Fricourt-Mametz: Somme

By Michael Stedman

This is the latest book in the Battleground Europe series focusing on the Somme sector. Full of stories of both endeavour and heartbreak, it deals with action around the Triple Tambour Mine Craters, Bois Francais, Mansell Copse, Danzig Alley and the approaches to Mametz Wood.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pen and Sword
• Release date: Aug 1, 2007
• ISBN: 9781473814462

Michael Stedman

Michael Stedman was born in Salford in 1949 and graduated from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne after which he became a school teacher in Manchester for 24 years. During the 1980's his first book,The Salford Pals, was published, followed in the early 1990's by The Manchester Pals. He moved to Worcester in 1994, subsequently devoting his time to many projects most of which centre on the Great War's history. Since 1995 he has written numerous books on the history of the Great War including,Thiepval, La Boisselle, Fricourt, Guillemont and Advance to Victory in the Battleground Europe Series as well as Great Battles of the Great War which accompanied a Tyne Tees / ITV series of the same name. He is married to a doctor, Yvonne, and has two sons.

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Battleground Europe

SOMME

FRICOURT-MAMETZ

title

Battleground series:

Stamford Bridge & Hastings by Peter Marren

Wars of the Roses - Wakefield/Towton by Philip A. Haigh

Wars of the Roses - Barnet by David Clark

Wars of the Roses - Tewkesbury by Steven Goodchild

Wars of the Roses - The Battles of St Albans by

Peter Burley, Michael Elliott & Harvey Wilson

English Civil War - Naseby by Martin Marix Evans, Peter Burton

and Michael Westaway

English Civil War - Marston Moor by David Clark

War of the Spanish Succession - Blenheim 1704 by James Falkner

War of the Spanish Succession - Ramillies 1706 by James Falkner

Napoleonic - Hougoumont by Julian Paget and Derek Saunders

Napoleonic - Waterloo by Andrew Uffindell and Michael Corum

Zulu War - Isandlwana by Ian Knight and Ian Castle

Zulu War - Rorkes Drift by Ian Knight and Ian Castle

Boer War - The Relief of Ladysmith by Lewis Childs

Boer War - The Siege of Ladysmith by Lewis Childs

Boer War - Kimberley by Lewis Childs

Mons by Jack Horsfall and Nigel Cave

Néry by Patrick Tackle

Le Cateau by Nigel Cave and Jack Shelden

Walking the Salient by Paul Reed

Ypres - Sanctuary Wood and Hooge by Nigel Cave

Ypres - Hill 60 by Nigel Cave

Ypres - Messines Ridge by Peter Oldham

Ypres - Polygon Wood by Nigel Cave

Ypres - Passchendaele by Nigel Cave

Ypres - Airfields and Airmen by Mike O’Connor

Ypres - St Julien by Graham Keech

Ypres - Boesinghe by Stephen McGreal

Walking the Somme by Paul Reed

Somme - Gommecourt by Nigel Cave

Somme - Serre by Jack Horsfall & Nigel Cave

Somme - Beaumont Hamel by Nigel Cave

Somme - Thiepval by Michael Stedman

Somme - La Boisselle by Michael Stedman

Somme - Fricourt by Michael Stedman

Somme - Carnoy Montauban by Graham Maddocks

Somme - Pozières by Graham Keech

Somme - Courcelette by Paul Reed

Somme - Boom Ravine by Trevor Pidgeon

Somme - Mametz Wood by Michael Renshaw

Somme - Delville Wood by Nigel Cave

Somme - Advance to Victory (North) 1918 by Michael Stedman

Somme - Flers by Trevor Pidgeon

Somme - Bazentin Ridge by Edward Hancock

Somme - Combles by Paul Reed

Somme - Beaucourt by Michael Renshaw

Somme - Redan Ridge by Michael Renshaw

Somme - Hamel by Peter Pedersen

Somme - Villers-Bretonneux by Peter Pedersen

Somme - Airfields and Airmen by Mike O’Connor

Airfields and Airmen of the Channel Coast by Mike O’Connor

In the Footsteps of the Red Baron by Mike O’Connor

Arras - Airfields and Airmen by Mike O’Connor

Arras - The Battle for Vimy Ridge by Jack Sheldon & Nigel Cave

Arras - Vimy Ridge by Nigel Cave

Anas - Gavrelle by Trevor Tasker and Kyle Tallett

Arras - Oppy Wood by David Bilton

Arras - Bullecourt by Graham Keech

Arras - Monchy le Preux by Colin Fox

Walking Arras by Paul Reed

Hindenburg Line by Peter Oldham

Hindenburg Line - Epehy by Bill Mitchinson

Hindenburg Line - Riqueval by Bill Mitchinson

Hindenburg Line - Villers-Plouich by Bill Mitchinson

Hindenburg Line - Cambrai Right Hook by Jack Horsfall & Nigel Cave

Hindenburg Line - Cambrai Flesquières by Jack Horsfall & Nigel Cave

Hindenburg Line - Saint Quentin by Helen McPhail and Philip Guest

Hindenburg Line - Bourlon Wood by Jack Horsfall & Nigel Cave

Cambrai - Airfields and Airmen by Mike O’Connor

Aubers Ridge by Edward Hancock

La Bassée - Neuve Chapelle by Geoffrey Bridger

Loos - Hohenzollern Redoubt by Andrew Rawson

Loos - Hill 70 by Andrew Rawson

Fromelles by Peter Pedersen

The Battle of the Lys 1918 by Phil Tomaselli

Accrington Pals Trail by William Turner

Poets at War: Wilfred Owen by Helen McPhail and Philip Guest

Poets at War: Edmund Blunden by Helen McPhail and Philip Guest

Poets at War: Graves & Sassoon by Helen McPhail and Philip Guest

Gallipoli by Nigel Steel

Gallipoli - Gully Ravine by Stephen Chambers

Gallipoli - Anzac Landing by Stephen Chambers

Gallipoli - Suvla August Offensive by Stephen Chambers

Gallipoli - Landings at Helles by Huw & Jill Rodge

Walking the Italian Front by Francis Mackay

Italy - Asiago by Francis Mackay

Verdun: Fort Douamont by Christina Holstein

Verdun: Fort Vaux by Christina Holstein

Walking Verdun by Christina Holstein

Zeebrugge & Ostend Raids 1918 by Stephen McGreal

---

Germans at Beaumont Hamel by Jack Sheldon

Germans at Thiepval by Jack Sheldon

---

SECOND WORLD WAR

Dunkirk by Patrick Wilson

Calais by Jon Cooksey

Boulogne by Jon Cooksey

Saint-Nazaire by James Dorrian

Normandy - Pegasus Bridge by Carl Shilleto

Normandy - Merville Battery by Carl Shilleto

Normandy - Utah Beach by Carl Shilleto

Normandy - Omaha Beach by Tim Kilvert-Jones

Normandy - Gold Beach by Christopher Dunphie & Garry Johnson

Normandy - Gold Beach Jig by Tim Saunders

Normandy - Juno Beach by Tim Saunders

Normandy - Sword Beach by Tim Kilvert Jones

Normandy - Operation Bluecoat by Ian Daglish

Normandy - Operation Goodwood by Ian Daglish

Normandy - Epsom by Tim Saunders

Normandy - Hill 112 by Tim Saunders

Normandy - Mont Pinçon by Eric Hunt

Normandy - Cherbourg by Andrew Rawson

Normandy - Commandos & Rangers on D Day by Tim Saunders

Das Reich - Drive to Normandy by Philip Vickers

Oradour by Philip Beck

Market Garden - Nijmegen by Tim Saunders

Market Garden - Hell’s Highway by Tim Saunders

Market Garden - Arnhem, Oosterbeek by Frank Steer

Market Garden - Arnhem, The Bridge by Frank Steer

Market Garden - The Island by Tim Saunders

Rhine Crossing - US 9th Army & 17th US Airborne by Andrew Rawson

British Rhine Crossing - Operation Varsity by Tim Saunders

British Rhine Crossing - Operation Plunder by Tim Saunders

Battle of the Bulge - St Vith by Michael Tolhurst

Battle of the Bulge - Bastogne by Michael Tolhurst

Channel Islands by George Forty

Walcheren by Andrew Rawson

Remagen Bridge by Andrew Rawson

Cassino by Ian Blackwell

Anzio by Ian Blackwell

Dieppe by Tim Saunders

Fort Eben Emael by Tim Saunders

Crete - The Airborne Invasion by Tim Saunders

Malta by Paul Williams

Battleground Europe

SOMME

FRICOURT-MAMETZ

Michael Stedman

Series editor

Nigel Cave

LEO COOPER

London

First published in 1997 and reprinted in 2011 by

LEO COOPER

an imprint of

Pen & Sword Books Limited

47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire S70 2AS

Copyright © Michael Stedman 1997, 2011

ISBN 0 85052 574 8

A CIP catalogue of this book is available

from the British Library

Printed by CPI UK

For up-to-date information on other titles produced under

the Leo Cooper imprint, please telephone or write to:

Pen & Sword Books Ltd, FREEPOST, 47 Church Street

Barnsley, South Yorkshire S70 2AS

Telephone [phone]

CONTENTS

Introduction by the Series Editor

Author’s introduction

Author’s acknowledgements

Sensible equipment and advice for visitors

How to use this book

On the subject of maps

Chapter 1.

Our designated area today

Chapter 2.

The British perspective to July 1916

Chapter 3.

Further events in the area of Fricourt and Mametz during the summer of 1916

Chapter 4.

The Year of 1918

Chapter 5.

The cemeteries and memorials

Chapter 6.

Two tours and five walks within this area

content

Introduction by Series Editor

This is the fifth book in the Battleground Europe series to cover a part of the Front Line that existed on 1st July 1916 on the British sector of the battlefield of the Somme. The number of books on this sparsely populated, rather unexciting part of northern France and, indeed, the market for them, is a sign of how firmly etched on the national consciousness are the events of that day. The debate about its military significance – even in the medium term – will doubtless rumble on for years to come; but many Britons who come out here to visit are following the steps of an ancestor or of a community. They are often not interested in the concerns of the generals but rather of the experience of the junior officer, soldier or, at the most, of a battalion on Der Tag, and, occasionally, what happened over the subsequent weeks and months over this pleasant, rolling chalk land.

Michael Stedman, in the third of his books in this series on the Somme, writes with fervour and feeling about what took place here at Fricourt and in the smaller neighbouring village of Mametz in the days leading up to the great day and immediately subsequently. He explains the problems that faced the planners of the British offensive created by Fricourt’s jutting position in the German line as it turned in an easterly direction from this pivot point. The action, the disasters and the successes are all closely related to the ground, which is the hall mark of the series.

The book also concerns itself with the personalities that have become well established with the literary public – Siegfried Sassoon, Robert Graves and the lesser known, but most powerful and moving author, Bernard Adams. A large number make the pilgrimage to the grave of the young poet, Noel Hodgson, at Mansell Copse; now it is possible to follow what happened to him and other members of his battalion on that fateful sunny morning in July.

The front is put in the context of the rest of the military machine that was required to support them – the railways, the dumps and the Casualty Clearing Stations. It is not unusual for the work of those behind the horrors of the front to get lost. In this respect the book tries to set the balance by pointing out what remains of the traces of the massive investment in men, material and machinery that was poured into this hitherto rather sleepy part of France.

The book touches on the events of March and August 1918; all too often British generalship is examined and judged on a single day’s activity in a war that lasted for well over four years. These men, and those who served them, deserve a rather more broad ranging and open minded critical examination. Too frequently we are told how the Germans swept away the hard won gains of the 1916 Somme offensive in a matter of days; contrarily, we are told all too little about the epic achievements of the British Army in the Hundred Days of 1918, from 8 August to the Armistice on 11 November.

The countryside around Fricourt and behind the old line towards the Somme is relatively undisturbed by the rush of the modern world. In this pleasant and tranquil location there are numerous eloquent reminders of the ferocity of the fighting that took place so many decades ago, not least the shattered ground from the massive mines or the beautiful solitude within the boundaries of the large number of British war cemeteries. What happened around here is only a small part of the vast conflict that enveloped Europe between 1914 and 1918; but a sound understanding of this should lead to a greater willingness to know more about what it was that drove men to such great displays of sacrifice. There is nothing more disheartening to read in the visitors’ registers such comments as, Why and For what did they die?. Surely it is our responsibility to seek these answers, and I firmly hope that books such as those in this series will help to encourage later generations not only to admire but to understand those who fought and suffered and, in many cases, died here. The book is designed to satisfy the interest of those who visit Fricourt and Mametz, curious about their parts in the much greater Somme battle; it is for the visitor to seek from other sources explanations of why there was a battle and indeed why the war was fought at all.

Nigel Cave.

Ely Place, London.

Author’s introduction

As at La Boisselle to the north, the fighting at Fricourt and Mametz was frequently punctured by the detonation of mines, occasionally massive and sometimes of lesser significance. These have left many visible scars and the sites of Bois Francais and the Triple Tambour are well known to visitors as places where the impact of these vast explosions are still visible, eight decades on. But even more apparent to the casual visitor here are the cemeteries; so many that it almost defies belief that such enormous numbers of men were killed during the fighting for this relatively small tract of territory. Due south of the village, in the direction of Bray-sur-Somme, a whole string of Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries dominate the land. In Bray there is also a French National Cemetery, testimony to the many Frenchmen who were killed on the Somme during 1914–15. Incidentally, Bray-sur-Somme was home to a number of base hospitals as well as many supply and command facilities which are of relevance to the Fricourt area. Immediately to the north of Fricourt, on the road leading towards Contalmaison, is one of the few German cemeteries to be found on the Somme. It is enormous, brooding, almost menacing in atmosphere. Within the village of Fricourt and west towards Becordel-Becourt are a series of interesting and distinctive British cemeteries, containing many graves of the casualties incurred in late June and throughout the fighting here in the summer of 1916. Further west along that road, the D938 towards Albert, is the massive French National Cemetery into which most of the graves belonging to Frenchmen killed fighting in this area, north of the Somme, during the first two years of the war were concentrated. West and south-west of Albert are the villages of Dernancourt, Morlancourt and Buire-sur-l’Ancre which are also covered by this guide and where many men killed during the Second Battle of Albert and other fighting during 1918 are buried.

However, it is not just the cemeteries and craters which attract so many visitors. The area’s subtle atmosphere, the intricacy of the trench lines and the constant evolution of the tactical balance throughout 1915 – 16 and 1918 captures so many people’s interest. Without an adequate understanding of the topography of the battlefield and a handy map and guide it is easy to lose one’s way here amongst the areas many valleys and intersecting spurs. The area is both intimate and yet attractive, retaining a huge number of evocative and poignant links with contemporary literature and poetry. No history or guide dealing with the terrible events which occurred here can afford to ignore the words of the poets and chroniclers of the war. In attempting to sense the atmosphere of the battle here I have quoted a passage of words from Sassoon’s book, ‘Memoirs of an Infantry Officer.’ They were written to describe the scene as he waited in the darkness, high on the hillsides above Dernancourt, for the return of his battalion. They seem to me to be a timeless and evocative recreation of the atmosphere after battle has subsided.

‘Now there came an interval of silence in which I heard a horse neigh, shrill and scared and lonely. Then the procession of the returning troops began. The camp-fires were burning low when the grinding jolting column lumbered back. The field guns came first, with nodding men sitting stiffly on weary horses, followed by waggons and limbers and field-kitchens. After this rumble of wheels came the infantry, shambling, limping, straggling and out of step. If anyone spoke it was only a muttered word, and the mounted officers rode as if asleep. The men had carried their emergency water in petrol-cans, against which bayonets made a hollow clink; except for the shuffling of feet, this was the only sound. Thus, with an almost spectral appearance, the lurching brown figures flitted past with slung rifles and heads bent forward under basin-helmets.’

Limping. Shuffling. Spectral. Bent. Words carefully chosen by Sassoon to remove any sense of vanity or glory from the scene he revealed, exposing the suffering endured by the hundreds of thousands who passed in similar empty silence through these tiny villages. A visit here truly provides an opportunity to contemplate the awfulness of war.

Yet today