Chapter II: Part 2

During the first months of the offensive of 1916, the Germans, installed on the top of the slopes which dominate both banks of the river, resisted successfully in the Ancre sector. On the east, they occupied the whole of the Thiepval Plateau (maximum altitude, 540 feet), which they transformed into a veritable fortress. To the west, after crossing the Ancre below the hamlet of St.-Pierre-Divion, their trenches ran in front of the high ground of Beaumont-Hamel (Hill 135) and Serre (Hills 143 and 141). From these elevated points they dominated the British positions, which is why the British, before attacking, were forced to take the Thiepval Ridge (end of September, 1916). This enabled them to take the German intrenchments in the rear.

On November 13, 1916, the attack was launched under very unfavourable weather conditions. The ground was sodden, and a thick fog hid everything from view. In spite, however, of the five successive lines of trenches which protected the enemy positions, the British first captured the hamlet of St.-Pierre-Divion, then, three hours afterwards, the fortress of Beaumont.

In 1918, the German thrust broke down, as in 1914, on the banks of the Ancre. Caught in the swampy ground, they were unable to establish themselves strongly on the heights of the western bank. Leaving advanced posts only in the valley, with strong patrols, they reoccupied their old entrenched positions; but with the ground in such a state of upheaval, a prolonged resistance there was impossible.

The Germans were unable to prevent the British, on August 22, 1918, from crossing the Ancre near Aveluy and carrying, within forty-eight hours, the Thiepval and Beaumont Heights, against which their efforts had so long been unsuccessful.

_The road passes the railway station of =Beaumont-Hamel=._ The important market town of this name _(1 km. 500 beyond the station)_ is now a mere heap of chaotic ruins.

The report of the Enquiry Commission appointed by the French Government, contains the following:--

_"On October 12, 1914, an aeroplane flew over Beaumont-Hamel. The Germans pretended that two women (Mme. Roussel and Mme. Flament) signalled to the aeroplane, the first-named by leading a red horse and a white horse into her yard, the second woman by displaying a large piece of cloth-stuff. The facts are: Mme. Flament had simply used her handkerchief, and Mme. Roussel, in the absence of her mobilised husband, having to attend to their large farm, had led two horses into the yard, to facilitate the cleaning of the stable._

_"Together with other inhabitants of the village who were under arrest for similar futile motives, Mme. Roussel and Mme. Flament were questioned by the officer attached to the Colonel commanding the 110th Infantry Regiment. After having ordered them to confess their guilt, this officer was particularly infuriated against Mme. Flament, and promised the others that their lives should be spared if they would denounce her. He had a personal grievance against the woman. A few days before he had asked her for champagne wine, and she had replied that she had not any, but, on leaving the house, he noticed that some of his men had wine and, believing that she had mocked him, he had indulged in violent reproaches._

_"In spite of the danger, the brave women replied that they preferred to die rather than accuse an innocent person. Exasperated by their resistance, the German allowed them three minutes for reflection, and then had them placed against the wall of the church. While his soldiers covered the women with their rifles, he counted, 'one, two ----,' then, in the belief that this sham execution had terrorized the defenceless women, he allowed them half an hour's respite and sent them back to the Town Hall. At the expiration of this delay he again pressed them with questions, seized two sums of money (one of 776 francs, the other of 1,345 francs, which Mme. Roussel and Mme. Flament, believing that their last hour had come, had requested a friend to hand over to their families), threatened in a fit of rage to have Mme. Flament buried alive, and ordered all the persons under arrest to swear that they were innocent. At the last moment, the courage to carry out this abomination failed him, and he sent the unfortunate women back to Mme. Roussel's house. Here they were watched until October 28, and were then sent to Cambrai with the other inhabitants who had been held as hostages, because they were unable to pay the whole of the war contribution of 8,000 francs which had been set upon the district."_--_Report of December 8, 1915, page 22, Vol. V._

_One kilometre beyond the station of Beaucourt-Hamel the road crosses the village of =Beaucourt=_, where not a single wall remains standing _(see sketch-map, p. 40)_.

It was on November 13, 1910, that the British, after capturing Beaumont-Hamel, carried Hill No. 135, between Beaumont and Beaucourt, and reached the outskirts of Beaucourt. The entire village was occupied the next day.

But the approaching winter and continuous bad weather did not allow them to exploit their success. In the operations of the previous two days, they had been greatly hampered by the deep sticky mud through which, in places, the men had had to advance up to their waists. It was therefore decided to make the new positions their winter quarters.

The cessation of the offensive did not, however, mean inaction. From November, 1916, to the end of January, 1917, raids were incessantly carried out in the enemy trenches.

Early in February, 1917, a violent and incessant bombardment was the forerunner of fresh attacks. From February 8 onwards, the British made considerable progress along the Beaucourt-Miraumont road.

_After leaving Beaucourt, keep along this road._ A great heap of red bricks, on the right, by the side of the river Ancre, is all that remains of Baillescourt Farm, the defence-works of which were captured on February 8, 1917.

A few days later, the British reached the outskirts of the important position of =Miraumont=.

This large village was divided by the Ancre and the Albert-Arras railway, the village proper being situated on the north bank. The smaller agglomeration of houses lying on the south bank, known as Petit-Miraumont, was the first to fall into the hands of the British, after desperate fighting. The approaches to Petit-Miraumont had been covered with successive lines of trenches, bristling with barbed wire entanglements, redoubts and concrete blockhouses for machine-guns. All these positions had to be carried one by one. The village itself was only captured on February 24, 1917.

Two days later, Miraumont-le-Grand, defended only by a rearguard company and a section of machine-gunners, was easily carried by the British. This marked the beginning of the "strategical withdrawal" which, the following month, ended with the capture of Bapaume, Miraumont (7 km. to the west) being one of its advance fortresses.

Lost again in the following year, Miraumont was one of the few positions which the Germans fiercely defended at the time of the British counter-offensive of August, 1918. They tried all they knew to stop the British advance on Bapaume at this point. The fight lasted all day on August 24, and the German retirement began only after the capture of Grandcourt and Thiepval (on the south) and of Irles and Loupart Wood (on the north-east) threatened them with complete encirclement. That night, a strong detachment of British troops slipped into the fortified ruins of the village, held by picked machine-gunners. A fierce struggle followed in the dark. At daybreak the German garrison attempted a sortie, and succeeded in encircling the British detachments. However, a British aeroplane, which was hovering over the scene of the struggle, signalled that reinforcements were coming, and finally the Germans were encircled, and several hundreds of them taken prisoners.

After the fights of 1916, Miraumont was one of the least damaged of the reconquered villages. Many of the houses retained parts of their walls, and some their frame-work, though in a dislocated condition. To-day nothing remains. Of the modern church which used to stand on the highest point of the village, only a fragment of wall remains _(photo, p. 42)_. On the right, in the devastated cemetery which surrounds the church, stands a massive stone monument, erected by the Germans before their retreat of 1917 _(photos, above and below)_.

_At the entrance to Miraumont, take the Courcelette road on the right, which crosses the marshes, then passes under the railway bridge and afterwards traverses the site of Petit-Miraumont_ (now razed). _It next climbs the hill on the left bank of the Ancre. Leave the road to Pys on the left, and keep straight on to =Courcelette=._ Numerous shelters, trenches and British and German graves may be seen along the road.

The village of Courcelette was taken by the British during the offensive of September 15, 1916.

THE BRITISH OFFENSIVE OF SEPTEMBER 15, 1916.

The First Tanks

The British objective was Courcelette, Martinpuich and the neighbouring heights which protected the Bapaume Plateau _(see p. 22)_.

The offensive began on September 15, along a front of about six miles, from the neighbourhood of Combles to the trenches before Pozières.

In a few hours, the infantry, preceded in its advance by impassable artillery barrages, carried Martinpuich and the small hills which dominate it. Other detachments captured Courcelette on the left.

The fighting was particularly desperate before Courcelette. The first two assaulting waves broke against the double line of enemy trenches, flanked by redoubts and salients armed with mortars and machine-guns. Further artillery preparation was necessary, and it was only at nightfall that the Canadians were able to enter the village. A tank immediately set about clearing the streets.

It was in this offensive that tanks were used for the first time, to the great disturbance of the enemy's _morale_.

At Martinpuich they crushed down the walls which were still standing, and behind which machine-guns were hidden.

One tank went for the fortified sugar factory in front of Courcelette village, knocked down the walls, crushed the numerous machine-guns hidden behind them, destroyed all the defence-works and quickly overcame the enemy's resistance.

_On leaving Courcelette, take N. 29 on the right towards Pozières and Thiepval (see sketch-map, p. 44)._

_On the right of the road stand_ the ruins of a large sugar factory with a concrete observation-post. _Further on, also to the right_, there is a cross erected by the British.

GERMAN OBSERVATION-POST OF CONCRETE, IN THE ENGINE-ROOM.]

_Before reaching Pozières, N. 29 passes over Hill 160._ The windmill which formerly stood there has disappeared.

From the top of Hill 160, which dominates the whole district, there is an extensive view in the direction of Bapaume. To keep this observation-post, the Germans transformed Pozières into a fortress defended by more than 200 machine-guns.

After capturing Ovillers-la-Boisselle and advancing little by little along the National road as far as the outskirts of Pozières, the British attacked on July 23, 1916, but only at midnight were they able to get a footing in the village. Throughout the night and the two following days, the fighting went on with unabated fury. It was only on July 26 that the Germans were definitively driven from the northern part of the village, and the fortified cemetery, and a few days later from the windmill on Hill 160.

Violent counter-attacks were made in August, liquid fire being used in some cases. These attacks were particularly fierce to the north-west of the village and in the vicinity of the windmill, on the night of August 16, when six assaulting waves were broken by the British artillery barrage-fire.

When this furious struggle died down, nothing was left of the village. Its site, completely levelled and upturned, is now indistinguishable from the surrounding country--formerly fruitful fields of corn and beet, to-day a chaotic waste of shell-holes.

A German observation-post of concrete _is seen on the right_, and another, less damaged, with very deep shelters _(photo below), also on the right. On leaving the village, 300 yards further on, to the right_, there is a large British cemetery.

_In the village of Pozières, the road, to Thiepval, which branches off to the right, is only passable for about 1 km. 500. From this point the tourist should go on foot to Thiepval._

The Capture of Thiepval by the British

Situated on a plateau surrounded by hills, Thiepval had been transformed into a veritable fortress. Since September, 1914, the Wurtemburger 180th Regiment had been garrisoned there, and made it a point of honour to hold the place at all cost. For twenty months, formidable defence-works had been made; redoubts, blockhouses and concrete vaulted shelters, built on the surrounding high ground, formed a continuous, fortified line around the village. Inside, a labyrinth of trenches, connected by subterranean passages, linked up with strong points and to bombardment-proof shelters.

The British were forced to lay siege to the place. The operations, begun on July 3, 1916, lasted till October.

On July 7, the British carried the greater part of the Leipzig Redoubt (Hill 141), a powerful stronghold which protected Thiepval from the south, and consisting of a system of small blockhouses connected up by a network of trenches. A wide breach opened by the artillery, enabled the troops to gain a footing in the position and conquer it trench by trench.

Throughout the months of July and August the struggle went on, with unabated fury, around the fortress. Fighting with grenades, the British advanced inch by inch, so to speak, and eventually gained a footing in the village, to the east and south. Each advance was immediately followed by a violent counter-attack, as the Germans looked on Thiepval as the key of the Bapaume position.

On August 26, in particular, the Prussian Guard attacked the British lines of the Leipzig Salient. The struggle was one of "giants." After furious hand-to-hand fighting, the Wiltshire and Worcestershire Regiments broke the assaulting waves and inflicted "frightful" losses on the enemy. At no point were the British positions pierced; on the contrary, progress continued to the south and south-east.

On September 15, the Australians captured Mouquet Farm which, on the right, formed the advance-bastion of the fortress.

Thiepval was now completely surrounded from south to east, and after a last artillery preparation of extreme violence, the final assault was made.

At 12.30 a.m., on September 25, the Canadians attacked the castle and southern part of the village, one of the strongholds of the fortress. After fierce fighting, which lasted two hours, they captured the defence-works, being helped by the tanks which, crushing everything before them, destroyed the nests of machine-guns hidden on all sides.

The battle went on throughout the following day in the village, the cellars of which were connected with one another and fortified, forming so many nests of machine-guns. Detachments of Wurtembergers who, by means of underground passages, had slipped behind the Canadians, were either exterminated or captured. In the evening, the cemetery, which formed the centre of resistance in the northern part of the village, was carried. Thiepval was thus entirely conquered, as well as the Zollern Redoubt, which dominates it on the east.

The British followed up their success by attacking the fortified positions to the north and north-east, on the line of hills which dominate the Valley of the Ancre near Grandcourt, where the Germans had also made formidable entrenchments, comprising the Stuff Redoubt (to the north-east), the Schwaben Redoubt (to the north), and between the two, astride of the Thiepval-Grandcourt road (G.C. 151), the Hesse Trench. Behind these, in the direction of Grandcourt, the Shiff and Regina Trenches, likewise powerfully organised, formed a second line of entrenchments.

From September 27 to October 1, the fighting was bitter and incessant, both redoubts and the Hesse Trench changing hands several times. Finally, the British remained masters of these positions, but were afterwards held by the following trenches--the Shiff and Regina--to which they had to lay siege. Progress was very slow, in spite of incessant grenade fighting, and when winter arrived, they had not yet conquered the whole of these trenches.

The recapture of the Thiepval Plateau by the Germans at the end of March, 1918, did not give rise to any important engagement, no special effort being made to defend it. In the same way, it is said that when the British finally drove out the Germans a few months later (August 24, 1918), they did not lose a single man.

Everything was pounded to bits by the shells. Of the one-time flourishing village, nothing remains. A shapeless mass of broken stones marks the site of the Castle _(photo above)_. The place has become a desolate waste overrun with weeds and grass. Here and there traces of the defence-works: redoubts, trenches, etc., and the graves of British and German soldiers, conjure up visions of the bloody struggle which took place there.

_Return to Pozières, take again N. 29 on the left, towards Bapaume._

_Five kilometres beyond Pozières, =Sars=, which stood on both sides of the high road, is reached (photo, p. 50)._ It was taken on October 7, 1916, by the British, who advanced beyond it, but were then held, as in spite of repeated assaults the Germans had maintained themselves on the Warlencourt Ridge (Hill 122), to the east, which dominates the whole district.

Sars is the nearest village to Bapaume, taken by the British in the course of their offensive of 1916. It was about 9 km. from their trenches (in front of La Boisselle), and 6 km. this side of the first houses of Bapaume. In 1918, on the contrary, it took the British only three days to cross the strip of ground, 7 km. wide, which separated their starting trenches from Le Sars village, captured on August 25.

Sars was wiped out. At the entrance, in a small shell-torn wood on the right, are the remains of a German cemetery, completely devastated. The base of a German monument can still be seen _(photo above)_.

_Continue along N. 29 for about 1 km. beyond Sars; 150 yards to the right, =Warlencourt Ridge=_ stands out. _Go there on foot._

Warlencourt Ridge

Warlencourt Ridge is as tragically famous in the British Army as the Mort-Homme is for their French comrades-in-arms.

From the top of Hill 122, the last before Bapaume, the view embraces the whole region, renowned for the battles fought before the town first in the Franco-German War (1871) and then forty-six years later (1917-18). At the foot of the ridge lies the ruined village of Ligny-Thilloy; to the right, on the sky-line, accumulations of stones and rubbish, the suburbs of Bapaume; on the left, the remains of Loupart Wood, and, behind, a few broken walls, all that is left of the village of Grévillers.

The ground was everywhere cut up with trenches and defence-works, to destroy which a terrific pounding by the artillery was necessary. Not a single square yard escaped the deluge of shells, the destruction being as complete as it was methodical. Of the trenches, which were levelled before the fighting proper began, practically only traces remain. The woods, turned into fortresses, have likewise vanished, only shapeless tree-stumps being left. The villages were razed to their very foundations.

As far as the eye can reach, nothing is seen but a chaotic waste patched here and there with weeds and rank grass. In places, vestiges of the ancient barbed wire entanglements, which overran the ground in all directions, are met with. These were so numerous that the guns could not entirely destroy them, but wide gaps were made through which the attacking waves forced their way.

The Warlencourt Ridge proper consists of two superimposed eminences: a bare plateau about two-thirds of a mile in width--now covered with graves--and a chalky shell-torn hillock, which was the centre of the German position.

Pierced with subterranean galleries, furrowed with several successive lines of trenches, surrounded by a triple belt of entrenchments bristling with barbed wire entanglements and flanked at every angle by redoubts with innumerable mortars and machine-guns, such was the ridge which, like an impregnable fortress, faced the British trenches throughout the winter of 1916-17.

Several times in October and November, 1916, the British endeavoured to carry the position, but each time their attacks failed against the formidable defences. Only on February 25, 1917, did they succeed in taking it, after a feint attack on the rear-guards, which were protecting the withdrawal of the German main forces.

In 1917, the British erected five large crosses on the top of the ridge in memory of the units which took part in the assaults of 1916.

_After visiting Warlencourt Ridge, return to N. 29, along which continue to =Bapaume= (5 km.)._

BAPAUME.

Situated on the road of invasion, at the intersection of the highways leading to Amiens, Arras, Cambrai and Soissons, Bapaume, in the course of past centuries, was several times besieged, destroyed or plundered. The town dates from the early Middle-Ages, and owes its origin to a fortified Castle built at the exit of the immense Arrouaise Forest, which at that time extended from the Ancre to the Sambre, and was infested by robbers and cut-throats. Mention of this particularity is found in an eleventh century heroic poem "En Aroaise a mauvaise ripaille."

Under the protection of the Castle, the town grew rapidly, and soon became an important city, made wealthy by the trading between France and Flanders. Conquered by Louis XI., it afterwards fell into the hands of the Spaniards, and was transformed into a fortified town by Charles Quint. Recaptured by Francis I., it was lost again, and retaken only in 1641. Several years later, the Treaty of the Pyrenees (1659) ceded it definitely to France.

Bapaume in 1917

Utilising the ruins around and inside the town, the Germans had built very strong lines of defences at short distances, one behind the other, and preceded by deep barbed wire entanglements. But after the capture on March 11-13, 1917, of Louppart Wood and Grévillers, west of Bapaume--the only village in the district, whose houses and roofs were practically intact--the British were masters of all the crests of the Bapaume Plateau, and encircled the town so closely from north to south, that the Germans decided not to defend the latter, in spite of the powerful defences which they had accumulated. Before withdrawing, they destroyed the trenches, devastated the entire district, set death-traps everywhere, stretched chains, connected with mines, across the roads and paths, and set fire to the shelters, etc.

Neither the destructions nor the companies of machine-gunners which were left behind as rear-guards could stop the British, who occupied Bapaume on March 17, 1917, while the fires lighted in the town by the Germans were still burning.

Bapaume in 1918

Whereas, in 1917, the British captured Bapaume by a frontal attack, they retook the town in August, 1918, by a wide turning movement.

As early as August 24, the New Zealanders of General Byng's Army, after carrying Louppart Wood, reached Avesnes-les-Bapaume, one of the suburbs of the town. The next day they advanced beyond the Bapaume-Arras road, and on the 27th conquered Beugnâtre (5 km. north-east of Bapaume). The town was furthermore surrounded on the south by the capture of Warlencourt Ridge. Unable to hold out any longer, the Germans evacuated or set fire to the immense stores in the town.

On the 29th, the Welsh and New Zealand troops fought their way across the suburbs before nightfall, and hoisted the British and French flags on the ruins of the Town Hall.

Destruction of Bapaume

Bapaume, whose population numbered about 3,000 inhabitants before the war, was systematically and totally destroyed in 1917. Not a house was spared. Those which were not hit by the shells, were either mined or burnt. All the works, factories, sugar-refineries, tanneries and public buildings were ruined. When the British entered the town, the streets were blocked with rubbish of all kinds. Traces of the tar, by means of which the fires had been lit, were still visible on the partially burnt timber-work. Here, as everywhere else, the destructions had been preceded by methodical pillaging.

The bombardments and fighting of 1918 completed the destruction of the town, which, to-day, is entirely in ruins.

VISIT TO BAPAUME.

_Tourists arriving by the N. 29, enter Bapaume through the suburb of Arras, where turn to the right. Cross the railway (l.c.), coming out at the Place Faidherbe, via the Rue d'Arras._

To commemorate General Faidherbe's victory over the Germans near Bapaume on January 3, 1871, a bronze statue was erected in the Place Faidherbe. This statue was carried off by the Germans, and when the British entered the town in 1917, they found it had mockingly been replaced by an enormous stove-pipe.

In the Place Faidherbe, at the corner of the Rue d'Arras, stood the Hôtel-de-Ville, an interesting building dating from the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, on the ground-floor of which was a porch formed by a series of arcades.

In 1917, the Germans set fire to it, previous to evacuating the town. On March 25, one week later, a formidable explosion, caused by a bomb with retarded fuse, destroyed all that had been spared by the fire. Two members of the French Parliament were found dead under the ruins of the building.

_Take the Rue de Péronne, on the right of the Place, then the Rue de l'Eglise, on the right, which leads to St. Nicholas Church._

The Church of St. Nicholas was a large fifteenth and sixteenth century pile, with three naves, whose ruins to-day are most impressive. The belfry has completely disappeared, while all that remains of the body are broken, gaping fragments of the outside walls, a few pillars of the nave and several vaulted bays of the aisles.

_Return to the Rue de Péronne, at the end of which are_ The Promenades. On the right are the ancient ramparts; a fairly high eminence, near by, was used as an observation-post for the artillery (pretty view over the town).

_At the end of The Promenades take the G.C. 10, on the right._ The road passes through the villages of =Thilloy= and =Ligny-Thilloy=--a single "_commune_," which likewise includes the village of =Barque=.

It was at and around Ligny-Thilloy that on January 3, 1871, was fought the battle of Bapaume. This unavailing victory of General Faidherbe's forced the Germans to evacuate Bapaume and begin their retreat towards the Somme. In October, 1914, during the fighting which took place near Thilloy, the Germans "compelled a group of some ten women and children to stand before them and face the French positions, then, kneeling behind them, they opened fire on the French troops" _(Report of the Commission of Enquiry)_.

In 1917, the fighting in this region was again in favour of the Allies, as on February 27-28, after a feeble resistance, the villages of Barque, Ligny and Thilloy were captured by the British.

The industrial and agricultural "_Commune_" of Ligny-Thilloy, which had already suffered severely during the war of 1871, was completely ruined by the late War.

_One kilometre beyond Ligny, there is a mine-crater on the right of the road._

At the crossing with the Gueudecourt road stands a large cross, erected to the memory of the New Zealanders who fell around there. _Keep straight on to =Flers=_--completely ruined. In May, 1919, two damaged tanks were still to be seen at the entrance to the village.

_See above sketch-map._]

This was one of the villages captured by the British during their offensive of September 15, 1916.

_The Report of the Commission of Enquiry contains the following_:--

"During the first month of the German occupation, M. Delmotte, baker, was ordered to supply the enemy with bread. He complied with their demands, without, however, receiving anything in exchange, except requisition forms. Some time afterwards, his stock of flour having run out, he was forced to procure some from Bapaume at his own expense. The Germans having meanwhile taken possession of the mill, it was they who sold him the flour. Finding this arrangement unsatisfactory, he subsequently refused to work any longer for the German soldiers unless at least the flour which he had to buy were paid for. The Germans, displeased at this, sought an opportunity to revenge themselves. On October 14, they ordered Delmotte to hand over his fowling-piece, which he did without protesting. Two days later they directed him to deliver up his ammunition. Again complying with their request, he handed over a box containing a few cartridges, shell splinters, and two cartridge clips which his son had picked up in the fields. He was immediately arrested for detaining arms and locked up in his cellar, where he was closely watched. The next day he was shot in his garden, beside a grave which his murderers had dug beforehand."

_Beyond Flers, G.C. 197--which forms the continuation of G.C. 10--although in bad condition, is passable with careful driving._ It crosses a devastated, shell-torn region, in which are numerous graves, shelters and gun-emplacements. _Before reaching Longueval, it skirts the western edge of =Delville Wood=_, the skeleton remains of which are to be seen on the left.

_Beyond the wood, before entering Longueval_, a German cemetery with 200 graves _is seen on the left, near the railway (photo above)_.

Delville Wood and Longueval were the scene of desperate fighting during the latter part of July, 1916.

These two positions had been brilliantly carried by the British on July 14 and 15, in spite of their powerful defences, but German counter-attacks with lachrymatory and asphyxiating gas shells, forced the British to fall back a few days later. However, the latter soon returned to the attack, and a terrible struggle began, which lasted five days and nights without intermission (July 23 to 28).

One South African Brigade gave proof of marvellous courage and endurance in Delville Wood, where, attacked by nine and a half battalions, supported by an overwhelming artillery, it did not yield an inch of ground. One group of machine-gunners was reduced to one man, who continued to fire, until his gun jammed, when he coolly took it to pieces, set it right and resumed firing. Only after he had emptied all his cartridge belts did he withdraw. In another corner of the wood, Scottish units, on the point of being surrounded, charged with bayonet and grenades, and in spite of the enemy's numerical superiority, succeeded in cutting their way through, after a furious hand-to-hand struggle. On July 28, the wood was finally cleared of its last German occupants. On both sides the losses were very heavy. Three German regiments were completely annihilated.

_At the back_: DELVILLE WOOD]

The desperate nature of the struggle is attested by the present aspect of Longueval village and Delville Wood. It is almost impossible, even with the help of a map, to locate the site of this once pleasant spot amid this chaos of stones and bricks, tree-stumps and shell-torn ground.

_In Longueval, take the Contalmaison road, on the right._

_Two kilometres beyond Longueval, turn to the left towards =Bazentin-le-Grand=._

Bazentin-le-Grand was a small hamlet, belonging to a large agglomeration of houses (now razed to the ground), of which Bazentin-le-Petit was the continuation.

After capturing Contalmaison and Mametz Wood in July, 1916, the British soon reached and carried Bazentin-le-Grand.

A desperate struggle then began on July 14, 1916, before Bazentin-le-Petit. To the strains of the _Marseillaise_ the British attacked the German entrenchments, captured and lost the village several times, and finally remained masters of it. To consolidate the conquered ground they immediately advanced beyond it.

Penetrating into the German third line, they gained a footing in Foureaux Wood (High Wood), and on the slopes of Hill 155.

A squadron of British Dragoon Guards--the first appearance of British cavalry in the trench warfare--charged the wood, spreading panic in the enemy ranks.

Foureaux Wood, literally covered with formidable defences, was only captured after two months of incessant fighting. Finally, the last defenders, surrounded on all sides, were forced to surrender on September 15.

In August, 1918, the British, after piercing the lines on the Ancre and Thiepval Plateau, attacked the German forces, not, as in 1916, parallelly to the Albert-Bapaume road, but at right-angles to it. In two days (August 25-26) they captured Contalmaison village, Mametz Wood, Bazentin, Foureaux Wood and Martinpuich, to the east of the road.

_Pass through Bazentin-le-Grand. The road crosses_ Hill 144, _then descends to a quarry on the left_, in which several hundred British soldiers were buried. _It next climbs up to =Montauban=_--a village rising tier upon tier on the slope of an eminence, the top of which, slightly further to the west (Hill 136), is one of the highest spots in the whole region between Albert and Péronne.

_The road passes a cross (photo above)_ in the village, _at the junction of two ways. Take the one on the right, which leads to the site of the late church._ Of the latter, nothing remains but a few iron crosses in the surrounding cemetery (_photo below_).

Montauban was captured by the British on the first day of their offensive (July 1, 1916). The struggle was short, but fierce and sanguinary. Numerous machine-guns posted in the cellars of the houses directed a continuous and murderous fire upon the assailants through the vent-holes, and had to be destroyed one by one, by means of grenades. The enemy losses were very heavy. During the artillery preparation, and on the day of the attack, the Bavarian 6th Regiment lost 3,000 men out of 3,500; the casualties of another of their Infantry Regiments (the 190th) amounted to half its total strength.

Since the third month of the war, Montauban had remained quite close to the front line, and was reduced to ruins. The few houses spared by the Allies' artillery were destroyed later by the German guns.

It is utterly impossible to locate the site of a street or house. The only remaining landmarks are the pond and the cemetery--the latter considerably enlarged by the addition of numerous German graves. Everywhere else nothing is to be seen, except heaps of stones and rubbish, beams, scrap-iron, and débris of all kinds.

_At Montauban Church turn to the right. On leaving the village take the road on the left to =Carnoy=._

It was to the north of Carnoy that from September, 1914, to July, 1916, the front line became fixed.

On July 1, 1916, the British set out from Carnoy to attack Montauban, in _liaison_ on their right with the French.

_Outside Carnoy the road crosses a ravine_, in which runs the short Albert-Péronne railway, and passes a large cemetery on the left. _It next rises sharply to the Albert-Péronne road, which take on the right._

_Two kilometres beyond the fork, take the road to =Mametz=, on the right._

The village of Mametz (completely destroyed) was captured by the British on July 1, 1916, in spite of a desperate resistance.

_In the village, take the road to =Fricourt= (1 km.), on the left._

Fricourt village was fortified by the Germans and formed part of their front line until July 1, 1916.

Rising in tiers on the brow of a hill, this village consisted of a continuous series of blockhouses and redoubts, with numerous machine-guns. Underneath the houses were deep, comfortable shelters, some of which were 45 feet deep. As was the case throughout the whole of the sector before Albert, Fricourt was the scene of violent mine warfare for many months. On various occasions sanguinary encounters took place for the possession of the mine-craters, but the front line trenches continued to occupy the same positions. The Germans kept the village, while the French clung to its south-western outskirts.

_The cellars were used as dressing stations._]

It took the British no less than thirty-six hours of incessant fighting to carry it on July 2, 1916. 1,500 prisoners were taken.

_Take the road to =Contalmaison= (3 km.), which branches off to the right at Fricourt._ Before entering the village notice the British cemetery on the left.

The ancient market-town of Contalmaison was important, on account of its dominating position at the junction of several roads. Surrounded with redoubts and defended by the Prussian Guard, it was taken, then lost, on July 7, 1916. Attacked again from the south and west, it was finally carried on July 11, together with Mametz Wood, lying to the east. Contalmaison was completely destroyed.

A few crosses mark the site of the church and cemetery.

_Take the Boisselle road on the left, and, return to Amiens, via Albert, a short distance further on._

SECOND DAY.

THE VALLEY OF THE SOMME-COMBLES-PÉRONNE.

_Leave Amiens by the Rue Jules Barmi (continuation of the Rue de Noyon), then, after passing the station, by the Chaussée Périgord and N. 35._

_After passing through Longueau, the road forms a double fork. Take the left-hand road in both cases. At =Petit Blangy=_ there is an important Australian cemetery on the left. _After twice crossing the railway the road enters =Abbé Wood=._

_On leaving the road, at the foot of a descent (15 km. from Amiens), take the =Corbie= road on the left, via =Fouilloy=._

There is a fine 16th-18th century church at Corbie. Restored in the 19th century, it is the remains of a famous abbey. The town suffered severely from the bombardments.

_Take the Rue Faidherbe as far as a house with brick turrets, where turn to the right into the Rue Victor Hugo._

_Beyond Corbie, the road follows the marshy valley of the Somme to =Vaux-sur-Somme=._

On leaving this village there is a British-American graveyard on the right, by the side of the parish cemetery.

_The road next passes through =Sailly-le-Sec=_, whose church is in ruins. _At the end of the village take the road on the left, then at the wayside cross, that on the right up Hill 108_, past two British cemeteries. _2 km. beyond Sailly-le-Sec, the Corbie-Bray road (G.C. 1) is joined, which take on the right_, past a large British cemetery on the right.

_Having crossed =Tailles Wood=_ (notice the gun-emplacements) _G.C. 1 descends alongside_ a quarry which sheltered a large German ammunition dump _(photo below). 2 km. beyond the quarry, the village of =Bray-sur-Somme= is reached._

Bray-sur-Somme

Throughout the offensive of 1916, Bray was an important revictualling centre, and as such, frequently bombed by German aeroplanes. Troops and convoys were constantly passing through.

In 1918, the Germans, having driven back the British beyond the old front line of 1914-1916, occupied Bray on March 26, six days after launching their offensive. Immediately progressing beyond the town, they advanced along the Somme to the vicinity of Sailly-le-Sec, where the front line became fixed at the end of March.

The Franco-British offensive of August 8, the objective of which was to reduce the Amiens Salient, cleared the Somme Valley as far as the outskirts of Bray, where the Germans resisted strongly.

However, on August 22, General Rawlinson's Army, in a fresh effort, succeeded in carrying Hill 107--an observation-post which dominated the country to the north-east. On the night of the 23rd, Australian troops, slipping along the river, entered Bray and captured a large number of prisoners.

The town which, until 1918, had practically escaped damage, suffered severely in the subsequent bombardments, and was moreover thoroughly pillaged by the German troops during their occupation. In this they complied with the instructions of the High Command, who ordered all the churches and chapels in the region of the Somme to be carefully searched, not excepting the "_altars, confessionals and other parts of the church, access to which is reserved by ecclesiastical rules to the priests only_." In pursuance of this decree, dated May 20, 1918, the church of Bray-sur-Somme was despoiled of its furnishings. A magistrate-member of the Enquiry Commission, visiting the church a few days after the Germans had left, reported: _"A large number of bottles were lying on the floor. The baptismal font was fouled with urine. The door of the Holy of Holies, which bore traces of having been forced, was twisted and the iron-work torn off."_

The church itself _(Hist. Mon.)_, dated from the 13th and 15th centuries. It was greatly damaged by the bombardments. The spire collapsed, the façade was pierced with numerous shell-holes, while the timber work and roofing were partly destroyed.

The church is reached by the Rue des Massacres.

_After visiting the church, proceed to the bottom of the square, where, on the right, turn to the left into the Rue de Cappy. Pass a Merovingian cemetery, then follow the marshy Valley of the Somme to =Cappy= (3 km. from Bray)._

Cappy, lost on March 26, 1918, was reconquered exactly five months later by the British. The Germans had a dump in the village for all the sacred articles stolen in the district. This depôt was installed in the yard of the billet occupied by the "_officer in charge of the booty_," opposite a building which, according to a notice posted up by the Germans, was the meeting-place of the "_detachments for the collection of the booty_." The sudden arrival of the British did not leave them time to carry away the booty, which included three bells, a quantity of metallic objects, chandeliers, candlesticks, crucifixes, and "six greatly damaged ecclesiastical ornaments."

The church has a massive fourteenth century fortified belfry, the upper story of which comprises four watch-towers resting on the corner abutments. Two of these towers were destroyed by the bombardment.

_Near the Church, take the road which runs parallel to the Somme canal. On leaving Cappy there is a large_ Franco-British cemetery _on the left_.

_=Eclusier= (3 km. beyond Cappy) is next reached_; it is the principal portion of the "_commune_" of Vaux-Eclusier. =Vaux=, which forms the other portion of it, lies on the northern bank.

On July 1, 1916, the French first lines, passing through the eastern outskirts of Vaux-Eclusier, barred the Valley of the Somme with a continuous line of small posts established in the middle of marshes, thus connecting the organisations on solid ground on the northern bank with those of the southern bank.

There is a French military cemetery on the right, before entering Eclusier.

In spite of numerous bombardments, Eclusier has retained the appearance of a village. Most of the damage is repairable.

It was only in January, 1916, that Vaux-Eclusier became the last village occupied by the French in the Valley of the Somme. Previous to that date the advanced lines ran beyond the village of =Frise=, 2 km. further to the east.

_To reach Frise, keep straight along the Somme Canal._

Standing on a picturesque site dominated by a hill on the north, the village lies on the left bank of the Somme, opposite the marshes, at the end of a large bend in the river. This bend measures 7 km. round, whereas the isthmus which separates the two arms of the river, opposite Frise, is scarcely 1 km. in width. These conditions made it very difficult to defend the village, which was accordingly used only as an advance-post. The Germans attempted to capture the place on several occasions by local surprise-attacks and mining. In January, 1916, a powerful attack with large forces succeeded, after a violent bombardment, in occupying the position, but the Germans were unable to debouch from it.

_Only the two trees are left._]

The French retook Frise on the morning of July 2, 1916. In the course of a brilliant attack, the successive lines of trenches which defended the southern and eastern parts of the village, were carried, and the latter was evacuated by the Germans at noon. Giving the enemy no time to reform, the French followed up their success by attacking the German second line, and before nightfall carried that part of Méréaucourt Wood which lies to the east, on a crest about 340 feet high, overlooking the Valley of the Somme.

Frise was completely destroyed. Here and there fragments of walls and half-burnt beams mark the site of the old houses. Some of the inhabitants have returned and are being housed in huts erected in the Place de l'Eglise.

The large modern church has disappeared, the tottering ruins having been pulled down.

_On leaving Frise, return to Eclusier by the same road. Beyond the church take the road on the right which crosses first the canal, then the marshes by means of three bridges. At the fork, take the right-hand road to =Vaux=._

There is a fine view of the River Somme and the marshes, including part of the battlefield of July 1, 1916. In the valley, walled in by high chalky cliffs, the Somme, bordered with high poplar-trees, follows its winding course among marshes and peat-bogs, intersected with patches of rushes and reed-grass. The half-hidden ruins of Frise are on the right. On the left fragments of walls are all that remain of Fargny Mill and the buildings which surrounded it. The French first line ran close by on July, 1, 1916 _(photo, p. 74)_.

_In 1919 the mill had disappeared._]

Behind, the edge of a once wooded ravine, the chalky substratum of which, laid bare by shell-fire, was christened ="Gendarme's Hat"= by the Poilus, formed the Germans' first line. Further away, in the hollow of the valley, appear the ruins of =Curlu= village.

_The road runs alongside the Somme. At the site of Fargny Mill go round the "Gendarme's Hat"_--from which the attack of July 1, 1916, debouched--_to reach =Curlu=_.

Curlu had been transformed into a stronghold by the Germans.

Debouching from Fargny Mill, on the morning of July 1, a regiment of the French 20th Corps carried all the German advance-positions with great dash, notably the "Gendarme's Hat." However, at the outskirts of Curlu, further advance was stayed by machine-gun fire, making fresh artillery preparation necessary, which destroyed most of the houses. Rushing again to the assault in the evening, the French, in a few minutes, drove the Bavarians from all their positions, and the enemy's numerous attempts during the night and throughout the next day to regain a footing in the village broke down before the French barrage fire.

_Fragment of 13th century wall--all that is left of the village._]

The day after the capture of Curlu, the French resumed their advance, and soon reached the village of =Hem=, which they carried on July 5, after fierce fighting lasting the whole day.

The road follows the line of the advance, from Fargny Mill to Hem. _At Curlu leave the church on the left._ Numerous shelters, graves and cemeteries are seen along the road, which passes near _=Hem-Monacu= (2 km. beyond Curlu)_; a few broken walls, 300 yards to the right of the road, are all that remain of the village _(photo below)_.

The French were held to the east of Hem _(see sketch-map, p. 71)_, by the strong defences around the village. These positions consisted of: a wood full of barbed-wire entanglements, situated to the north, near the station of the Albert-Péronne light railway; to the north-east, other strongly organised small woods and a quarry.

Further to the east, on the Combles-Feuillères road (G.C. 146), =Monacu Farm=--a veritable fortress with numerous strong-points--was connected with other defences which had been organised in the slag-heaps of the phosphate of lime works belonging to the St. Gobain Glass Manufactory. These defences extended as far as the Somme marshes, where the long reeds hid the numerous machine-guns.

The French carried all these centres of resistance at the end of July and beginning of August, and kept them in spite of fierce German counter-attacks, some of which lasted thirty-six hours. At Monacu Farm the German efforts assumed a particularly violent character. The French artillery, posted on the top of the cliffs, enfiladed the attacking waves, which were each time forced to fall back in disorder with very heavy losses, without being able to reach the French lines.

These successful operations, while enabling the French to secure the whole second line of the German defences, also gave them an outlet, on the north, into Combles Valley--the long, dry and sinuous ravine along which runs the Albert-Péronne light railway. On the south, they also commanded the bridges and roads leading to Feuillères, on the left bank of the Somme.

The bridges were immediately rebuilt, and direct communication ensured between the troops engaged north and south of the river.

_Three kilometres from Curlu, take the Feuillères-Maurepas road (G.C. 146) on the left, to =Hem Wood= (500 yards further on). Here take the G.C. 213, on the right, to =Cléry-sur-Somme=_--an important village on the north of a bend in the river. Fine view of the Somme, towards Péronne.

In the Middle-Ages, Cléry was a fortified town commanding the valley of the Somme. Here the Dukes of Créquy, then lords of the district, built a fortified castle in front of the river marshes, to which the family device: "_Nul s'y frotte_" ("Meddle not with me") was given. Before the war some fourteenth century vestiges of the castle were still to be seen.

In fortifying Cléry, the Germans took full advantage of its favourable position; powerful defences were made in the outskirts of the village, and in the surrounding woods and ravines, while many of the houses were transformed into centres of resistance. However, in spite of the strength of its defences, Cléry was entirely carried in a single assault on September 3, 1916, after a terrific bombardment which the German _communiqués_ qualified as "ferocious."

The success was an important one, as Cléry commanded the various roads leading to Maurepas, Combles and Bouchavesnes on the north, another road on the east leading to Feuillancourt and some bridges across the Somme. The capture of the hamlet of =Omiécourt= at the other end of the bridges, two days after that of Cléry, enabled the French to connect up their positions north of the Somme with those on the left bank of the river. The Germans counter-attacked in force several times, but were unable to retake the position, in spite of very heavy losses.

Cléry was completely destroyed; only a few broken walls and shattered roofs remain, and even these few traces of the formerly prosperous village are crumbling away and disappearing. A few unrecognisable fragments of ruins, standing amid an accumulation of stones and rubbish, are all that is left of the fifteenth century church.

There are numerous soldiers' graves in the village, and also many military defence-works.

To the east of Cléry the turbid waters of the Somme spread themselves out, forming immense marshes, intersected by a labyrinth-like network of channels. The French advance was directed from this side in 1916, while on the east they were likewise blocked by the Mont-Saint-Quentin Hill, which rises nearly 200 feet above the Somme Valley, from Cléry to Péronne, and which the Germans, by powerful defences, had converted into a second "Warlencourt Ridge." Although within sight of Péronne, scarcely three miles distant, the French could get no farther. Cléry, on the right bank of the Somme, was the nearest village to Péronne conquered by the French in 1916.

In March, 1918, no important engagements were fought on the old Somme battlefields. On March 24 the Germans crossed the Somme, south of Péronne, and forced the Tortille line north of the town. Overwhelmed and in danger of being surrounded, the British had to fall back hurriedly, under the protection of rear-guards, who were unable to check the enemy's advance.

In the following month of August the valley of the Somme was cleared of the enemy almost without firing a shot. In accordance with Marshal Foch's general plan, the British attack of August 21 was limited to the north of the Somme. The Germans had just been driven back, south of the river, from the district of Montdidier to the outskirts of Roye, as a result of the Franco-British offensive of August 8. The Allied plan provided for the withdrawal of the enemy's right wing from the banks of the Ancre to Bapaume, thereby necessitating the immediate evacuation of the whole bend in the Somme by their centre, and this is what actually happened. As soon as Bapaume was invested, the Germans hastily retreated, and whereas, on August 28, the British were still hanging on to the western outskirts of Curlu, on the morning of the 29th they were in Hem, and in the evening of the same day had progressed beyond Cléry.

_On leaving Cléry, return by the same road to Hem Wood, where take the Feuillères-Maurepas road (G.C. 146), on the right towards Maurepas. The road runs alongside Hem Wood (cut to pieces), crosses a ravine in which ran the Albert-Péronne railway, and then rises towards a crest from which starts, on the left, a road (500 yards from the fork) leading to =Maurepas=_ (completely destroyed).

The Germans strongly fortified the village of Maurepas which protected Combles from the south-west and formed the junction of six roads coming from all directions. It was an agglomeration of large farms, each of which possessed a meadow surrounded with trees. These farms had to be carried almost one at a time, and the advance was therefore very slow.

The first assault against the village was launched on August 12 by troops coming from Hardecourt-aux-Bois; only the southern and western parts of the village--including the fortified cemetery and the church--could be carried. The northern part fell a few days later. Finally, on August 24, the last centres of resistance--notably the houses alongside of the roads leading to Combles and to Forest--were captured.

_In the village, near a cross, take the road to =Combles=, on the right, crossing the north-west part of the village_. The site of the church is on the right, while on the left is a small German redoubt _(photo below)_, from which there is a line view of =Hardecourt-aux-Bois=.