Britain’s Tank Museum is releasing a three-part documentary ahead of the Battle of Cambrai Centenary next week, telling the story of the first mass tank attack in history.
More than 400 tanks were used to pierce the the formidable defences of the German Army’s Hindenburg Line in Northern France on 20 November 1917.
Visiting key sites around Cambrai, and using archive interviews with veterans, David Willey, Curator of The Tank Museum, explains how after earlier setbacks, ‘the tank shows its full potential on the battlefield’ for the first time in WW1.
Cambrai, he says ‘was the test bed for new technology and tactics, that would eventually help win the war for the Allies.’
Watch Cambrai: The Tank Corps Story on YouTube. The Tank Museum, based at Bovington in Dorset, is the regimental museum of Britain’s Royal Tank Regiment.
The Royal Tank Regiment will be taking part in a week of Centenary commemorations In Cambrai, opening on Monday November 20. Events include a sound & light show on the facade of the Hôtel de Ville (Town Hall); the opening of the Cambrai Tank Museum 1917, with the surviving Mark IV tank Deborah as its centrepiece, and a closing military parade on November 26. For details see Cambresis 14-18.
Images courtesy of The Tank Museum
Posted by: CN Editorial Team