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As prophesized, the first day of the Battle of Cambrai, 100 years ago this coming Monday, proved a military miracle. The sight of 400 fire-breathing metal monsters arrayed along an eight kilometre front, backed by air power and artillery, proved utterly demoralizing to German troops, who surrendered in droves. The first line of defences was quickly pierced and the tanks then made tracks for the second set of trenches. In just a few hours, the tanks had pushed farther than the Canadians did at Vimy in four days.

And while it seems anachronistic today, the primary task of the tanks at Cambrai was to act as servant to the horse. Their job was to open holes in that second German trench line so all five divisions of British cavalry (including units from Canada, India and other Commonwealth countries) could engage the enemy. Even after three years of trench warfare, mounted troops were still considered the only way to rapidly exploit a successful breach in enemy fortifications. At the Battle of Cambrai, however, delays meant the tanks didn’t reach the second line of trenches in Masnières, where the Fort Garry Horse planned to cross, until mid-afternoon.

B Squadron’s mission was to range deep behind enemy lines, explains Crossley, the regimental historian of the Fort Garry Horse. “Their special task was to go all the way to the German headquarters, shut it down and disrupt their communications,” he explains in an interview. Unfortunately, the first tank to enter Masnières attempted to cross the town’s only bridge and promptly fell through. Behind schedule and now without a way to cross the canal, the resourceful Garrys grabbed some nearby wooden planks and made their own bridge. As they crossed the canal, however, the troop’s captain was killed. The formidable Lieutenant Harcus Strachan, a rancher from Alberta, took command. It was up to Strachan to breach the final line of barbed wire and trenches and unleash the full fury of Canadian arms.