Gains and losses for the opposing forces were roughly equal, by the end of the battle and the result of the battle was virtually a stalemate situation. 2 British Corps (A military formation that might typically consist of 20,000 to 40,000 soldiers) and 1 German Corps took part in the battle. However, on the second day, mechanical problems with the British Mark IV tanks against German infantry defenses and artillery were exposed. The British forces enjoyed successes on the first day of the battle. This defensive line was considered impenetrable previously. The British plan was to infiltrate the German Hindenburg Line. However, those deployments were less effective than in Cambrai where the British forces deployed 476 tanks. Tanks were also deployed in large numbers by Britain during the third Battle of Ypres and by France in early 1917.

The world saw tanks on the battlefield for the first time in September 1916. However, it was not the first time tanks were deployed. It was the first effective deployment of large number of tanks in any battle ever.

WWI Battle of Cambrai in France in the Western Front was a British offensive. (1) Battle of Cambrai (Novemto December 7, 1917: The Top 5 epic tank battle sagas in military history are shown here. From the the Battle of the Bulge in WWII to the 1981 Battle of Dezful during the eight year long Iran-Iraq war, tanks performed as the most significant offensive weapons around the world. It is a strong mobile weapon platform with a large caliber rotating cannon capable of preventing enemy vehicles from advancing. Throughout 20th century, tanks have played a dynamic role for the army and it has seen fierce and devastating action. The world saw tanks in battle for the first time on September 15, 1916, when British Army deployed these armored land ships during the Battle of the Somme. In an effort to fool the enemy spies, British army propagated the myth that they had been building ‘mobile water tanks’. The name ‘tank’ was adopted for the British ‘land ships’ in 1915 to maintain the secrecy of the armored vehicles. Britain and France simultaneously and separately developed the first tanks during the WWI. To break the deadlock of trench warfare in the western front during the WWI, the concept of tank battle was developed. The tank is a resilient and devastating war machine, and a key element in many conflicts throughout the 20th and 21st centuries.

Battle of the bulge tank battles