[Illustration: PREPARING FOR THE CAMBRAL. A TRAIN OF TANKS WITH FASCINES IN POSITION] [Illustration: THE BAPAUME-CAMBRAI ROAD] [Illustration: A TANK CRUSHING DOWN THE ENEMY’S WIRE] At Flesquières the 51st Highland Division, which was using an attack formation of its own, was held up; it appears that the Tanks outdistanced the infantry, or that the tactics adopted did not permit of the infantry keeping close enough up to the Tanks. As the Tanks topped the crest, they came under direct artillery fire at short range and suffered heavy casualties. No less than sixteen Tanks were knocked out by a single field gun. This gun was at the west end of the village, and from its position the Tanks were each outlined against the sky as they topped the ridge. Its story is told in Sir Douglas Haig’s Despatch, with a generosity which might well have encouraged what the Tank crews considered a most undesirable spirit in enemy gunners: “Many of the hits upon our tanks at Flesquières were obtained by a German artillery officer who, remaining alone at his battery, served a field gun single-handed until killed at his gun. The great bravery of this officer aroused the admiration of all ranks.” There was stiff fighting at Havrincourt, and before nightfall the 62nd Division and its Tanks had captured Graincourt. Several Tanks even pushed on beyond towards Bourlon Wood and the Cambrai road, but by this time the infantry were too exhausted to follow. By 4 p.m. on November 20 one of the most astonishing battles in all history had been won, and as far as the Tank Corps was concerned, tactically finished. There were no reserves of Tanks, and the crews that had fought all day were now very spent and weary. The infantry were still more exhausted and a further advance was impossible. The night was spent by Tank crews and infantry in resting, and by the Staff in planning a renewed attack for the next day. A letter home from a Tank officer describes a typical scene: “We had captured the village of Havrincourt that morning, or rather its ruins, and it was in the one remaining room of the once magnificent Château that General John Ponsonby, commanding the 40th Division, established his Headquarters and convened a conference for ten o’clock in the evening. “The road thither had already been sufficiently restored to permit of cars getting through, granted skilful driving and good luck. “Felled trees, wire, breastworks, and other barriers had been cleared aside, trenches and craters on both sides of No Man’s Land had been roughly filled in, whilst the notorious ‘Grand Ravine’ had been made passable for carriage folk by the judicious placing of a few fascines. “There were a round dozen of us at the conference, a muddy, rather blear-eyed party, some in tin hats and trench coats, revolver girt--some in honorific red and gold--all with slung gas-masks.