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1918 German pen and ink drawing of the road to Cambrai, France. Two smaller trees seem to serve as the good and bad thief on either side of the crucified Jesus Christ.
Detail showing the plaque for 1918 from the monument to the Tank Corps, Pozières, France. The base bears plaques commemorating the Tank Corps and the years 1916, when tanks were first used in battle, 1917, when they were proven to be a weapon that could change the war, and 1918, when tanks were decisive in the Allied victory. The plaques for each year list the engagements in which the Corps fought. © 2013 by John M. Shea
French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau greeting General Fernando Tamagnini, commander of Portuguese forces on the Western Front.
Bourlon and Bourlon Wood. From The Tank Corps by Major Clough Williams-Ellis & A. Williams-Ellis.
Map of the Trentino, part of "Italia Irredenta," unredeemed Italy: Venezia Tridentina (Trentino and Alto Adige)
". . . operations took place between the nights of November 15–18 [1917]. The tanks were hidden under trees and in the ruins of shelled houses. The 1st Brigade was hidden in the western edge of Havrincourt Wood, of which the Germans actually held the eastern extremity, 3,000 yards away. The 2nd Brigade was in Dessart Wood, two miles south of Havrincourt. And 3rd Brigade, having no convenient wood in which to hide, was concealed under camouflage netting in and about Gouzeaucourt and Villers-Guislan. . . . The whole operation was highly successful. Movements had been carried out so secretly and the tanks and petrol dumps so well concealed that even most British troops in the area didn't know they were there.But on the night of November 18th, thirty-six hours before the attack was to start, the secret leaked out." ((1), more)
"Special Order No. 61. Tomorrow the Tank Corps will have the chance for which it has been waiting 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 for 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 their hands.5. I propose leading the attack in the centre division.Hugh Elles, Brig.Gen.Commanding Tank Corps." ((2), more)
"At ten minutes past six, 'Hilda' and all the front tanks along the line began to move forwards. Engines which had been purring at idling speed broke into a loud roar. Slowly, the tanks approached the British front line trenches. And then, just as they began to head into No Man's Land at zero hour, 6.20 a.m., there was a devastating blast as the 1,000-gun artillery barrage opened up from behind. At the same time, from out of the sky swept squadrons of the Royal Flying Corps, flying low and spraying the German trenches with machine-gun fire. The battle of Cambrai had begun." ((3), more)
"On November 16 Clemenceau formed his new government with himself as the minister of war. In his ministerial declaration before the Chamber of Deputies on November 20, Clemenceau promised a 'redoubling' of France's efforts and an end to political intrigues and crises: 'Neither personal considerations, nor political passions will turn us from our duty. . . . No more pacifist campaigns, no more German intrigues. Neither treason, nor half treason. War. Nothing but war.'" ((4), more)
"The next day (November 21) saw composite companies of Tanks fighting in co-operation with new infantry.But though the infantry was new, it was unfortunately not fresh. Sir Julian Byng had no rested troops at all at his disposal. It may be said that the whole of the subsequent history of the battle and its sequel hinges up these two points. All our infantry was weary in the extreme, and most of it had never co-operated with Tanks before." ((5), more)
(1) After suspending the Third Battle of Ypres on November, 6, 1917, the British prepared to launch the largest tank offensive yet seen. Three tank brigades, 380 tanks in all, most of them Mark IVs, were concealed and prepared for a November 20 attack near Cambrai, France. Some British prisoners taken in trench raids told their German interrogators of the pending tank attack and its date. The intelligence, combined with reports from German air reconnaissance of increased traffic behind British lines, led German Second Army commander General von der Marwitz to move reinforcements to the area, although he thought an attack unlikely.
The Battle of Cambrai by Brian Cooper, page 86, copyright © Bryan Cooper 1967, publisher: Stein and Day, publication date: 1968
(2) Order of November 19, 1917, the day before the Battle of Cambrai, from Hugh Elles to the commanders of the tanks taking part in the battle. British commander Douglas Haig had suspended the Third Battle of Ypres, his great hope for victory, on November, 6, and he had no great expectactions for the largest tank offensive yet seen. On the eve of the battle, three tank brigades, 380 tanks in all, most of them Mark IVs, were concealed and prepared to attack near Cambrai, France.
The Battle of Cambrai by Brian Cooper, pp. 90–92, copyright © Bryan Cooper 1967, publisher: Stein and Day, publication date: 1968
(3) After suspending the Third Battle of Ypres on November, 6, 1917, the British launched the largest tank offensive yet seen on November 20 with three tank brigades, 380 tanks in all, most of them Mark IVs, near Cambrai, France. The plan called for the tanks to advance to the enemy trenches before running parallel to them, gunning down the defenders, then releasing fascines, great wire-bound bundles of logs, into the trench allowing the tanks to cross. Where they executed this plan, and were well coordinated with the infantry, they succeeded. The tanks were named. Brigadier General Hugh Elles, commander of the Tank Corps, rode 'Hilda' into the battle.
The Battle of Cambrai by Brian Cooper, page 97, copyright © Bryan Cooper 1967, publisher: Stein and Day, publication date: 1968
(4) The government of French Prime Minister Paul Painlevé fell on November 13, 1917, two months after its formation. Painlevé's government fell after mutinies in much of the French army in May and June and the Bolshevik Revolution at the beginning of November, in a storm of charges of collaboration with Germany and outright treason directed against pacifists, socialists, the leftist press, and some close to Painlevé. President Raymond Poincaré asked Georges Clemenceau to form a new government.
Pyrrhic Victory; French Strategy and Operations in the Great War by Robert A. Doughty, page 402, copyright © 2005 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College, publisher: Harvard University Press, publication date: 2005
(5) After suspending the Third Battle of Ypres on November, 6, 1917, the British launched the largest tank offensive yet seen on November 20 with three tank brigades, 380 tanks in all, most of them Mark IVs, near Cambrai, France. The plan called for the tanks to advance to the enemy trenches before running parallel to them, gunning down the defenders, then releasing fascines, great wire-bound bundles of logs, into the trench allowing the tanks to cross. Where they executed this plan, and were well coordinated with the infantry, they succeeded. The troops who entered the battle on November 21 were exhausted and had no experience or training with the tank brigades.
The Tank Corps by Clough Williams-Ellis & A. Williams-Ellis, pp. 114–115, publisher: The Offices of "Country Life," Ltd. and George Newnes, Ltd., publication date: 1919
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