The Third Army, under Sir Julian Byng, gave the enemy
on Tuesday the greatest surprise that he has yet experienced. At dawn, on a wide front south-west of Cambrai, where nothing unusual had happened for mouths, a fleet of our tanks suddenly advanced, followed by infantry, and broke right through the famous Hindenburg lines. There was no preliminary bombardment. Our guns did not open fire till the moment of attack, and they did not shell the trenches, but put a barrage beyond the enemy's lines. The tanks, unaided, opened lanes through the broad wire entanglements, destroyed the machine-gun shelters, and snowed down the infantry holding the German trenches. Our infantry, following in the wake of the tanks, had in many places little to do beyond clearing the dug-outs and sending the demoralized prisoners to the rear.
