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The Battle of Cambrai was a British effort to break the stalemate on the western front through the use of a new weapon, the tank. The British had great hopes for the tank, which had been specially designed in order to end the bloody trench warfare in France and win the war for the allies. The British surprised the Germans by using the tanks to spearhead the assault on the Hindenburg Line in the Cambrai region.  The British had some initial success but ultimately the battle ended in their defeat. This article will discuss why the British even with their new wonder weapon, suffered a defeat at the Battle of Cambrai in November-December 1917. It will show that the British failed to anticipate several challenges and the Germans ' ability to adapt their tactics, meant that the British army failed to achieve its goals.

Since the First Battle of the Marne, the war on the western front had become a bloody stalemate. There had been many offensives and battles on the western front but the front line had hardly changed since the Fall of 1914.<ref> Keegan, John. <i>The First World War</i> (London, Pimlico, 1999), p. 45</ref> The British had failed to break through the German lines at the Somme in 1916 , and in the same year, the great German attack had failed at Verdun. The Germans had established a new defensive line in late 1916, the Hindenburg Line and this was an impressive network of trenches, minefields, and bunkers. It seemed in 1916 that there was no end in sight to the war.  However, the British had decided to develop a new weapon; the tank. The first prototype was developed in 1915, it was known as ‘Little Willy’ or the Mark One.<ref> Hammond, B. <i>Cambrai 1917: The Myth of the First Great Tank Battle</i>. London: Orion, 2009), p. 14</ref> This was initially a failure as it could not cross trenches. The tank was improved and by early 1916 the Mark three tanks was were deemed ready for action. Tanks were first used by the British in 1916 during the height of the Battle of the Somme, in a desperate attempt to turn the tide of the battle and to break the stubborn German resistance, but they proved to be very ineffective and unreliable. Many simply broke down and became sitting ducks for German artillery.

Once the German’s overcame their initial surprise at the sight of huge hulks of metal lumbering forward, they devised tactics to counter the tanks. <ref> Hammond, p. 56</ref> The British persisted with the tanks, even though they proved to be mechanically unreliable at battles such as Arras. The French used the tank at the Chemin des Dames Ridge but it ended in a disaster. However, the British in particular had been making improvements to their tanks and the Mark IV tank was deemed to be superior to anything previous and could make a real difference. The Allies if they were to push the Germans back had to break through the formidable Hindenburg Line and by late 1917 the British believed that their new tanks and tactics could help them to inflict a decisive defeat on the Germans. In late 1917 the Allies are very concerned and many believed that the tide was turning in favour favor of the Germans. They had defeated Romania and Russia was all but out of the war. The Italians had only recently suffered a serious defeat at the hands of the Austrian and German army at Caporetto.

It was to prove fateful to the ambitions of the British. However, this was not apparent in the days after the beginning of the battle and many in London believed that they were on the verge of a great victory. In many British towns and cities, the Church Bells rang out in celebration of their victory at Cambrai. The British continued to advance and, several tanks and a Welsh infantry brigade succeeded in establishing themselves in the vicinity of Cambrai.<ref>Hammond, p. 144</ref> The German High Command initially wanted to order a general retreat but Ludendorff decided to launch a counter-attack. He gathered several German divisions in the area of Cambrai. They attacked the British at several points and they are immediately successful. The German artillery had begun to inflict heavy losses on the British Tank Corps. The enemy had identified the facilities of the British Mark IV tank and they no longer were able to make a significant difference in the battle.<ref> Hammond, p. 134</ref>