Royal Australian Armoured Corps Battle of Cambrai Plaque

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Accession NumberP68Title (extended title only)Plaque - Royal Australian Armoured Corps Battle of Cambrai DescriptionBattle of Cambrai Plaque – Presented to the City of Fremantle by the Royal Australian Armoured Corps Association to commemorate ‘Cambrai Day’ after an Armoured Corps march through Fremantle in 1979
(Old catalogue number CE-050)DateBetween 1st January 1979 and 31st December 1979ProvenancePlaque gifted to the City of Fremantle by the Royal Australian Armoured Corps Association in 1979 after a march through Fremantle to commemorate ‘Cambrai Day’. Cambrai Day commemorates the Battle of Cambrai, a battle that took place in France in World War One. The Battle of Cambrai, fought between 20 November and 7 December 1917, was the first battle in history involving the employment of tanks en masse. After a series of failures, largely due to the impassibility of the mud, during the Ypres offensives the proponents of the tank were keen to prove its worth my mounting a massed raid on the German line west of Cambrai Cambrai in northern France. This raid evolved into a full scale attack employing six infantry divisions, two cavalry divisions, over 1000 guns and 476 tanks, which was launched at dawn on 20 November. The initial assault was a spectacular success, demonstrating the power of the tank when employed in a shock role, and ripped a hole almost ten kilometers wide and six kilometers deep in the German line. Mechanical failures among the tanks, the deployment of German reserves, and the obstacle presented by the St. Quentin Canal sapped the attack of its momentum after the first day. The fighting swayed to and fro for the next nine days, with the British unable to capitalize on their early gains and the Germans unable to force them back to any extent. On 30 November, however, the Germans launched a counterattack employing twenty divisions. By 7 December, they had recaptured all of the ground lost since 20 November. The operation cost approximately 45,000 British, and 50,000 German dead and wounded.
Relevance to the CityFremantle has a long history with the Australian and British military forces and this plaque commemorates a battle from the First World War

SubjectAustralian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC)CollectionCivic CollectionImagesCambrai DayParade in Elder PlaceTanks in Market StreetCambrai Day Ceremony

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LocationCivic Collection

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Royal Australian Armoured Corps Battle of Cambrai Plaque