A Canadian Victory : Cambrai, 1918

[Maestro]

Greetings ladies and gentlemen.

A few important battles in WWI were won due to Canadian troops, or with major help coming from the Canadian Corp. (Well, at least from what we can see on the CBC and Historia channel.) So I decided to make a serie of threads about our different victories in WWI. Here is the third one : Cambrai.

Taken from : Battle of the Canal du Nord - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cambrai_(1918)

The Battle of the Canal du Nord

The Battle of Canal du Nord was a military offensive of World War I by the British First Army and British Third Army against the German troops along the Western Front in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France, from 27 September 1918 to 1 October 1918. The Canadian Corps, under the command of Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur Currie, spearheaded the assault.

The battle took place during Hundred Days Offensive, the period in which the Canadian and Allied armies repeatedly defeated the German Army in a series of battles across northern France and Belgium toward the German frontiers. Construction of the Canal du Nord, was started in 1913 but was not completed till 1961, was located approximately 7 km west of the town of Cambrai, and was a major roadblock in the advance towards that town. On September 3, when Canadian forces reached the canal, German resistance began to intensify. When Haig ordered Currie to attack over the newly made canal in early September 1918, Currie flatly refused, since the reverse side contained a heavily defended German trench line. Currie believed, however, that a night attack across bridges might work. Many British generals, including Haig, tried to defuse the idea, without success. Haig then called in Julian Byng, Currie's old colleague, to attempt to dissuade him. Currie, however, managed to persuade Byng to assist him with the attack.

Over the next week, Currie and Byng prepared for the engagement. Two divisions were sent south, to cross the canal at a weaker point, while Canadian combat engineers worked to construct the wooden bridges for the assault[3]. In the early morning of September 27, all four divisions attacked under total darkness, taking the German defenders by absolute surprise. By mid morning, all defenders had retreated or been captured. Stiffening resistance east of the canal proved that only a surprise attack had the possibility of ending in victory. Because of Canal du Nord's capture, the final road to Cambrai was open.

Battle of Cambrai

The 1918 Battle of Cambrai, also referred to as The 2nd Battle of Cambrai, was an engagement fought between troops of the Canadian Corps, British First and Third Armies and German Empire forces. The Battle of Cambrai was one in a long series of battles across the Hindenburg Line. The battle took place October 8 - October 10, 1918.

The battle incorporated many of the newer tactics of 1918, namely tanks, meaning that the battle was an overwhelming success with light casualties in an extremely short amount of time.

Although there were three German lines, spanning some 7,000 yards, the sector had been quiet for some time so it was lightly garrisoned: the 20th Landwehr and the 54th Reserve, supported by no more than 150 guns. The German defenders were unprepared for the "hurricane bombardment" by 324 tanks.

On October 8, the 2nd Canadian Division entered Cambrai and encountered sporadic and light resistance. However, they rapidly pressed northward, leaving the "mopping up" of the town to the 3rd Canadian Division following close behind. When the 3rd entered the town on October 10, they found it deserted. Fewer than 20 casualties had been taken.

Aftermath

Although the capture of Cambrai was achieved significantly quicker than expected, German resistance northeast of the town stiffened, slowing the advance and forcing the Canadian Corps to dig in.