battle where tanks first introduced in ww1

The British had learnt from their mistakes. They could work out the range, bearing and elevation needed to bombard the area without having to use ranging shots first. British Artillery gun batteries could now use these new maps to plot their position and that of the intended target.

By 1917 the British Army’s Field Survey Companies, with the help of old maps and aerial photographs, were able to produce accurate maps of the front line and beyond, deep into enemy territory.

This new method of indirect fire could also deliver smoke shells to the correct location to cover the advance of the tanks and infantry. It enables shells to be fired on German trenches without first alerting the soldiers with ranging shots, which enabled them to seek shelter in deep dugouts before the main bombardment fell on their position. Predicted artillery fire is a method of shelling enemy positions using detailed calculations and maps: often called ‘map shooting’. This was achieved through night-time transportation of supplies, men, tanks and guns to the front line to avoid detection and not following the traditional tactic of using artillery to ‘soften up’ enemy trenches days before the actual attack went forward. The initial attack was a success because the enemy were taken by surprise. This new tactic was called ‘combined-arms warfare’. It was the new tactical way of combining airpower, artillery, infantry and armour by using infantry infiltration tactics, predicted artillery fire, sound ranging, battlefield intelligence and infantry-tank co-ordination.

The initial success of the British attack on the 20th November cannot just be put down to the use of tanks in large numbers. What is normally not discussed are the advances in technology and tactics on both sides. ‘The first time tanks were massed together for an attack occurred on 20th November 1917 during the Battle of Cambrai.’ This often-used statement has been the focus of many accounts of that battle.

Battle where tanks first introduced in ww1