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Jack Horsfall
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Cambrai: The Right Hook (Battleground Europe) Kindle Edition

by Nigel Cave (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 out of 5 stars 17 ratings
This fully illustrated WWI battlefield guide provides essential historical context and visitor information for exploring this site on the Western Front.

Located near the Belgian border, the French town of Cambrai was a vital supply point for the German forces along the Hindenburg Line. It is best known for the First Battle of Cambria, an epic tank battle which took place there in 1917. Although the British Expeditionary Force were successful in the first day of combat, the tables soon turned. As on other occasions throughout the War, the area changed hands many times.

Illustrated with then and now pictures, this book presents a detailed overview of the battle from multiple perspectives. It then provides five walking tour itineraries taking readers through the La Vacquerie Battlefield, Bonavis Farm, Les Rues Vertes, Bapaume, and more.
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  1. Print length
    249 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Pen & Sword Military
  4. Publication date
    October 22, 2012
  5. File size
    37.5 MB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Nigel Cave is the founder editor of the Battleground Europe series; his association with the Company goes back some thirty years.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00DN4UNFM
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Pen & Sword Military; Illustrated edition (October 22, 2012)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 22, 2012
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 37.5 MB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 249 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 out of 5 stars 17 ratings

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Jack Horsfall

Jack Horsfall

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4.5 out of 5 stars
17 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • P. A. Panozzo
    5.0 out of 5 stars A GOOD GUIDE TO THE BATTLE OF CAMBRAI
    Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2012
    Verified Purchase
    Contrary to R.A. Forczyk's review, this is a good guide book, necessarily of limited scope because that is just how the Battleground Europe series functions. There are two other essential volumes that are required to have a more comprehensive view of the Battle of Cambrai: Bourlon Wood: Hindenburg Line (Battleground Europe) and Flesquieres Hindenburg Line (Battleground Europe). These books are full of black and white photographs, splendid maps, suggested tour routes, information on local museums, cemeteries, monuments and accommodations. They do have a good historical explanation of the battle and other battles in the vicinity. The authors have toured the battlefield extensively and have done their "homework" to prepare the historian traveler to visit the battlefield. Cambrai, as momentous a battle as it was, is one of the least toured WWI battlefields. If you can't visit Cambrai, like me, this book and the other two volumes in the series are the next best thing to being there! I highly recommend the Battleground Europe books to anyone with an interest in military history. R.A. Forczyk's review is interesting reading if you have the inclination and the time! I would suggest these books as well: Ironclads of Cambrai: The First Great Tank Battle (see my review for more details!) and Cambrai 1917: The birth of armoured warfare (Campaign) (see my review for more details!). Also of potential interest is Ian J. Sanders photographic then and now comparison book The Battle of Cambrai - The Battlefields Today
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  • Donald Dunnion
    4.0 out of 5 stars Cambrai
    Reviewed in the United States on August 3, 2017
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    Fairly good; casualties figures on both sides should have been highligted ;comparison with other WW1 battles should have beem made .Was this the decisive battle that broke the germans?
    One person found this helpful
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  • Herekawe
    4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 2017
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    Very Good and useful for a NZer following the progress of the NZ Division in 1918
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  • Carol B.
    4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2014
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    Good work presented. A must read for anyone planning to make the visit to the war site.
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  • R. Forczyk
    3.0 out of 5 stars Something of a Disappointment
    Reviewed in the United States on October 23, 2002
    Verified Purchase
    Cambrai: The Right Hook, another in the Battleground Europe series, is something of a disappointment. First, as the title implies, the volume only covers the eastern half of the Battle of Cambrai. Instead of a comprehensive treatment of the first major tank assault of the First World War, the reader instead is only presented with the operations of three of the six British divisions used in the attack. Second, the maps used to depict the battle start off well, with a detailed and annotated 1:20,000 scale map for each British division's attack on 20 November 1917. Unfortunately, the maps used to depict the German counterattack and subsequent actions are difficult to follow. Third, fully one-third of the book is devoted to the tour guide section and less than 30 pages are spent detailing the British attack. Fourth, the authors waste another 18 pages discussing the New Zealand Division attack over the same terrain almost a year later in 1918. Finally, the authors' approach to this subject is sloppy and uneven, with great detail provided in some areas (e.g. Victoria Cross winners) and less than adequate detail in other areas (e.g. tanks, casualties, order of battle). Certainly the most disappointed readers will be armor officers or enthusiasts, since the authors spend very little effort discussing the combat employment of this new weapon system.
    Cambrai: The Right Hook consists of five historical chapters, beginning with the background to the battle, the First Day of the Battle of Cambrai, the period 21-27 November 1917, the German Counteroffensive and the New Zealand Division attack in October 1918. A sixth chapter covers five different tour routes of the battle area. Note that much historical commentary on the battle is also provided in the tour section, which makes for disjointed reading in attempting to follow specific actions. On the other hand, the photographs are decent and effectively demonstrate the open nature of the Cambrai battlefield and why this area was chosen for a tank assault. The authors provide three succinct orders of battle for the three assaulting British divisions but this information is incomplete in regard to tanks employed in this sector and fails to mention any of the supporting artillery or corps units. No German OB data is ever presented and the authors fail to mention that the British were attacking the German 2nd Army under General von der Marwitz. It might have also been useful to see what type of force ratios the attacking British had in this sector and more detail on the Hindenburg Line defenses. Instead, the authors' preference to include the section on the New Zealand Division action in 1918 appears a flagrant waste of narrative space.
    Despite these flaws, Cambrai: the Right Hook does provide some historical value in the areas that the author's have chosen to emphasize. The role of British Brigadier General Elles, commander of the tank corps, is often ignored and his leading the assault in a headquarters tank was remarkable. Interestingly, Elles argued for massing the tanks into a few spearheads but lost the argument to the predominant infantry generals who wanted the tanks spread evenly across the units. This doctrinal argument was to continue for decades after Cambrai. The British tank-infantry team was able to penetrate the first two defensive belts of the Hindenburg Line with light casualties in less than six hours, but the attack started to founder when the lead elements hit the German third belt sited behind the St. Quentin Canal. Essentially, the British attack reached its culminating point due to a failure to adequately plan for a canal-bridging effort (the tanks could not get across the canal's few damaged bridges) and the infantry could not advance without tanks. It is also apparent in these pages that the British Army in late 1917 still retained an aggressive combat spirit. The authors provide details on many of the Victoria Cross winners, like Captain Richard Wain of the tank corps, who, "his tank damaged by a direct hit, his crew killed or wounded and despite being severely wounded himself, dismounted and took a Lewis gun, charged an enemy machine gun nest of five Maxim guns. He captured it and caused the remaining Germans to flee to the rear." Despite efforts of recent trash revisionist historians to blacken the reputation of the British Army, it is clear that the British soldier in November 1917 was still capable of aggressive action on the battlefield. Unfortunately, the German soldier was also still capable of aggressive action and the German counterattack sent the depleted British divisions reeling. Cambrai was an attack conducted on the cheap by a British Army that lacked adequate manpower reserves after Third Ypres and it was this lack of manpower reserves that ultimately undermined the first successful large-scale use of tanks. Thus, Cambrai demonstrates that a new weapon system employed en masse could work, but it still has to function as part of a combined arms team and by November 1917 the British were weak in infantry.
    Cambrai: The Right Hook also helps to demonstrate the enduring truthfulness of Napoleon's dictum that in war, the material is to the moral as three is to one. The three assaulting British divisions in III Corps had 36 infantry battalions supported by about 150 tanks, which equates to only about one tank platoon for each infantry battalion. After six hours of fighting at least half the tanks were out of action, reducing their support to a token level. In a material sense, the tanks were few in number but psychologically they acted as a great combat multiplier for the hard-used British infantry and gave them the confidence to assault fortified trench lines. Thus, it was not British tanks that broke the Hindenburg Line but the British combined arms team.
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Top reviews from other countries

  • AlyBongo
    5.0 out of 5 stars Christmas gift
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 31, 2011
    Verified Purchase
    We bought this book as a Christmas present for my brother in law. It is part of a series of books on the battles around Cambrai. These battles were near to the end of the war and Cambrai was the first battle where tanks were used in great numbers. My brother in law plans to purchase the books we were unable to source. We are planning a trip to Cambrai in May 2012 so this is an ideal small book, full of information and good photos, for him to take on the quest. Great Present.
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  • Basil larkins
    4.0 out of 5 stars useful book
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 11, 2012
    Verified Purchase
    like the other books in the series it is a helpfulk outline guide to understanding the battlefield. Buy it before you go, not afterwards like me! My only criticism is that the maps could be produced against an underlay of present day fgeatures (perhaps greyd out) which would help orientation.
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  • M. C. Best
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great book. Great price. Great service. Delighted. Thank you.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 25, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    Needed this book for a forthcoming trip and it will greatly add to my tour. The authors, acknowledged experts, write straightforwardly and offer good advice on specific tours in the area.
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  • Client d'Amazon
    5.0 out of 5 stars perfect, thanks
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 8, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    sorry, in déplacement; pas, perfect , thanks you
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  • Garry
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 13, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    excellent
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