Battle of Cambrai 1917: The Dawn of Tank Warfare (WW1 Documentary)
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- Опубліковано 19 січ 2023
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The Battle of Cambrai 1917 didn't have a clear winner, but the conclusions that Germany and Britain drew from it, particularly about the use of the tank (in combinations with other arms), would have far reaching consequences in 1918.
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John Ozment, Stephen Parker, Mavrides, Kristina Colburn, Stefan Jackowski, Cardboard, William Kincade, William Wallace, Daniel L Garza, Chris Daley, Malcolm Swan, Christoph Wolf, Simen Røste, Jim F Barlow, Taylor Allen, Adam Smith, James Giliberto, Albert B. Knapp MD, Tobias Wildenblanck, Richard L Benkin, Marco Kuhnert, Matt Barnes, Ramon Rijkhoek, Jan, Scott Deederly, gsporie, Kekoa, Bruce G. Hearns, Hans Broberg, Fogeltje
» SOURCES
Boff, Jonahan. Haig’s Enemy. 2018.
Hammond, Bryn. Cambrai 1917: The Myth of the First Great Tank Battle. 2008.
Pöhlmann, Markus. Der Panzer und die Mechanisierung des Krieges: eine deutsche Geschichte 1890-1945. 2016.
Sheldon, Jack. The German Army at Cambrai. 2009.
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»CREDITS
Presented by: Jesse Alexander, David Willey
Written by: Jesse Alexander
Director: Toni Steller & Florian Wittig
Director of Photography: Toni Steller
Sound: Toni Steller
Editing: Toni Steller
Motion Design: Toni Steller
3D-Animation: James Malcom
Mixing, Mastering & Sound Design: above-zero.com
Research by: Jesse Alexander
Fact checking: Florian Wittig
Channel Design: Yves Thimian
Contains licensed material by getty images and AP Archive
Maps: MapTiler/OpenStreetMap Contributors & GEOlayers3
All rights reserved - Real Time History GmbH 2023
Watch 16 Days in Berlin on Nebula: nebula.tv/videos/16-days-in-berlin-01-prologue-the-beginning-of-the-end
Friend,
'The technology of the time from new weapons and modes of communication. The advent of Drones, Satilites, computers and Cellular devices mark death to those stuck out in the open and allow for instant communication and the exact targeting of armaments. And no one was as prepared for it as they thought they were."
Thank you.
Excellent documentary thank you for explaining this battle in detail and so clearly.
So where's the Renault 17s in all of this
Hi! So, I've slaughtered my spotted wild bore and I've got a parcel prepared to send you, please provide me with an address. Thanks!
Love,
A Warsaw Descendant
My new book Trench 1915: The Dawn of Modern warfare is out. Set in World War I from a German's perspective. Available at any stores that sell books
My great great uncle fought and died in 1917 during the battle of Passchendaele. His body was never recovered as it sank into the muddy field. His name is one of many thousands engraved on the walls of the Flanders war memorial. Lest we forget
With more than 100 tanks lost I bet the day of the tank was well and truly over after this battle.
History always looks the same when something entirely new emerges.
@@McLarenMercedes In the words of Sabaton:
It’s the nature of time that the old ways must give in
It’s the nature of time that the new ways comes in sin
When the new meets the old it always ends the ancient ways
And as history told the old ways go out in a blaze
They were so bad the British will have to either give them to their allies or admit they made a mistake. Poor Australians they can't handle some thing like the tank after Gallipoli!
Totally obsolete, better to uparmor drafthorses.
@@johnd2058 Sorry sir, we just et the last this morning. Scouts though have spotted a small herd of French generals. Saddles probably won't fit but the men can hold on to those moustachio's for a quick charge across no-mans-land. Jerry won't know what hit them.
These are the episodes I look forward to most! Picking a specific WW1 topic about a tactic, strategy, weapon, etc. and exploring it in-depth. Please keep up the great content like this!
You should play battlefield 1 !it's a world war 1 game with all these tanks and uniforms from ww1 inside this game ,it's the best
5
@@_TahsinAhmad 1
oddly there's another"The Great War"video on Cambrai,5yrs older
@@ricardorascon88 Battlefield 1 is not a world war 1 game. Everyone is running around with full auto weapons or extremely rare/obscrure firearms that were never widely adopted. It's a fun game to play but is an extremely bizarre interpretation of the war.
I like this presenter's style, very matter-of-fact and mature, sober, precise. great pronunciations of the German and French terms.
There's something chilling watching this and seeing both sides learn how to use and counter tanks. While also hearing bits and pieces of Modern warfare tactics come to life.
Still nothing beats going back into the history of WWI, there is still so much to learn. Another excellent episode, please keep on making them in between the other topics👌
if everyone learns the first lesson : "Don't go to War" i'd be very happy.
@@CountBakfromten agree 100%
I find it hypocritical that You Tube polices creators content while 90 %% of their advertisements make fraudulent claims.
really love you guys are doing dedicated documentaries of specific events. it was a little easy to loose context in the main series cuz it was like "this week a thing happened in 900 countries in one week" and im like "wait... slow down". not a criticism just really helps to rewatch the old ones with dedicated event context.
It does seem odd that the Germans were so tardy to adopt armor and then became the premier proponents of armored warfare in the next war.
Also, unpaid endorsement- Nebula is great and well worth it.
precisely why found this so interesting to explore. and thanks for watching on Nebula, great way to support us.
During the interwar period, the books and papers written by Liddell- Hart and Fuller received more attention than they did in the UK
You might say that those who lose wars are more open to new ideas that give them a better chance for the "rematch", while those who win are more complacent to keep things as they are since they won with such tactics/strategies.
You could say it made such a big impression on them that they ended up overcompensating, bigger and better being their development plan for everything, to the point where it just became ridiculous.
Your question is quite typical when it comes to many of the battlefield refinements introduced during the war. One needs to look at the High Commanders and the philosophy they entered the war with. They were very, VERY 19th century when it came to tactics and overall military applications that became available to them. New hardware such as Airplanes, U-Boats, poison gas, HE artillery en masse, machine guns, Zeppelins, Dreadnaught Class Battleships, automotive transport, battlefield telephonic communications, wireless radio, and of course, the ol' family favorite...Tanks! The senior staff was not ready and in many cases incompetent as these new innovations came available. The mindset was to have at it with cavalry, move about on the flanks toss cannon fire where needed, and plow ahead. Arrange infantry and fire at distance. (Hence all rifles were exceedingly long and ungainly in the trench environment.) The ENTIRE war became a clash of old dated tactics and the menacing crunch of a new industrial era of warfare. Trench warfare is clumsy and the result of incomplete planning. We are seeing this play out on the Ukrainian Steppe today! (Unbelievable, right?) The bottom line is that to see the war, you must don the headgear of a 19th-century Aristocrat. The direction of the war changes gears and acceptance and understanding of the new equipment only after The Aristocratic Officer Corps dies out by late 1917. Look through their lens and you will have your answer. (I hope this helped, at least a bit) Remember this one thing, it is this war that created the geopolitical changes that we still paint on to this day! One needs to gaze upon the maps of 1913, 1932, 1943, 1945, 1992, and today. Many things change but alas they stay the same.
My Grandfather switched from horses to tanks as a army colonel. I have pics of all the 1917-18 tanks and the crews.
Thank you! Most documentaries on the First world War, make it sound like the armies all just stumbled around and won or lost as a matter of luck. I've never heard about the planning and training for battles like this. Most enlighting.
Did you think that was the case ? The issue was the planning and tactics did not value the lives of men, not there was no planning
Thanks for this in-depth look at the Battle of Cambrai. I learnt a lot about the preparation & training that led up to the fighting that was new to me. Once again the professional way & high production standards of the channel have been displayed. I really appreciate your efforts in bringing history to life & showing there is still much to learn beyond the cliches & familiar stories.
Fantastic video, always love WW1 content
I heard that tanks are called so because when they were developing them, they codenamed as tanks so that the enemy thought they were just making water tanks and not weapons.
I remember how one soldier encountering tanks for the first time called them monsters. Crocodiles.
Imagine seeing something you literally had no conception of.
Today with all the fantasy we have. That's a hard idea to understand.
That's true, water tanks.
Also, as they were under the navy when being built. Its why there is a long or naval terminology regarding tanks. Hull, deck, hatch etc.
Found your channel recently and I love it. The thumbnails of colorized B&W photos really sets the theme for your channel and acts as a sort of portal to the world you are about to enlighten us on. Thanks for all your hard work.
You got quite a lot of videos to watch then😂
A little bit of trivia, the 'white-red-white' striped marking on the front 'horns' of the Mark IV tanks in the thumbnail is inaccurate for 1917. This marking was adopted in 1918 to allow easy recognition of friendly tanks, after Germany began recovering and using Beute Mark IV tanks. Mark IVs at Cambrai did not have these stripes
You've got a real eye for detail, I didn't even see the thumbnail...
I always wait till the bitter end to find out what
"the only youtube channel..." is going to be
Splendid video! Awesome coverage from the Tank Museum crew too!
Yes, the old theoretical debate of tank & infantry (& cavalry) in the breaktrough and later, and who would do what. Always very much interesting, specially when at these earlier years of mechanization i say. Great video!
Over five years have passed since the team covered the battle of Cambrai in the regular episodes.
Just to make everyone feel old, I will remind that it's more than between the archiduke's death and the armistice.
Thanks for another awesome video. I just wish that you put the 16 days in Berlin on DVD I would be buying at least 3 sets of them right away and maybe a couple more. I’m sure that I am not the only one who would like to own a copy of them.
DVD? You mean a thin circular object that must be inserted into a special playback machine connected to your TV in order to watch? Why, just why???
Well done! You're improving! We're learning a lot!
I thank you for your great effort in providing accurate, useful and wonderful information on your esteemed channel. A thousand greetings of respect, appreciation and pride. I wish you success and progress in your wonderful work. Much respect
Excellent documentary as usual. You guys are the best!
Great content, as always Jessie, TGW and RTH teams.
wow...these videos are simply outstanding! thank you for putting together this content...
Wow, such a great episode! My favorite.
I would like a video about the French mutinies. I guess a few were in total mutiny, many were in partial mutiny and some were close to mutiny. Others did not mutiny. It should be noted that mutiny usually just meant refusal to go over the top and not abandonment of positions on the front line. Russian units loaned to the western front had to be sent home when the Russian revolution overthrew the government. This probably partly destabilized the situation, but in my opinion the strains of war were the primary cause. This is a great potential topic for a future video.
The mutinies are often overblown, or deliberately misinterpreted. I second this motion.
Y’all do amazing work, please keep doing what you do.
Great episode, very interesting.
Another fascinating documentary from @TheGreatWar. Highest quality narrative, motion, edition, infographics, awesome team!
Thanks for making it and spreading the consciousness about the horrors human "creativity" can conceive.
In the wealth of topics treated, I miss specially one: THE ECONOMIC POWERS BEHIND THE WAR
It could address questions such as:
- ¿Who was making money out of so many deaths?¿How?
- ¿How were the living conditions of those working hundreds of kilometers from the battlefields?
- ¿What other artifacts not related to armament were supplied to the armies and what was their economic weight?
- ¿How were the logistics being inter-weaved, and how was corruption tackled?
..and many others in that line that I am certain are the ones that actually matter both at the beginning and at the end of any armed conflict.
Oh yes. Been waiting for this
Such an excellent series. A benchmark for UA-cam... and that's not intended as damning by faint praise.
24:58 I LOVE SPONSONS
At about 14 minutes, that ground tech trying to start the plane's engine, you just know he's had a long day.
Thanks for this outstanding research and presentation!
The greatest words of respect, praise and appreciation I dedicate to you for this wonderful and distinguished work
Thank you for your great giving and effort
I wish you lasting success. My utmost respect and appreciation
It took the Australians to properly combine tanks, infantry, artillery and aircraft to make the greatest breakthrough in WWI during August 1918. Thankfully for the Allied effort General Monash developed combined arms and devolved command to bring on armistice pleadings by Germany.
its wild how i never hear anything of general monash but he just seems like a genius from the surface looking in. wild.
that's just plain incorrect.
@@uncle7215 Oh really? Name the first battle in WWI that the Allies won using combined arms. Hint, it was that precise that it was planned to the minute, even the hot meal breaks. Let’s see what you know.
@@seanlander9321 Second Battle of the Marne springs to mind as the decisive combined arms attack… French combined arms assault that broke the German right flank and forced them to retreat… 5 French armies encircled 3 German ones.
@@uncle7215 Nope, before then.
These documentaries are fantastic. They should be a requirement to watch and learn about at every school instead of some of the topics that are drilled into our kids. On another note can anyone tell me what the chap is up to on the side of what I’m assuming is some sort of shaft that has the cogs the tracks run on. He’s using a strange tool which I at first thought was some sort of grease gun but it’s got a weird tap style lever on the back that I’ve not seen before. It’s at about 23 minute mark
I'm not 100%, but believe that is a grease gun.. or at least it's lubricating some way.
If you want to talk about how tank warfare was figured out you need to write about La Hamel and the Ameins Campaign and John Monash. He was the genius that created combined arms warfare.
No one person created it, you can watch this video to learn more about the advanced stage combined arms warfare had reached in the British army in late 1917.
@@jessealexander2695 Jesse. You shoudl read about the battle of La Hamel.
@@matthewbrook7683 You should read more balanced assessments of Monash, and the progress of combined arms warfare in the British ad French armies during the war.
A wonderful introducing episode about significance victory ( penetrating foes battle lines) through using tanks as special arrangements with cooperation of aviation efforts, Calvary, infantry & artilleries efforts .while German sides stopped British initials and counterattack successfully through the usage of alternative methods, instruments... allot thanks (the great war) channel for sharing ...
Very interesting. Learned a bit more about 1st ww tank battles. 👍
Excellent Video.... Especially like listening to David Whaley.
Kudos to you and your staff.
Russ
david WILLY
Tanks a bundle! Keep on these tracks!
Wonderful video.
Not entirely related to this vid, but WW1 and it's immediate aftermath is a period of history that doesn't really seem to get a whole lot of attention. So, I know somewhat that there's actually still sections here and there in Europe that just aren't safe because of all the munitions left over from both World Wars. Something I'm curious about, is what happened to all these trenches and fortifications that were all over the place? These weren't just foot deep holes dug for a few feet; the trenches were both deep and ran for miles in all directions. Were they all just filled in and overgrown over the last 100+ years? Are there still big chunks of Europe with miles of derelict trenches slowly crumbling away and overgrown? Both?
A simple Google search will answer that. How about "WWI trenches/battlegrounds today" ? and click "pics".
@@McLarenMercedes his was an honest comment, maybe he felt the need for a first hand experience, dunno why you felt the need to be condescending, that's bad faith. But seeing as the deed is done, I hope it at least made you feel a bit better.
@MrGoesBoom I actually had those in my back yard (an entire small valley). If you search Battle of Predeal Pass, that's what it was all about. Yes they were all overrun with vegetation and don't look like much, with pieces of shells spread all over if you dig a bit, sometimes even at the surface. Maybe even some unexploded ordnace here and there if you're not careful. I could not find any guns though.
The trenches had their walls collapse over time and they don't look like trenches anyomre, they look like shallow ditches with isometric walls instead of vertical with tall grass grown all over. Most people grew up playing with toys but I was rich in shellcasings lmao. These are just words though, I advise also taking Mr.McLaren's suggestion because it would paint a more complete picture.
@@chrisrosenkreuz23 Thanks for the info!
I have a friend who works for HALO trust and he tells me it's not at all uncommon to come across unexploded ordinance from both world wars especially in conjunction with earth removal for roads or buildings. This includes land mines which sadly kill and maim dozens every year.
Great content, very educational video.
Shared, to my subscribers, and more.
Thank yoú.
I don't know how you read those AAR of the battle by the germans and think they're underestimating them. That is some of the most level headed assessment by Germans I have ever seen. Highlighted all the pros and cons of armored warfare in neat pages
Overemphasized morale element of tanks, not realizing most of that was simply due to what the tanks actually did.
Great work.
Probably the best video on the combined arms warfare of WW1
another excellent video, thank you
Many tanks for this!
Yay! Glad to see you Jesse
1917: Tanks are just targets for artillery!
2023: Tanks are just targets for ATGMs!
Funny how nobody says infantry is just a target for bullets for 6 centuries now.
If your ever short of ideas for a video here’s a suggestion for several.
I was wondering what was needed logistically to support an army division. Both on a daily and monthly basis. Even within a national army needs will differ. A British division in Flanders would have different needs than one on the Gaza front or in Iraq or in east Africa. Separate videos for France, Italy, Germany, Australia, USA, imperial Russia.
30:28 "broken through...beyond it"
The very moment tanks succeed as a break-through weapon... cavalry is instantly revealed as too vulnerable and too slow to exploit the gaps.
This was not just "modern" warfare. It was warfare evolving faster than doctrine or materiel could be imagined.
It is kind of funny that the battle of Cambrai is taken as an example for Combined Arm Warfare since it was not. Combined Arm induce communications and constant adaptation to the situation by calling the right Arm at the right time. At Cambrai, the fire of the Artillery was pre planned to allow for the tank use but very drastically reduced its effectiveness when the gap opened and the tank and infantry overshoot gunrange. The UK had past the opportunity to work on a massive motorisation of its army to focus on breakthrough tanks. A real Combined Arm operation was led and won (though at a much smaller scale than the Cambrais battle) by the French one month before at the battle of the Malmaison (in a terrible defeat, the Nivelle Offensive). And the keys were, with the tank use, a very thorough and broad communication network, and a motorized artillery.
And in 1918, only two armies had mastered the Combined Arm Warfare : the French, and the US
Excellent content 👌 👏 👍
There is a video on a Austrian who developed a plan for a tank with a turret but no one was interested.I believe this was prior to British efforts.He was an Austrian-Hungarian engineer.Great video.
I always kind of expect the Germans to counter these tanks with a giant can opener.
"This ain't a Monty Python sketch!"
-Julian Bing, probably
I love your videos thank you
the Petersburg siege taught the American Army the dangers of trench warfare - reason why Pershing continued to hold out for a war-of-movement using state-of-the-art turrented Renault tanks
That British officer bringing the kitty into the tank at the end of the video caught my attention. I wonder what the story was about how they found that cat and how it got assigned to tank duty.
At 5:10 you see a soldier with a shovel depositing soil under the rotating wheel of the canon to compensate for the soil compaction by that wheel and thereby maintain proper targeting. I did not know that.
I have recently start watching this series, love it, there are some playlists that have hidden videos, is there anywhere to watch thise hidden videos?
I sometimes forget that Germany during imperial era was derived from infantry-focused Prussia, so it is a surprise to me at how some German commanders downplayed the role of tanks by attributing losses to infantry losing morale. But... when you think about it... it sort of makes sense.
I wonder how many knew they were offered the tank by an inventor years before and rejected it too
This video is a perfect argument to people saying tanks are obsolete. Even when tanks were first introduced it was written that the success depends on the surrounding infantry
This channel rules!! 🤘
Great vid
Excellent video!
I have heard and read about the British misuse of tanks at the Somme and their effective use of tanks at Cambrai. Any like material available on French use of their FT17? Or American use of the same tank?
we're working on a few similar videos about 1918, going to see what we can come up with on the ft17 in combined arms.
Misuse? I mean you are not wrong, and we know that now after a century of experience with tanks on the Battlefield. But it is worth keeping in mind that in September of 1916, when tanks were used on the Battlefield for the very first time, they did not HAVE that century of experience and knowledge. These were brand new weapons, and no one knew quite how they would turn out, or how to use them correctly.
That is a *very* important consideration when looking at the decisions made by historical figures. You should never be asking yourself what do we know NOW, you should be asking yourself what did they know THEN.
Given how new the tank was in September 1916 I am in no way surprised that they took the risk of deploying them in small numbers. it is also worth bearing in mind that while that first action was a failure, the Generals, and Haig in particular where encouraged enough by the results that Haig immediately ordered more. You see the same thing after Cambrai in 1917, yes, the battle was a failure, but Haig immediately put in a further order for another 1000 tanks.
When you are learning an entirely new method of warfare, mistakes are going to be made.....
@@alganhar1 Also they were the very first tanks so had mechanical problems, difficult to steer and had problems with fumes inside the tank.
The French had a much better idea of what they wanted to do with their tanks from watching how not to do things [ie, the early British failures.] Part of why they *had* the FT17s, because they knew their big tanks would be incapable to exploiting the holes they created in the line. Wish I could remember the name of the source that I read which gave more history of the WW1 French tanks, but it's been years and my remembry is cattywampus...
@@nunyabidniz2868 The Brits invented the tank so they made all the early mistakes.
6:40 location of artillery target with air surveillance - still very effective today
10:37 We saw that tactic in FURY during the opening scene when the infantry advanced behind the tanks to the gun lines.
Thanks
Real Time History - the only UA-cam history channel prepared to overcome trench obstacles with a bundle of sticks.
I love this channel.
Excellent.
Incredible achievements.
Great vid... However...
Please go on to talk about The Battle of Hamel!! Supposed to last 90 minutes, General Monash was a bit disappointed when it took 93 minutes! The first true All-Arms Battle, commanded by an Australian-German Jewish Reservist!
Monash also did massive service in civil engineering (one of his bridges is very close to my house) and the Victorian State Electricity Commission AND the grand War Memorial in Melbourne.
I agree Pete, lots of refinement and innovation.
Anyone notice at 34:16 the British officer bringing his cat onboard his tank? I mean, I can understand his desire for his emotional support animal while going into battle, but I don't think that kitty is gonna enjoy that ride AT ALL.
this episode is going in S tier
Hope you do one on automatic weapons. The Gatling Gun, the rifled musket and other improvements,
being used by both sides, and “Mass-wave” resulted in the slaughter of the US Civil War, but this was just an appetizer.
In WWI, recoil -powered, belt-fed repeating rifles, easily man-portable machine guns, led to almost as many British casualties on day one of the Somme as happened to both sides at Gettysburg in 3 days!
A 'fun fact': when these historical accounts refer to the German trenches as 'deep' they dont just mean deep for trench standards. These things were multi layered and meters deep. There are museums in Germany with funny functional and historically accurate ww1 trenches and it's no wonder these positions were impossible to take... Even with heavy artillery
12:23 1.5 tons of fascine dropping into the trench you’re supposed to be defending sounds like a bad day for the German front line infantry.
This video is fantastic
Great subject
34:18 that man has a cat on his shoulder.
18:25 interesting, so the Germans had experience in using AA guns against tanks even in ww1. The artillery being the main anti tank weapon system was also reportedly true in the early days of the Russian "special military operation", accounting for more kills than the Javelin or NLAW.
Not surprising. Big Guns have solved many problems.
manpower, artillery, air superiority are king in modern warfare.
Cells within Cells. Cells within Cells. Cells within Cells! You can pick up your bonus.
Interlinked
How many people stopped watching when the original guy had the channels stolen off him?
7:20 interesting to see what appear to be food containers on top of the tank, I assume they are there to keep hot. Clever.
Of course they underestimated it, it is full of water!
7:32 It would be funny if David asked Squire to make a re-enactment of this scene between Byng and Fuller
Great work as usual. However, in my humble knowledge I would say things a bit differently. The Hindemburglibe what not strong per se, but was rather a tactical set up the avoided big loses on the German side to which the bite and hold tactic were the right counter. The bite and hold tactics might have seemed a consolation prize at the time since everybory was hoping for a breakthrough, and was this thinking what make the Hindemburg line work, by changing tactics, the line stopped working.
Great analysis of early British tank tactics given by the Tank Museum
this got me hoping for a 110th anniversary version of the Great War Weeklies
A wonderful channel that deserves a thousand thousand greetings, great admiration and greater respect. Your esteemed channel is full of very accurate and useful information. Your effort is remarkable and great. I wish you lasting success. And I write to you with the utmost frankness and respect, and in the form of hope ((translate into Arabic)) The number of your followers will increase greatly. I am absolutely confident that you are interested in providing benefit to everyone without exception. My utmost respect, appreciation and pride to you, gentlemen
Sounds as if the pick and shovel were the most effective anti-tank weapons of the Great War.
Or the engine producers for the tanks- at least early in the war.
They didn’t change much tactically in the second WW either
ty