DEBORAH D51
THE HULK OF THIS MARK IV TANK REMAINED BURIED FOR DECADES, BUT IT WILL GO ON DISPLAY IN NOVEMBER
Deborah D51 was one of 36 fighting tanks from D Battalion of the Tank Corps that spearheaded the attack against the German-held village of Flesquières on the morning of 20 November. She was the second tank with the crew number D51 – her predecessor was been lost during the Battle of Passchendaele three months before.
Most tanks attacking Flesquières headed off to either side of the village, where many were picked off by German artillery hidden behind the ridge. Deborah was the only one to enter the village but was knocked out by a concealed field gun.
Four of the crew – Gunners Joseph Cheverton, George Foot, William Galway and Frederick Tipping – were killed outright. The commander, Second Lieutenant Frank Heap, slipped back to the British lines with the survivors. A letter he wrote indicates that another member of the crew also died during the attack.
The shattered hulk of D-51 remained in the village street until 1919, when it was buried in a large hole during the battlefield clear-up. In 1998 the tank was discovered and excavated by the Cambrai hotelier and historian Philippe Gorczysnki, and since then it has been displayed in a barn in the village.
In July Deborah completed her last journey when she was moved by lorry and crane into a new purpose-built museum beside the cemetery in Flesquières where her crew are buried. This is due to open in november, in time for the centenary of the battle.
The museum will provide a fitting final resting place for Deborah – a unique, powerful relic and almost certainly the only surviving tank that took part in the historic attack at Cambrai. For more information, please visit: www.amazing-cambrai.com/cambrai17
“THE MUSEUM WILL PROVIDE A FITTING FINAL RESTING PLACE FOR DEBORAH – A UNIQUE AND POWERFUL RELIC, AND ALMOST CERTAINLY THE ONLY SURVIVING TANK THAT TOOK PART IN THE HISTORIC ATTACK AT CAMBRAI”