 1915 fighting all through the war until 5th October 1918
    when he was shot in the shoulder while standing on a French Fire Step at Cambrai.
    It changed his life as he had been a plate layer with the railway. Becoming a ticket office clerk.

    AVM Cambrai.jpg
     
    Last edited: Jan 27, 2023

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