This is after doing some quick research to refresh my memory - I can get you sources once I'm home if you'd like to look into things in more detail. You didn't pull the short straw tho!

Cambrai was pretty well into the war, so the British took all they learned so far and put it to use, but to no avail. A surprise attack, hard hitting barrages to knock out the enemy guns, creeping barrages to cover the infantry advance, mass use of tanks to punch through the line, waves of infantry going over to take the enemy positions, and air support. Its one of the first examples of a combined arms attack, with multiple branches of the military being involved in support of each other (Air support, Armor, and Infantry)

The Germans were having a hard time of it - supply shortages and less manpower - and pulled back to the Hindenburg line to help remedy the situation. The line was shorter than the previous front line, so took less people to man it. They prepared it before leaving the current front line, so they had time to beef it up and stand a solid defence. Their supply lines were also shorter, while forcing the British to transport supplies over what was previously no-man's-land - full of mud, no roads, no train tracks. A huge logistical mess, so it would buy them some time as well.

The British intended to use the push at Cambrai to break through the lines and threaten the German rear - same basic plan as the previous, and future, big pushes. It's notable for being one of the first instances of massed tanks in an offensive. Unfortunately it suffered from the same problems as those other pushes - even though great gains were maid in the first push, the British had trouble supplying the troops in these new positions, as well as getting in enough troops to exploit any advantages gained. The lack of roads, mud, and rail greatly hampered their ability to keep up the push. The Germans, however, had shorter and easier supply lines, and could re-position troops more quickly to meet a threat.

The push failed in its ultimate goals, and after the German counter offensive lost most of their newly gained ground - the battle was a wash which left approximately 90k casualties (killed, captured, or wounded).

My interest in WW1 comes mostly from reading first hand accounts (memoirs, journals) of the people who were there - if you want some sources I know I have some memoirs from people who were at Cambrai, I think I even have a memoir from a tanker who was there. If you want to go that route I can find them when I'm home and send you the info. I have a boat-load of RAF memoirs, but off the top of my head I don't remember a reference to this particular battle in them, but I'm sure I can find one if I looked. Let me know!