Armored warfare obviously needed some serious mechanical changes to improve reliability to become the game changer it would later (1939-1940) become. Initial breakthroughs by tank supported attacks fizzled as the unreliable metal monsters broke down. The British employed nearly 500 of their latest model tanks in the attack, an armored tsunami never before seen. Although tanks had been used during World War I prior to Cambrai, they were used in smaller numbers (as many as 60 at a time) and only in close contact with the infantry in a strictly infantry support role. The use of massed armor in close coordination with artillery and infantry was an historic first, and set the pattern for future use of armored vehicles. On November 20, 1917, a combined Allied offensive (British and French) stepped off against the Germans at Cambrai, France ( Nord Department).
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