By the evening of 21 November 1917, British commanders faced a hard reality. The eastern opportunities near Marcoing and Masnières were narrowing, the canal crossings had not produced the strong route of exploitation once hoped for, and the battlefield was forcing a choice. This episode explains why the British effectively gave up on a major push across the canal and turned instead toward Bourlon Ridge. The change was not simply a shift in ambition. It was a recognition that some opportunities were fading while one major tactical necessity remained.

The episode explores the command logic behind that decision. Fighting east of the canal had become too fragmented, too constrained by crossings, and too costly to offer a realistic path to decisive results. Troops were exhausted, local gains could not easily be expanded, and German resistance was recovering. At the same time, Bourlon Ridge increasingly dominated the entire British salient. As long as the Germans held that high ground, the British advance remained exposed and difficult to support. Turning westward therefore meant focusing on the terrain that could still shape the battle in a meaningful way.

This chapter is especially important because it marks the transition from Cambrai’s most fluid phase to its harsher and more attritional middle stage. The British had learned how to break into the German line, but now they were confronting the battlefield choice that often follows early success: where to stop pushing in one direction and concentrate on securing what has already been won. For more military history writing and books, visit MilitaryAuthor.me, and for magazines, galleries, and a massive archive of military photos and video, visit Trackpads.com.