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  • Day 1210 of the war
  • Thousands of Orange residents flock to the railway station to welcome the recruiting train and accompany the officials and recruits to Robertson Park. Guest of honour is Victoria Cross recipient William Jackson. Arrival of Recruits. The Mayor, Edwin Thomas McNeilly, hosts a Civic Reception at the Town Hall, which is followed by dinner at the Club Hotel. Dinner is followed by “one of the largest recruiting meetings yet held in Orange”, where some twelve men volunteer to serve.
  • The Battle of Cambrai begins on the Western Front. Britain employs aircraft, artillery and, for the first time, tanks en masse. They manage to penetrate the Hindenburg Line by more than nine kilometres on the opening day of battle. Fighting continues until 7 December.

A British Mark IV tank as it would appear to occupants of the German trenches during the Battle of Cambrai, November 1917. Image courtesy Imperial War Museum © IWM (Q 6284).