Tanks' first use marked by Waiouru's armoured on Cambrai Day
Cambrai Day is celebrated by Armoured Corps personnel throughout the British Empire and over the weekend, 18 & 19 November, soldiers old and new gathered at Waiouru for celebrations to mark the first time tanks were effectively used in battle. On 20 November 1917, British forces with 381 tanks supported by infantry, broke through a six mile front at Cambrai to achieve a deeper penetration than in any past offensive. 7500 prisoners were taken as were 120 guns at a low cost in casualties. Unfortunately adequate infantry forces had not been provided and two thirds of the territorial gains were lost to a German counter-attack on 30 November. Even so, the Battle of Cambrai had proved that surprise and tank together could unlock the trench barrier and provide the key to a decision on the Western Front.
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/RUBUL19951205.2.31
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 13, Issue 615, 5 December 1995, Page 10
Word count
Tapeke kupu
146Tanks' first use marked by Waiouru's armoured on Cambrai Day Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 13, Issue 615, 5 December 1995, Page 10
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Ruapehu Media Ltd is the copyright owner for the Ruapehu Bulletin. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Ruapehu Media Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Log in