Some people may say tanks are impractical, but hell it was all a sight for the infantrymen to see those massive engines opening a path across the trenches and no man lands, impervious to the machine guns and grenades that have killed so many of their comrades.
haig was an idiot and incompetent general, however, he was right to launch the cambrai offence. reason is because though his men will be exhausted, so will the germans, and he knew american troops were coming while german reinforcements from the east were on the way, and did not want the germans to launch a fall offensive. his strategy was to hold a german onslaught until winter, which worked until march 1918 when 2 million germans attacked.
@ultradumbass haig wasn't an idiot. thats just a popular myth. his decisions in fact saved the allies from crumbling at repeated german offences. Its possible to argue that haig won the war for the allies
@billybob7ful nobody won the first world war. it is considered an interrupted war since the allies suddenly became more concerned about communist revolutions spreading civil wars across european nations. the germans only asked for the armistice first since the revolution came from russia eastwards hitting germany and the central powers first. had the revolution occurred in western europe then germans would be saying that they won the war when we would want to defend our own territory.
@ultradumbass This is really dubious. Germany was crumbling because of the British naval blockade - that's why they had to surrender. Sure, they had armies in the field, but had the war continued, the industry that equipped and fed those armies would quickly have vanished, and the armies would then have been helpless. German leaders wisely recognized this.
And if Germany was so threatened by a Communist revolution in Russia, why did they lend so much assistance to it?
@ultradumbass Communist revolutions would never have hit Western Europe before the East, simply because revolutions only ever occur when populations feel they have no peaceful political option for change. Therefore, any such uprisings would necessarily strike the more autocratic Russian and German societies before the more democratic British and French ones.
If anything, the Russian revolution strengthened the Germans - it certainly didn't make them more vulnerable to a revolution of their own.
@billybob7ful What part of wasting hundreds of thousands of lives in unnecessary and ill-planned offensives helped the Allied war effort? Germany, being the aggressor and prepared for war, needed a quick end to the conflict - time was on the Allied side, as it let them bring trained men and the products of industry onto the continent. The rapid disintegration of Austria-Hungary added to the time pressure on the Central Powers. Haig ignored this due to a personal desire for glory.
@ultradumbass Except that Americans still weren't in Europe in any real numbers by the time of the final German offensive. And war on the Eastern front had not yet ended by the time of Cambrai. Germany was never in a position to launch an offensive in the West in the fall of 1917. Cambrai was another rushed, ill-planned attack that merely gave Germany notice of new British tactics and sapped manpower that would be needed for defense in the spring . Haig was trying to save his own neck.
@guysmiley00 germans did not assist lenin. they let him pass through so that he could cause revolution in russia. they already knew lenin was dangerous however they figured if they caused a revolution, 750,000 german soldiers, and millions of other allies including turks, bulgarians could focus more on the western allies. the germans knew they had to win the fight fast or the revolution would sweep eastwards into germany.
@ultradumbass Germany allowed Lenin to pass to foment revolution in Russia, because they needed Russia to fall due to said revolution, so that they could bring the troops over from the Eastern front to quickly finish the war in the West, because the revolution that Lenin HAD NOT YET ASSISTED IN CAUSING would soon sweep in from the East?
So, the Germans had to rush Lenin in to cause the Revolution so they could defend against the Revolution that hadn't started yet. Can you see the contradiction?
@guysmiley00 what contradiction? the germans could not win with their hands tied up eat. it was similar to napoleon knowing that prussians arriving at waterloo on time would cause him the battle, had his commander grouchy returned on time he may well have won but they were not fast enough. the germans knew they would lose or be stalemated without temporary neutralisation of the eastern front and would bring their armies back eact once they finished the western armies. go read a book mate.
@guysmiley00 also the germans were not in a severe blockade. the allies blockaded them even after the war finished, plus ordered them to pay billions of dollars which caused a famine. england was itself under their worst famine since the potato famine, however the allies would either have yielded france or given germany a more favourable treaty. also passchendaele still had some good objectives. taking passchendaele made it harder for the germans to reach the coast and cut off reinforcements.
@ultradumbass What? The German blockade was incredibly severe - even food was defined as "contraband". At least 763 000 Germans civilians starved to death. By 1915, German imports were already down by 55% and exports by 47%. By 1917, the average German was getting 1000 calories a day - half the minimum necessary, resulting in widespread outbreaks of diseases like scurvy, TB, and dysentery. I'm soryy, but you're completely talking out of your ass here.
@guysmiley00 uhhhhhh no the civilians only died after the war due to british taking away resources. the french planned to take EVERYTHING from the germans. now you claim i am talking out of my ass because i actually know how to educate myself? i am surprised you are a canadian like me, but who am i kidding, canadians i find to be just as pathetic as anyone else. considering we are stupid enough to support ultra left wing views around here.
@ultradumbass Alright, you're going to have to give a source if you're going to claim that a 5-year blockade did nothing for 4 years and then killed almost 3/4 of a million civilians in the last few months, because logically that just doesn't make a lick of sense.
Remembering Rifleman Henry Arthur Wall 1st/6th City of London Rifles (London Regt) died 30th November 1917 at Cambrai in the German counterattack. Harry lies on the battlefield with no known grave but is remembered on the memorial at Cambrai & by his descendants, he enlisted at 14 yrs of age, thrown out when his age was discovered & enlisted again a while later.
Remembering Rifleman Henry Arthur Wall 1st/6th City of London Rifles (London Regt) died 30th November 1917 at Cambrai in the German counterattack. Harry lies on the battlefield with no known grave but is remembered on the memorial at Cambrai & by his descendants, he enlisted at 14 yrs of age, thrown out when his age was discovered & enlisted again a while later.
@1V4Victory1 if popular history is to be believed then every single french, german and british general took stupid pills at the start of ww1. the truth is, they did the best they could in the worst possible situation
@billybob7ful The Germans actually did very well against the overwhelming and encircling forces arrayed against them. Their biggest weakness was incredibly poor judgment in choosing allies.
@1V4Victory1 canadians were commanded by arthur currie. canada was its own national army. though they were attached to the british 1st army while the divisions were being formed up, they still fought their own battles and made their own decisions.
Horrible misconception, Britain had some decent generals and commanders. Henry Rawlinson and Hugh Ellese were amazing leaders, "Lions led by Donkeys" was merely a scapegoat - people wanted to blame someone, so why not the generals?
@ZemplinTemplar Haig was pretty darned incompetent. He spent the whole war refusing to recognize that the power of the defense was now greater than that of the offense, and bled Britain white vainly trying to play the dashing cavalry officer at the head of a glorious charge. Playing defense while bringing the full might of British manpower and industry to the continent would have been the proper strategy, but it wasn't sexy enough for Haig.
@guysmiley00 Same old rubbish myths that have been destroyed by modern scholarship. Haig was actually a very capable commander, who accepted new techniques and technologies. hedeveloped the British army into the most modern force in the world
all you armchair sudo historians SHUT UP!,i am tired of your book read inaccurate opinions.most of you have never even been in the military and have no friggen idea of the hell of war,so just watch the documentary and shut up!
just because some1 did not serve in the military dosent mean they are going to be an awful military historian. as a son of on the greatest napoleonic and american civil war historians Id know. As a 22 year old military historian that has already been published 5 times and have my 1st book due on the german air force in ww1... ive never served in the military, and i seem to do quite well.
They were and arguably more of a hindrance than anything else. GHQ's decision to use them in 'driblets' instead of en-mass allowed them to be both completely useless in the battle while still giving the surprise away to the Germans.
Germans loved hunting tanks, using a sack of grenades the infantry would rush tanks and put bags into tank tracks and ignite the bags.
tertommy 2 weeks ago
Some people may say tanks are impractical, but hell it was all a sight for the infantrymen to see those massive engines opening a path across the trenches and no man lands, impervious to the machine guns and grenades that have killed so many of their comrades.
kanenash 10 months ago
Did the bells ring in Germany on the 30/11?
Andiish08 11 months ago
Line of fire, one of my all time favorites... are the series available on dvd?
mdgarciasa 1 year ago
what lol this ssucks every1 know that the germans never had chance thats why tehy lostt the war lol!
kapulA85 1 year ago
The churchbells were too fast, cus in the end it was i big disappointment for the british.
They lost everything they took in the german counter-offensive. You might say it ended 1-1.
Andiish08 1 year ago
The churchbells were too fast, cus in the end it was i big disappointment for the british.
They lost everything they took in the german counter-offensive.
Andiish08 1 year ago
haig was an idiot and incompetent general, however, he was right to launch the cambrai offence. reason is because though his men will be exhausted, so will the germans, and he knew american troops were coming while german reinforcements from the east were on the way, and did not want the germans to launch a fall offensive. his strategy was to hold a german onslaught until winter, which worked until march 1918 when 2 million germans attacked.
ultradumbass 1 year ago
@ultradumbass haig wasn't an idiot. thats just a popular myth. his decisions in fact saved the allies from crumbling at repeated german offences. Its possible to argue that haig won the war for the allies
billybob7ful 1 year ago
@billybob7ful nobody won the first world war. it is considered an interrupted war since the allies suddenly became more concerned about communist revolutions spreading civil wars across european nations. the germans only asked for the armistice first since the revolution came from russia eastwards hitting germany and the central powers first. had the revolution occurred in western europe then germans would be saying that they won the war when we would want to defend our own territory.
ultradumbass 1 year ago
@ultradumbass This is really dubious. Germany was crumbling because of the British naval blockade - that's why they had to surrender. Sure, they had armies in the field, but had the war continued, the industry that equipped and fed those armies would quickly have vanished, and the armies would then have been helpless. German leaders wisely recognized this.
And if Germany was so threatened by a Communist revolution in Russia, why did they lend so much assistance to it?
guysmiley00 1 year ago
@ultradumbass Communist revolutions would never have hit Western Europe before the East, simply because revolutions only ever occur when populations feel they have no peaceful political option for change. Therefore, any such uprisings would necessarily strike the more autocratic Russian and German societies before the more democratic British and French ones.
If anything, the Russian revolution strengthened the Germans - it certainly didn't make them more vulnerable to a revolution of their own.
guysmiley00 1 year ago
@billybob7ful What part of wasting hundreds of thousands of lives in unnecessary and ill-planned offensives helped the Allied war effort? Germany, being the aggressor and prepared for war, needed a quick end to the conflict - time was on the Allied side, as it let them bring trained men and the products of industry onto the continent. The rapid disintegration of Austria-Hungary added to the time pressure on the Central Powers. Haig ignored this due to a personal desire for glory.
guysmiley00 1 year ago
@ultradumbass Except that Americans still weren't in Europe in any real numbers by the time of the final German offensive. And war on the Eastern front had not yet ended by the time of Cambrai. Germany was never in a position to launch an offensive in the West in the fall of 1917. Cambrai was another rushed, ill-planned attack that merely gave Germany notice of new British tactics and sapped manpower that would be needed for defense in the spring . Haig was trying to save his own neck.
guysmiley00 1 year ago
@guysmiley00 germans did not assist lenin. they let him pass through so that he could cause revolution in russia. they already knew lenin was dangerous however they figured if they caused a revolution, 750,000 german soldiers, and millions of other allies including turks, bulgarians could focus more on the western allies. the germans knew they had to win the fight fast or the revolution would sweep eastwards into germany.
ultradumbass 1 year ago
@ultradumbass Germany allowed Lenin to pass to foment revolution in Russia, because they needed Russia to fall due to said revolution, so that they could bring the troops over from the Eastern front to quickly finish the war in the West, because the revolution that Lenin HAD NOT YET ASSISTED IN CAUSING would soon sweep in from the East?
So, the Germans had to rush Lenin in to cause the Revolution so they could defend against the Revolution that hadn't started yet. Can you see the contradiction?
guysmiley00 1 year ago
@guysmiley00 what contradiction? the germans could not win with their hands tied up eat. it was similar to napoleon knowing that prussians arriving at waterloo on time would cause him the battle, had his commander grouchy returned on time he may well have won but they were not fast enough. the germans knew they would lose or be stalemated without temporary neutralisation of the eastern front and would bring their armies back eact once they finished the western armies. go read a book mate.
ultradumbass 1 year ago
@guysmiley00 also the germans were not in a severe blockade. the allies blockaded them even after the war finished, plus ordered them to pay billions of dollars which caused a famine. england was itself under their worst famine since the potato famine, however the allies would either have yielded france or given germany a more favourable treaty. also passchendaele still had some good objectives. taking passchendaele made it harder for the germans to reach the coast and cut off reinforcements.
ultradumbass 1 year ago
@ultradumbass What? The German blockade was incredibly severe - even food was defined as "contraband". At least 763 000 Germans civilians starved to death. By 1915, German imports were already down by 55% and exports by 47%. By 1917, the average German was getting 1000 calories a day - half the minimum necessary, resulting in widespread outbreaks of diseases like scurvy, TB, and dysentery. I'm soryy, but you're completely talking out of your ass here.
guysmiley00 1 year ago
@guysmiley00 uhhhhhh no the civilians only died after the war due to british taking away resources. the french planned to take EVERYTHING from the germans. now you claim i am talking out of my ass because i actually know how to educate myself? i am surprised you are a canadian like me, but who am i kidding, canadians i find to be just as pathetic as anyone else. considering we are stupid enough to support ultra left wing views around here.
ultradumbass 1 year ago
@ultradumbass Alright, you're going to have to give a source if you're going to claim that a 5-year blockade did nothing for 4 years and then killed almost 3/4 of a million civilians in the last few months, because logically that just doesn't make a lick of sense.
guysmiley00 1 year ago 4
@guysmiley00 Cambrai was actually much needed for the British , as it allowed them to test out new tactics
MrShaneVicious 1 month ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Remembering Rifleman Henry Arthur Wall 1st/6th City of London Rifles (London Regt) died 30th November 1917 at Cambrai in the German counterattack. Harry lies on the battlefield with no known grave but is remembered on the memorial at Cambrai & by his descendants, he enlisted at 14 yrs of age, thrown out when his age was discovered & enlisted again a while later.
R.I.P Harry Wall (my husbands Gt-uncle)
Val Wall.
xzapxstedtin 1 year ago
Remembering Rifleman Henry Arthur Wall 1st/6th City of London Rifles (London Regt) died 30th November 1917 at Cambrai in the German counterattack. Harry lies on the battlefield with no known grave but is remembered on the memorial at Cambrai & by his descendants, he enlisted at 14 yrs of age, thrown out when his age was discovered & enlisted again a while later.
R.I.P Harry Wall (my husbands Gt-uncle)
Val Wall.
xzapxstedtin 1 year ago
Comment removed
GaijinGDB 2 years ago
WWI tank crews had rest in field hospital after each operation.
JimbobHarrigan 2 years ago
British had horrible commanders in WWI. Canadians did much better
johnnyponny4 2 years ago
the canadians were under the command of those "horrible" british commanders so your logic is flawed...
1V4Victory1 2 years ago 9
@1V4Victory1 if popular history is to be believed then every single french, german and british general took stupid pills at the start of ww1. the truth is, they did the best they could in the worst possible situation
billybob7ful 1 year ago
@billybob7ful The Germans actually did very well against the overwhelming and encircling forces arrayed against them. Their biggest weakness was incredibly poor judgment in choosing allies.
guysmiley00 1 year ago
@1V4Victory1 canadians were commanded by arthur currie. canada was its own national army. though they were attached to the british 1st army while the divisions were being formed up, they still fought their own battles and made their own decisions.
ultradumbass 1 year ago
Horrible misconception, Britain had some decent generals and commanders. Henry Rawlinson and Hugh Ellese were amazing leaders, "Lions led by Donkeys" was merely a scapegoat - people wanted to blame someone, so why not the generals?
tyzwain 2 years ago
@tyzwain Even Haig wasn't as incompetent as they tend to portrait him. But he did make several inane decisions.
ZemplinTemplar 1 year ago
@ZemplinTemplar Haig was pretty darned incompetent. He spent the whole war refusing to recognize that the power of the defense was now greater than that of the offense, and bled Britain white vainly trying to play the dashing cavalry officer at the head of a glorious charge. Playing defense while bringing the full might of British manpower and industry to the continent would have been the proper strategy, but it wasn't sexy enough for Haig.
guysmiley00 1 year ago
@guysmiley00 Same old rubbish myths that have been destroyed by modern scholarship. Haig was actually a very capable commander, who accepted new techniques and technologies. hedeveloped the British army into the most modern force in the world
jed371 5 months ago
all you armchair sudo historians SHUT UP!,i am tired of your book read inaccurate opinions.most of you have never even been in the military and have no friggen idea of the hell of war,so just watch the documentary and shut up!
keithehlert 2 years ago
just because some1 did not serve in the military dosent mean they are going to be an awful military historian. as a son of on the greatest napoleonic and american civil war historians Id know. As a 22 year old military historian that has already been published 5 times and have my 1st book due on the german air force in ww1... ive never served in the military, and i seem to do quite well.
oberltMBowden23 2 years ago
Poser :P
Kettch23 2 years ago 4
haha. yep u caught me
oberltMBowden23 2 years ago
you sound like such a douche!!
morrisonfurryant 2 years ago
reading bryn hammond's cambrai 1917 the myth of the first great tank battle...best objective work i have come across
tenebroust2 2 years ago
3:04 I thought he was talking in French, heavy accent.
kenjisamuraisamurai 2 years ago
This Show Is The Best
Punter158 2 years ago
il aurait pu le faire en francais snifffff
frenchwoman59 2 years ago
Can anyone imagine how these tanks would have altered events at the Somme?
spritz0 3 years ago
Tanks were used on the Somme, at the Battle of Flers-Courcelette in September 1916. Few were available and most of them broke down!
pelsallonian 3 years ago
4mph, not completely bulletproof, and broke down.
wasn't the biggest help
daichan33 3 years ago
Comment removed
joelandrews91 2 years ago
They were and arguably more of a hindrance than anything else. GHQ's decision to use them in 'driblets' instead of en-mass allowed them to be both completely useless in the battle while still giving the surprise away to the Germans.
calicheSCOT 2 years ago
is´nt THC a drug.....? please enlighten me
WANKPANKAKE 3 years ago
I think "THC" refers to The History Channel... although, well picked-up on the smoke issue! LOL
petethebastard 3 years ago 3
LOL
OroborusFMA 3 years ago
more "line of fire" videos? I loved this show, my THC all-time favorite.
trancedgs 3 years ago
I'm the first to watch And i Like it
richarddr1234 4 years ago