Thank you for this most informative documentary, very well made. My grandfather was tankman that saw action at Cambrai and earned a Military Medal there. He survive the war but died from a tragic accident when back on civvy street.
My great grandfather was declared missing, presumed killed in action at the battle of Cambrai. Walter Stacey. 7th battalion Somerset light Infantry. He was killed in the massive German counter-attack on the 30th November 1917. In 2008 I travelled to his last known position on the flat ground of the slopes outside Masniere, and collected a container of soil which I returned to Somerset. I interred the soil, along with his lost spirit into the grave of his widow Bessie-Kate to whom he never returned. The local newspapers covered the story, and did a center page spread on my journey fromAustralia, and Walters final battle at Cambrai; the article was titled. ‘The Heros return’. Walters name is etched in marble at the nearby Louvravel memorial. Their name liveth forevermore.
Two years on and it only has 30K views??? This is a proper documentary and only 30K viewers!? advertise this more. This deserves more viewers. Really enjoyable and informative
I'd almost feel bad if I didn't say good job. One of the rare examples of actually informative and interesting tank Documentaries (Or however you want to categorize this) that doesn't suffer from inaccuracy or bias. You'd be doing the community a great service by making this a small series or something examining crucial and interesting tank battles. edit: Re-watched and (again) had to comment. This time on the absolutely stellar production and editing. The bar has been set quite high. Personally, I'd like to see something on the battles of Khalkhin Gol, the tank usage there, and lessons learned (and not learned) about armored warfare for WW2. It's something I definitely hear mentioned more than talked about. If anyone could do it, it's the gents at the Tank Museum. Again, great job.
This video was perfect! The special effects to make the place names appear in the landscape, coupled with the maps, and recent pieces of information (the excavation of the wrecked tank), are the things that I found best (in addition to the brilliant and charismatic curator of the Tank Museum Bovington) :)
What did make me smile was when he is walking along, with a massive Mark IV tank trundling behind him like an obedient pet. It's as if it's taken a liking to him (which, seeing as he is the actual Curator of the Tank Museum at Bovington, sort of makes sense.) :D
Thank you all for putting in so much hard work to give us this incredibly informative and inspirational documentary. It felt like I was there, and I've learned so much.
In all honesty, this is probably the best documentary about this battle that I have ever watched. Would we be able to see more like this in the future?
All I can really say is .. "wow..." How good was that? David you are not only a british... but a true WORLD Asset!! You keep us informed and keep the lessons learned from history right at our fingertips. BBC, Discovery and History Channels can only DREAM of content this good!! TV, and other Content awards..... eat your dang hearts out!!!!
Thank you for posting such informative content. I’m a Canadian army armoured reservist and I never realized that Cambrai was the origin of the “pace sticks” (I forget the actual name of them since I’m drinking) our Sgt Maj’s carry.
Excellent documentary. As someone already said, David Willey is a great narrator. When I saw David Willey first, in a Great War episode, I thought he was just a very convincing museum guy, but now I think he is THE star of tank documentary genre.
WWI documentaries require nothing less than perfect production value to hold interest . This documentary achieves just that , very well done , I will undoubtedly watch it multiple times .
To bad the British hadn´t thought about building mobile bridges at this time, a breakthrough at Cambrai could have shortened the war and saved a lot of lives. As a former Tank battallion engineer it would have been thrilling to take part in this offensive. That´s the spirit, carry on lads.
"I just got shot. It's very annoying." Typical British humor in the face of danger. It must have been hell for everyone to fight back then. Esp. facing a tank, slow and cumbersome as they were. Brave men all. Good documentary, very interesting.
My Great Uncle Roy was killed at Cambrai, Corporal Roy James Oldcorn 8th/9th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles. Still have the memorial Plaque and his medals.
One of the biggest impediment to any kind of new weapon is the old thinking of the General staff. Like the commandos were used on the line instead of being used for what they were trained to do. I love a general's comment on issuing repeating rifles: "They'll waste bullets."
I really enjoyed this documentary, knowing nothing of tanks. Been enjoying more of your Tank Chats and others on your channel, but I hope you get a chance produce more long documentaries like this one! :) Really great!
More of these please. I wish I could go to the museum but I live in Americana’s don’t have the means to get there. I hope to be able to go there someday.
It’s well worth it we Brits are really lucky to have lots of great museums. Would love to visit the US and see the Smithsonian and other US museums myself
I once played the SPI wargame "To the Green Fields Beyond" as the British. After writing out orders for the preliminary bombardment we started to play. Just at that moment a large fireworks display began a couple of km away as part of a special event. It was the perfect accompaniment.
This wonderful documentary implies that Britain has carries on the tradition of Cambrai. Today with less than 200 tanks operational in formations not larger than a Brigade, the country operates less than a token force and frightens nobody.
Who are we waiting to frighten 100 years on? Maybe we should be banning football again and making sure all men and boys practice archery on the village green?
@@MrTreacletime You don't need to frighten, but you do need to deter. If the original poster is right about the size of the tank force in UK, you indeed need to maintain more machines. For deterrence. Not against other European countries or something like that, but just in general.
My relative private James glover age 21 died from injuries he sustained during this battle re-watching the documentarys about the battle of cambrai hits different knowing he died so far from home as he was born on a small island in newfoundland
I had a relative who was in the Motor Machine gun Service. He served in Europe early on in ww1, and was moved into the "heavies". He rejoined the mmgs, and ended the war in India. He never recovered from his time in a tank, and described it as hell.
My Grandfather was 16 or 17 when he volunteered. He'd driven a butcher's cart up York Rd at 12yrs. That's a horse drawn cart. He was always good with animals and said "However thirsty the horses were in France they wouldn't drink dirty water"
A very interesting subject, which I only knew the basics about before watching your excellent documentary. I think the film you put together is of a television production quality and I particularly liked your use of first hand accounts to illustrate your subject. Very well presented to boot. 👏👏👏
The battle of Cambrai became the model and inspiration for the German Blitzkrieg tactics in WW2. Though the RFC got a cursory mention they lost hundreds of aircraft to ground fire whilst supporting the advance.
Thank you for this most informative documentary, very well made.
My grandfather was tankman that saw action at Cambrai and earned a Military Medal there.
He survive the war but died from a tragic accident when back on civvy street.
Absolutely fantastic production, the equal of anything from the BBC. Thank you Tank Museum.
Better than anything on the BBC these days with there very Woke views .
Why would you insult the man by comparing his work to the BBC???
My great grandfather was declared missing, presumed killed in action at the battle of Cambrai.
Walter Stacey. 7th battalion Somerset light Infantry. He was killed in the massive German counter-attack on the 30th November 1917.
In 2008 I travelled to his last known position on the flat ground of the slopes outside Masniere, and collected a container of soil which I returned to Somerset. I interred the soil, along with his lost spirit into the grave of his widow Bessie-Kate to whom he never returned.
The local newspapers covered the story, and did a center page spread on my journey fromAustralia, and Walters final battle at Cambrai; the article was titled. ‘The Heros return’.
Walters name is etched in marble at the nearby Louvravel memorial.
Their name liveth forevermore.
I just had to stop and say how great this video was. I thoroughly enjoy the tank chats but this is truly something else. Wonderful documentary!
Thanks to the Tank Museum for this !!
Coming from the Great War channel, this is actually a great documentary. Nice to hear original witness stories.
Best UA-cam channel. Made by learned professionals for amateur enthusiasts. Thank you everyone.
Two years on and it only has 30K views??? This is a proper documentary and only 30K viewers!?
advertise this more. This deserves more viewers. Really enjoyable and informative
Check now
I'd almost feel bad if I didn't say good job. One of the rare examples of actually informative and interesting tank Documentaries (Or however you want to categorize this) that doesn't suffer from inaccuracy or bias. You'd be doing the community a great service by making this a small series or something examining crucial and interesting tank battles.
edit: Re-watched and (again) had to comment. This time on the absolutely stellar production and editing. The bar has been set quite high. Personally, I'd like to see something on the battles of Khalkhin Gol, the tank usage there, and lessons learned (and not learned) about armored warfare for WW2. It's something I definitely hear mentioned more than talked about. If anyone could do it, it's the gents at the Tank Museum. Again, great job.
Tanks for this brilliant documentary
What a well made documentary on one of the most important battles in the history of the Royal Tank Corps.
This video was perfect! The special effects to make the place names appear in the landscape, coupled with the maps, and recent pieces of information (the excavation of the wrecked tank), are the things that I found best (in addition to the brilliant and charismatic curator of the Tank Museum Bovington) :)
Q
Perfect comment as well well said 👍
Speachis terrible.found same of in or eithdentures
This is an excellent documentary and David Willey is an excellent narrator.
What did make me smile was when he is walking along, with a massive Mark IV tank trundling behind him like an obedient pet. It's as if it's taken a liking to him (which, seeing as he is the actual Curator of the Tank Museum at Bovington, sort of makes sense.)
:D
Got his thumb blown off and his reaction was "this is very annoying" lol. Love that British stoicism and understatement.
Thank you all for putting in so much hard work to give us this incredibly informative and inspirational documentary. It felt like I was there, and I've learned so much.
Finally a complete version! Thanks!
I agree with below. Excellent feature. The Tank Museum is proving to be one of the best youtube History channels available.
In all honesty, this is probably the best documentary about this battle that I have ever watched. Would we be able to see more like this in the future?
All I can really say is .. "wow..."
How good was that?
David you are not only a british... but a true WORLD Asset!!
You keep us informed and keep the lessons learned from history right at our fingertips.
BBC, Discovery and History Channels can only DREAM of content this good!!
TV, and other Content awards..... eat your dang hearts out!!!!
OUTSTANDING! A thank you to all involved in this production.
Thank you for posting such informative content. I’m a Canadian army armoured reservist and I never realized that Cambrai was the origin of the “pace sticks” (I forget the actual name of them since I’m drinking) our Sgt Maj’s carry.
Excellent documentary. As someone already said, David Willey is a great narrator. When I saw David Willey first, in a Great War episode, I thought he was just a very convincing museum guy, but now I think he is THE star of tank documentary genre.
I would like to see the Tank Museum do more videos with this format
"There was a bit of a health risk", classic understatement for petrol falling onto hot exhaust.
Brilliant. This video deserves far more views.
WWI documentaries require nothing less than perfect production value to hold interest . This documentary achieves just that , very well done , I will undoubtedly watch it multiple times .
Great documentary, fantastic narration, superior production values - I am astonished !
To bad the British hadn´t thought about building mobile bridges at this time, a breakthrough at Cambrai could have shortened the war and saved a lot of lives. As a former Tank battallion engineer it would have been thrilling to take part in this offensive. That´s the spirit, carry on lads.
I'm not sure how I missed this episode, but I'm glad to have seen it eventually.
Well done on a brilliant documentary.
that was an excellent quality of video. Keep it up!
Perfect - I am always interested in this battle as one of my great-grandfathers took part in the attack on Flesquires and was awarded the MM.
Exceptional documentary
You never hear of British soldiers looting during their advances. Nice to hear some honesty
Yes yes, and it's good to hear people own up to it.
Amazing storytelling, impressive what can be done when the knowledge depths of a museum is given a proper treatment. Brilliant!
Working in those tanks must have been incredibly challenging. Great bravery and skill to do it.
"I just got shot. It's very annoying." Typical British humor in the face of danger.
It must have been hell for everyone to fight back then. Esp. facing a tank, slow and cumbersome as they were. Brave men all. Good documentary, very interesting.
My Great Uncle Roy was killed at Cambrai, Corporal Roy James Oldcorn 8th/9th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles. Still have the memorial Plaque and his medals.
This is a beautiful piece of video material! Great work!
Wonderful, informative film. An actual documentary. Well done.
Hope I get to visit the museum again one day.
One of the biggest impediment to any kind of new weapon is the old thinking of the General staff. Like the commandos were used on the line instead of being used for what they were trained to do. I love a general's comment on issuing repeating rifles: "They'll waste bullets."
A like just simply isn't enough to show our appreciation for the men involved in this action and for the tank museum for bringing us their story.
Excellent presentation, the accounts of the survivors, danger and horror of war should never be forgotten.
Wait, this is just the three videos put together? Hell, I'll watch it all again...
Absolutely amazing , now that's a history documentary!
I really enjoyed this documentary, knowing nothing of tanks. Been enjoying more of your Tank Chats and others on your channel, but I hope you get a chance produce more long documentaries like this one! :) Really great!
More of these please. I wish I could go to the museum but I live in Americana’s don’t have the means to get there. I hope to be able to go there someday.
It’s well worth it we Brits are really lucky to have lots of great museums.
Would love to visit the US and see the Smithsonian and other US museums myself
I have been there and it is well beyond anything we have in the US
25:28 same guy that was in that line of fire documentary back in the late 90's or early 2000's
Good Video i want more of this.
I once played the SPI wargame "To the Green Fields Beyond" as the British. After writing out orders for the preliminary bombardment we started to play. Just at that moment a large fireworks display began a couple of km away as part of a special event. It was the perfect accompaniment.
Soldiers are dreamers. When the guns begin,
They think of firelit homes, clean beds and wives.
Siegfried Sassoon
Superb documentary. Very well done.
Absolutely superb documentary. So informative and interesting .Thanks
Expertly presented and narrated. You guys deserve more subs, and i'll definitely make an effort this year to come down South for my first visit! :)
This wonderful documentary implies that Britain has carries on the tradition of Cambrai. Today with less than 200 tanks operational in formations not larger than a Brigade, the country operates less than a token force and frightens nobody.
Who are we waiting to frighten 100 years on? Maybe we should be banning football again and making sure all men and boys practice archery on the village green?
@@MrTreacletime You don't need to frighten, but you do need to deter. If the original poster is right about the size of the tank force in UK, you indeed need to maintain more machines. For deterrence. Not against other European countries or something like that, but just in general.
I cannot believe this stuff is free, i just háve to visit this museum soon too
This is THE best video you chaps have done!
Great stuff chaps. Could you maybe do a documentary on the all arms tactics used by the commonwealth forces during the battle of Amien?
Thank you. A fantastic documentary to remember some very brave men.
Indy Neidell, of the Great War channel, brought me here. Thanks Indy!
'Through Mud, Blood to the Green fields beyond' Lest we forget
My relative private James glover age 21 died from injuries he sustained during this battle re-watching the documentarys about the battle of cambrai hits different knowing he died so far from home as he was born on a small island in newfoundland
Excellent documentary - really well put together and visually very effective at putting the story accross
Thank you fantastic story.
Another fantastic and educational video! You sir need a TV series.
Very good!
Thoroughly enjoyed that. Many thanks for the history.
Thank you. very interesting.
A fantastic video,things like this always choke me up,we must NEVER forget what these people did ❤️
Great doc!
I had a relative who was in the Motor Machine gun Service.
He served in Europe early on in ww1, and was moved into the "heavies".
He rejoined the mmgs, and ended the war in India.
He never recovered from his time in a tank, and described it as hell.
A surprisingly good production, I was very impressed and it did justice to our brave heroes. Will visit soon, it's been too long!
Pretty cool with the presenter walking along with a working MkIV!
18:33 Look at that lad with the screwdriver. How old is he? I wouldn't say more than 16.
My Grandfather was 16 or 17 when he volunteered.
He'd driven a butcher's cart up York Rd at 12yrs.
That's a horse drawn cart. He was always good with animals
and said "However thirsty the horses were in France they wouldn't
drink dirty water"
@@vinm300 marchadedsantiago
David Willey is great, I hope to visit someday (from the USA)
Awesome documentary! Incredibly well done!
Very informative production..well done!
Fantastic Job , Enjoyed very Much
A very interesting subject, which I only knew the basics about before watching your excellent documentary. I think the film you put together is of a television production quality and I particularly liked your use of first hand accounts to illustrate your subject. Very well presented to boot. 👏👏👏
Fascinating, thank you very much.
Sounds like a wonderful machine to fight in, so sorry I missed out on it.
This is fantastic
An excellent presentation, thanks. 😃👌👌👏👏👏👏
Thank you for this video. This machine seems very rudimentary but revolutionary for the time.
This really is an excellent piece of work. Very well done to all involved.
Fantastic work 👏
That was fantastic, a great tale of heros all.
Great story! So when are they gonna make a movie out of this?
Fantastic video.
They feared naught and shall never grow old.
Amazing stories, of terrifying but heroic actions.
What a great documentary very informative
Wonderful production, very interesting.
The Old School Cav didn't like the Tanks and were looking for any way they could Sabotage and get rid of them. Battlefield Egos...
excellent video, thank you for uploading, id love to see more just like it =)
Fantastic documentary well done to all concerned
The battle of Cambrai became the model and inspiration for the German Blitzkrieg tactics in WW2. Though the RFC got a cursory mention they lost hundreds of aircraft to ground fire whilst supporting the advance.
Superb production . Fascinating story well told. Far superior to the dumbed down documentary guff we get now on BBC 2 and 4.
Great video thxs for shearing
Thanks.
Well researched, thank you.