Flesquières
On 20th November 1917, at twenty past nine in the morning, tanks of “G”,”D” and “E” battalions were brought to a halt on the approaches to Flesquières. On the next morning Flesquières was in the hands of the Allies.
The gravestones give the name, rank and place of origin of these soldiers. They came sometimes from distant lands to sacrifice their lives for the sake of their mother country. These countries, Canada, Australia and New Zealand belonged to the Commonwealth.
In the Battle of Cambrai the 3rd British army lost about 21,000 men, of those 7,048 have no resting place. These men missing without trace have their names inscribed on the memorial monument at Louverval.
The Hamlet of La Vacquerie
As a forward post, the hamlet of La Vacquerie and its plateau were surrounded by trenches, barbed wire and concreted works.
On 20th November 1917, the 36 tanks of “I” battalion stationed at Gouzeaucourt broke through and reached the first objective, the “Blue Line”.
After a bitter battle, the English regiment of Fusiliers and Light infantry occupied the territory: Private Sheperd was to receive the supreme distinction of the Victoria Cross.
On 30th November the German army counterattacked. It was a deadly place: the Scots and Irish defended it with the utmost determination.
On 4th December La Vacquerie was lost. “There remains only a pile of bloody ruins and shattered bricks” (official communique of 4th December 1917).
In memory of the occupying troops the plateau is still called the “West Ridge”.
Vaucelles
During the First World War, the German army requisitioned the large residences of the region. The Abbey of Vaucelles was transformed into barracks; the Abbey palace became the command headquarters, and the annexes were used as stables and barns.
In November 1917, the Battle of Cambrai took place near the Abbey. The Germans feared that the British troops would make use of these reserves and they set them on fire: it was the scorched earth policy. The 18th century Abbey palace and 12th century cloistral were in ruins.
The façade of the Abbey palace still bears the marks of the First World War. In 1970 the Cistercian Abbey, which is classed today as a Historic Monument, has reborn from its ashes.
Masnières
On 20th November 1917, towards the end of the morning Major Philip Hammond at the head of about a dozen tanks of “F” battalion entered Masnières; his aim was to set up a bridgehead on the St Quentin canal. The intense fire of the enemy machine gunners, hidden in the alleys and on the opposite bank of the canal, prevented any progress. The Flying Fox II forced a way through and tried to cross the bridge. The latter which was mined collapsed. The advance of the tanks was stopped. In the afternoon the Newfoundland infantry regiment accompanied by the Canadian cavalry succeeded in crossing the canal. They reached the crest of the Montagne Blanche and looked down on Cambrai but the German batteries stopped further progress. They withdrew on the next morning. Some ten attacks followed after the other in the neighbourhood of the River Escaut making Masnières a tragic funeral pyre which was evacuated by the English on 2nd December 1917. The village had been completely destroyed and was classed in 1919 as a red zone which meant that it was not to be rebuilt. But the determination of its elected representatives and of its populace decided otherwise.
Today the Monument of the caribou, recalling the emblem of the Newfoundland regiment, marks the ultimate advance of the Allies in the Battle of Cambrai.
Bantouzelle
The occupied village of Bantouzelle was used as a rest and treatment centre for the German soldiers wounded on the Somme.
On 20th November 1917, the German counterattack was to set out from the vicinity of the village to the South of Banteux. This Battle of Cambrai was followed by numerous other offensives which almost completely destroyed the village.
To this very day the soil of the region disgorges the weapons, explosives, and wreckage of the Great War. In the town hall an exhibition of memorabilia, put together by Hubert Debut, displays the weapons of trench warfare and the field artillery used by the French, German and British troops.
Bonavis
The Germans took advantage of the slightest rise in the ground converting each site into an observation post. Bonavis was an exceptional lookout allowing an unimpeded view alla round the Cambrai plain.
By the evening of 20th November 1917, of the 378 tanks engaged in the battle at this frontline, 179 had been put out of action: 65 by direct hits, 71 by mechanical problems and 43 by being immobilized in the trenches.
On the morning of 30th November, the German counterattack coming from the Banteux sector, crossed the River Escaut below Bonavis and took Gonnelieu, Villers-Guislain and Gouzeaucourt. The battle raged; pockets of resistance were concentrated between La Vacquerie, Bonavus and the Laleau wood. The defence was heroic: whole battalions were sacrificed.
Ribécourt la tour
Ribecourt-la-tour possessed a village refuge dug in the Middle Ages. The Germans used this underground area, reinforced it, and put there an electric generator and a telephone exchange. Some of the galleries were equipped with rails which facilitated the dispatch of weapons and equipment by little wagons.
On 20th November 1917, General Elles reached the village arount 8 o’clock. It remained in the hands of the Allies up to the great German offensive of 23rd March 1918.
