The Tank and Visions of Future War
70 years ago the massed tank battle of Cambrai ushered in the transformation of the mythology, imagery and practice of conventional land warfare.
On the dull and misty morning of November 20th, 1917, 1,003 guns and howitzers and 378 tanks had been assembled to break through the immensely strong Hindenburg Line, seize Bourlon Wood, cross the St Quentin Canal and capture the town of Cambrai. An important feature of this operation, so neglected before the Battles of the Somme and Third Ypres (Passchendaele), was surprise. As the troops assembled on November 19th, an eye witness recalled that 'The night was pitch black, and smoking was absolutely forbidden. Officers had instructions to shoot any man caught smoking'. The men 'suffered like drug addicts'. Though the assembly was interrupted by German artillery fire, this turned out to be nothing more than the venting of early morning spleen. At zero hour – 0630 – the artillery opened fire. 'The synchronisation was excellent', recalled a battery commander, 'and it was a most impressive sight to see the hillside burst into a perfect sheet of flame'.
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