Chapter IV: Part 4

Deniécourt village lies about 2 km. (by road) east of =Soyécourt=. Across the fields, the distance is shorter, and it was covered in a single rush on the day Soyécourt was captured, after which the advance was stayed. The second German line ran through Deniécourt, which was fortified accordingly. The most important defence-works were those around the château, which latter formed the key of the whole position. Deep shelters had been made under the château itself and also in the surrounding park. The whole formed an inextricable maze of trenches, fortified works, machine-gun posts, traps and barbed-wire entanglements, which had to be reduced by shell-fire. The castle was razed to the ground, the defences in the park destroyed and the ground levelled.

On the day of attack, the fighting was none the less desperate in the neighbourhood, and afterwards inside the village. The French advance was several times held by furious counter-attacks, and it was only on September 18 that the whole position could be surrounded and carried, after several days of bitter fighting. Of Deniécourt village, château and park, not a stone or a tree remained.

_Return to the car and take the road already followed (G.C. 164) back to the fork (300 yards north of the village), then the road to =Soyécourt= (G.C. 79), on the left._ At the entrance to Soyécourt the ruins of a château--of which only the base of one tower remains--will be seen on the left.

For nearly two years the French first lines ran close to the western outskirts of this village, which lies at the bottom of a ravine. On several occasions the communiqués mentioned sharp fighting around here, which was, however, merely of local importance.

It was only on September 4, 1916, that decisive fighting took place here, when the French, after a long and terrific bombardment, carried the village in a single rush, and progressed beyond it in the direction of Deniécourt.

_Leaving Soyécourt, keep along G.C. 79 to =Vermandovillers= (2 km.)._

On September 4, 1916, the village was attacked from the east and north. Progress was slow, and marked by fierce fighting from house to house. Vermandovillers was only captured in its entirety on September 17.

_At the fork in the village, take the left-hand road (G.C. 143) to =Chaulnes=._

Chaulnes

=Chaulnes Wood= is crossed 1 km. this side of Chaulnes. Violent attacks were delivered by the French in the vicinity of this wood. The large number of soldiers' graves along both sides of the road form an impressive sight.

_Several hundred yards beyond the fork formed in the road by the junction with G.C. 206 coming from Lihons, turn to the left, and enter =Chaulnes=_ in front of the ruins of the large eighteenth century church. A few fragments of crumbling walls are all that remain _(photos, p. 130)_.

Chaulnes, the chief town of one of the "cantons" in the "Département" of the Somme, was situated at the junction of several railroads. In 1914, the Germans turned the place into a fortress, and made it the chief strong-point of their system of defence-works south of the Somme. Traces of the powerful fortifications--the first lines of which were only carried in 1916--may still be seen along and near G.C. 206, amidst the churned-up ground.

The village was flanked on the north and north-west by dense woods, which were entirely destroyed by the bombardments. These woods were full of fortified works, trenches and posts for machine-guns, protected by wire entanglements.

On September 4, 1916, the French reached the outskirts of these woods, but failed in their attempts to carry them entirely. The Germans maintained themselves there till March, 1917, on positions sufficiently strong to allow them to hold Chaulnes, this village being outflanked everywhere else.

Chaulnes was occupied only when the Germans fell back upon the Hindenburg Line. The British having relieved the French troops during the winter of 1916, from the Somme to the Avre, entered the place almost without striking a blow on March 18, 1917.

The Germans recaptured Chaulnes in March, 1918. On August 8 of the same year--their front having been pierced before Amiens--they were forced to evacuate the Montdidier "pocket" and to retreat to the outskirts of Chaulnes. They reoccupied their positions of the trench warfare period, and the remains of their ancient defence-works were still strong enough to enable them to hold up the British pursuit. The town was only carried on August 28, after being surrounded.

Chaulnes was razed to the ground. The low brick-and-rubble houses which lined the wide straight streets sheltered a population of about 1,250 inhabitants. Very few of them escaped total destruction.

_Return along the same road by which Chaulnes was entered and follow it to the junction of G.C. 143 with G.C. 206, at the exit of the town._ The ruins of the =château= are seen on the left, near the fork.

This sumptuous château was built in the seventeenth century by the de Luynes family, for whose benefit Chaulnes was raised to the rank of a duchy-peerage in 1621. Madame de Sévigné stayed there in 1689, and extolled its magnificence and grandeur. It was surrounded by a vast park, which she compared to that of Versailles.

_In the foreground: Fragment of the entrance gate between the graves of two German officers._]

The outbuildings were still standing when the late war broke out; to-day they form a shapeless accumulation of _débris_. The park was entirely cut up with German entrenchments, of which only a few concrete machine-gun posts and underground shelters with concrete entrances remain. The fine old trees of the park were reduced by the shells to mutilated stumps.

Near the entrance-gate of the château is a powerful system of defence-works, consisting of a machine-gun blockhouse and inter-communicating underground shelters, the entrances to which may be seen near the side of the road.

_After visiting the château, keep along G.C. 206, towards Lihons._

_Skirt the southern end of Chaulnes Wood_, near which, on either side of the road, are two powerful concrete blockhouses and other German defence-works.

_=Lihons= (3 km. beyond Chaulnes) is next reached._

Lying at an important junction of several roads, Lihons was already in enemy hands when the front-line trenches were made.

Starting from Rosières-en-Santerre at the end of October, 1914, the French first reached and carried Lihons after a series of fierce engagements, then progressed beyond it, in the direction of Chaulnes (only 3 km. distant). For more than a month the Germans counter-attacked almost daily, in an endeavour to reconquer the lost trenches, but were each time repulsed.

Exasperated by their failure, they then bombarded the town without respite, and when the Allied Offensive of 1916 began this shelling was further intensified.

Lihons, a small country town, the streets of which--bordered with low houses--ran in all directions from a large, central square, was quickly reduced to ruins. The houses fell down one after the other, and the church suffered irreparable damage.

The church was one of considerable interest. The choir, transept and lower part of the tower, built at the intersection of the transept, were finely proportioned and dated from the thirteenth century. The other parts of the building were fifteenth century.

In July, 1916, the church had already lost its tower, roof and vaulting, but the outside walls, the pillars separating the three naves and the three gables of the main façade were still standing. Three months later nothing was left but fragments of broken walls, amidst a shapeless accumulation of _débris (photos, p. 133)_.

_On the left: The road to Vermandovillers._]

Further fighting took place in the ruins of Lihons in 1918. On August 8, British troops, starting from the region of Villers-Bretonneux--Hangard, reached Lihons on the 10th. Preceded by light tanks, armoured cars and cavalry patrols, the Australians immediately entered the village, drove out the enemy and captured a complete Divisional staff. It was in vain that the Germans launched numerous counter-attacks in an endeavour to recapture the village and clear the approaches to Chaulnes, where they attempted to establish their lines of resistance. They could only delay the British advance for a few days.

_At Lihons, leave the Vermandovillers road (G.C. 79) on the right and take that on the left. Turn to the right, in the village, leave the church on the right, and take the Vauvillers road (G.C. 206) on the left._

_At the fork, about 500 yards beyond Lihons, leave the left-hand road to Rosières, and take that on the right (still G.C. 206)._ This road skirts a small wood, on the right, in which are many graves and gun-emplacements. _The village of =Rosières-en-Santerre= comes into view, on the left._

_At the crossing of several roads, 3 km. beyond Lihons, take the newly-made road on the right to Herleville._ The large French "Camp des Chasseurs" cemetery _(photo below) is on the left, about 1 km. this side of the village of =Herleville=_ (completely devastated), _which is next reached_.

_At the entrance to the village_, a "calvary" is passed, of which nothing remains but the stumps of four large trees. _Keep straight on through the ruined village to the G.C. 201_ (main road from Amiens to Péronne), _1 km. beyond it. Turn to the left and return direct to Amiens via =Lamotte-en-Santerre= and =Villers-Bretonneux=_, both of which villages were badly damaged during the fighting of 1918.

_A short distance before Longueau, G.C. 201 joins N. 35, which take to the right. Amiens is entered by the Chaussée Périgord._

ALPHABETICAL LIST OF THE PLACES MENTIONED IN THIS WORK.

The figures in heavy type indicate the pages on which there are
illustrations.

PAGES

Ablaincourt 27
Albert 31, =32=, =33=, =34=, =35=
Amiens 31, 66
Anderlu Wood 20
Assevillers 16, 118, 121
Aveluy 38, =39=
Avesnes-les-Bapaume 56

Baillescourt Farm 42
Bapaume 14, 24, =28=, =54-57=
Barleux 16, 26, 27, 28
Bazentin le-Grand 18, 62
Bazentin-le-Petit 18, 20, 62
Beaucourt 23, 41, 42
Beaumont-Hamel 15, 23, 40, =41=
Becquincourt 16, 120
Belloy 16, 122, =123=
Berny 26, 27
Beugnâtre 56
Biaches 16, 26, =112=, =113-116=
Bouchavesnes 21, 22, 25, 90, =91=
Bouleaux Wood 84
Bovent 27
Bray 67, =68=
Bussus Farm 120

Cappy =69=
Carnoy 64
Chaulnes 26, 27, 28, 128, =129-131=
Chilly 26
Cléry 19, 20, =76=, =77=
Combles 11, 20, 22, 79, =80=, =81=, =82=, =83=, =84=
Contalmaison 15, 18, 62, =64=, =65=
Corbie =66=
Courcelette 11, 22, 23, 43, =44=
Curlu 16, 74, =75=

Delville Wood =19=, 20, =60=
Deniécourt 26, 27, =127=
Destremont Farm 24
Dompierre 16, 116, 120, =121=

Eaucourt 24
Eclusier 70
Estrées 16, 123, =124-125=

Fargny Mill =73=, =74=
Fay 16, 121, =122=
Feuillancourt 21, 24, 93
Feuillères 118, =119=
Flaucourt 16, 115
Flers 22, 58, =59=
Foucourt 124
Fouilloy 60
Foureaux Wood 22, 62
Frégicourt 21, 22, 81
Fricourt 14, 15, 64, 65
Frise 16, =70=, =71=, =72=

Gendarme's Hat =74=
Ginchy =4=, 18, 20, 83, =86=
Gommécourt 14, 15
Grandcourt 24
Grévillers 24, 55
Gueudecourt 22
Guillemont 11, 18, 19, 20, 83, =84=

Hamel 39
Hardecourt 16, 79, 83
Hem 16, 18, =75=
Herbécourt 16, 115, =116-119=
Herleville 134
Hill 107 68

Irles 24

Labbé Farm 24
La Boisselle 14, 15, =36=, =37=
La Maisonnette 10, 26, 27, 28, =109=
Lamotte-en-Santerre 134
Lassigny 23, 28
Le Forest 20
Leipzig Redoubt 23, 48
Le Priez Farm 21
Le Sars 24, 50, 51
Lesbœufs 22, 82, 87
Le Transloy 24, =87=
Leuze Wood 20, 84
Ligny-Thilloy 24, 58
Lihons 20, 132, =133=
Longueau 66, 134
Longueval 11, 18, 19, 60, =61=
Loupart Wood 24, 54, 56

Mametz 14, 15, 62, 64
Maricourt 14, 16
Marrières Wood 20, 21
Martinpuich 11, 22, 23, 44, =45=, 62
Maurepas 19, 20, =78=, =79=
Méréaucourt Wood 16, 72
Miraumont 24, =42=, =43=, =44=
Monacu Farm 17, 76
Mont St. Quentin 25, =93=, =94=, =95=, =96=
Montauban 14, 15, 18, 62, =63=
Morval 22, 24, 82
Mouquet Farm 23, 48

Noyon 28

Omiécourt 24, 25, 26, 27
Ovillers 14, 37, 38, =136=

Péronne 16, 25, 28, 96, =97=, =99=, =108=, =136=
Petit-Blangy 66
Pont-Noyelles 31
Pozières 18, 19, 23, 46, =47=
Pressoire 27
Pys 24, 43

Rancourt 21, 22, 25, 81, 90, =91=
Roye 27, 28

Sailly-le-Sec =67=
Sailly-Saillisel 25, =88=, =89=
St. Pierre-Divion 23, 40
St. Pierre-Vaast 25, 82, 90
Sars =50=, =51=
Satyres Wood 125, =126=
Schwaben Redoubt 23, 49
Serre 15, 40
Soyécourt 16, 26, =128=
Stuff Redoubt 23, 49

Thiepval 15, 18, 20, 23, 40, 48, =49=, =50=
Thilloy 58
Tortille Valley 21
Trônes Wood 15, 18, =19=, 84, =85=

Vaux 70, =73=
Villers-Bretonneux 135
Villers-Carbonnel 28
Vermandovillers =6=, 26, 27, =128=

Warlencourt 24, 51, =52=, =53=

Zollern Redoubt 23, 49

CONTENTS

PAGES

+The Franco-British Offensive+ 2

+The Somme Battlefields+ 10-30

A VISIT TO THE BATTLEFIELDS.

+First Day+ 31-65

Albert 32
Thiepval 48
Bapaume 54
Contalmaison 65

+Second Day+ 66-134

Corbie 66
Frise 70
Vaux 73
Combles 80
Trônes Wood 84
Mont St. Quentin 93
Péronne 97
Biaches 113
Belloy-en-Santerre 122
Estrées 124
Chaulnes 129

* * * * *

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