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Born-West Brompton

The Battle of Cambrai

This was a major British offensive on the Western Front that was launched on 20th November, 1917 and lasted through to the beginning of December. As the name suggests it was an attack towards the city of Cambrai and the important German railhead there, which it was hoped would be captured. The battle was notable for two things: the massed use of tanks for the first time and the success of the first day’s fighting when the formidable Hindenburg Line was breached and gains of five miles were made in places. In celebration the church bells throughout Britain were rung. However this success was short lived. The tanks were not reliable and the German defence stiffened as the fighting progressed and when they counter attacked in force on 30th November, the British came under so much pressure that they were forced to withdraw from many of the positions they had captured earlier on. Both sides suffered around 45,000 casualties during the course of the fighting.

On 30th November, the Germans launched their counter-attack all along the Cambrai front and for the next few days there was some fierce fighting as a result of which the British troops had to give up much of the ground they had won earlier. The fighting was particularly heavy in the northern part of the battlefield around Bourlon and Bourlon Wood. Here, on 2nd December, 23rd London of 142 Brigade, 47th Division moved forward into support trenches along the sunken road to the left of Bourlon Wood and on the Fontaine-Bourlon Road. On the following day they moved forward to the front line, relieving the exhausted battalions that had faced the German onslaught. The enemy artillery and machine-guns were still a constant threat and over these two days, 23rd London sustained a number of casualties, one of whom was Ernest Inglis.