Cambrai 1917

Late World War One. In late November 1917 some 470 hundred British tanks attacked German held positions in the area of the northern French village of Cambrai. This attack was the first coordinated tank mass attack in history. Using these new terrifying machines the British army tried to break the German lines. Hopes were around to drive the occupants back from Belgium and northern France. Those new war machines had a shocking impact on German defenders. British troops gained early success but German counterattacks slowed and repulsed the attack. In the aftermath some 250 abandoned and knocked out vehicles were left in the Cambrai sector. Some 100 of those tanks were recovered by the Germans.

This is my rendition of tank number I -36 that was lost in the Cambrai sector. I found the picture in an old World War One book, published by company Bong & Co in the early 1920ties. The British tank is by company EMHAR in scale 1:72. The railcar is company Fleischmann. I re-worked the lettering using single letters of company TL Decals.