BRIEFING ROOM
ONE OF the most important men in the history of the tank is to be remembered a century after the most significant moment of his long career as the Tank Museum in Dorset celebrates the occasion that Hugh Elles led the Tank Corps at the Battle of Cambrai, proving beyond doubt what the tank could do. Museum staff also took their Great War replica Mk.IV tank to the Cenotaph in London on 19 November – the day before the anniversary – to honour the tank men who fought 100 years earlier.
Prior to the battle, Elles famously bought the last fabric available in a French draper’s shop and had it stitched together to use as a flag. The colours were brown, red and green, which was interpreted afterwards as: ‘From mud, through blood and to the green fields beyond’, in recognition of the Tank
Corps’ exploits at Cambrai. The ‘Cambrai Flag’ is one of the most significant exhibits on display in The Tank Museum and was flown from a tank by Elles himself as he rode into battle.
The assault gained more ground in the first three hours of fighting than the British had gained in three months at the Battle of Passchendaele, and the first day of the battle was seen as such a success that church bells rang out in celebration across Britain.
