British soldiers with a ditched Mark IV tank in a German trench during the First Battle of Cambrai,
British soldiers with a ditched Mark IV tank in a German trench during the First Battle of Cambrai, November 20, 1917. . Today 106 years ago, on November 20, 1917, the First Battle of Cambrai began on the Western Front. . Following the conclusion of the Third Battle of Ypres, the British were desperate for success. An offensive was planned towards the French city of Cambrai, as this was fresh ground that hadn't been ravaged much by the war. . Cambrai was also an important supply hub for the Germans. The attack were to be carried out by the British Third Army, which would deploy more tanks at once than ever before in the war, as well as new artillery techniques to break through the German lines. . On November 20, 1917, following a hurricane bombardment, the British attacked at Cambrai with 476 tanks and 110,000 infantrymen. As the British infantry only attacked 20 minutes after the bombardment, the Germans were caught by surprise and the British broke throug...