The Somme 1916—Beyond the First Day: Beaucourt and Mametz Wood to the Butte de Warlencourt

By Jon Cooksey and Jerry Murland

In their second Visitor’s Guide to the 1916 Battle of the Somme Jon Cooksey and Jerry Murland focus on the series of secondary battles that were key stages in the five-month struggle that followed the start of the offensive on 1 July. They take the visitor – and the reader – across the entire battlefield, covering in graphic detail sites where actions took place that are almost as famous as the Somme itself in the history of the First World War, including Mametz Wood, High Wood, Deville Wood, Guillemont, Ginchy, Pozieres and Flers. They also provide tours of the less-well-known but equally interesting sites which played important parts in the offensive as a whole. In a sequence of routes that can be walked, biked or driven they describe what happened in each place, identify the units involved, highlight the experience and exploits of individual soldiers, and point out the notable sights, monuments and cemeteries. This highly illustrated guidebook is essential reading for visitors who wish to enhance their understanding of the Battle of the Somme and the war on the Western Front. It is also the ideal companion volume to The First Day of the Somme: Gommecourt to Maricourt by the same authors.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Jun 9, 2021
• ISBN: 9781526738134

Jon Cooksey

Jon Cooksey iwasa leading military historian who takes a special interest in the history of the world wars. He was the editor of Stand To!, the journal of the Western Front Association, and he is an experienced battlefield guide. His books include The Barnsley Pals, Calais, Harry’s War and, as editor, Blood and Iron.

Book preview

Route 1

MAMETZ WOOD AND BAZENTIN RIDGE

A circular tour beginning at: the church at Bazentin-le-Petit

Distance: 11km/7.4 miles

Grade: Easy

Suitable for:

Maps: Bray-sur-Somme 2408

General description and context: The village of Bazentin was called Bazentin-le-Petit by the British in 1916 but today it is simply marked as Bazentin on French IGN maps, whilst the village of Bazentin-le-Grand has been reduced to a collection of farm buildings. Both villages, and the woods named after them, were captured in the attacks of 14 July and were adopted by Ipswich in Suffolk after the war. The route begins in Bazentin-le-Petit and, after visiting Bazentin-le-Petit Military Cemetery and the Nine Brave Men Memorial, swings around to the Wallace Memorial crucifix before passing to the right of Bazentin-le-Petit Wood – captured by 110 Brigade on 14 July – to join the D20 about 90m to the left of the track leading to the Harry Fellows headstone. Back on the D20, the route passes the small collection of copses and the site of the former Contalmaison Villa before turning left into Contalmaison. From the village we visit the Communal Cemetery where the 12/Manchester’s Memorial is situated and on to the Quadrilateral and Bottom Wood, made famous by Siegfried Sassoon’s exploits in Wood Trench. From there we turn north past Queen’s Nullah to the Red Dragon Memorial and Mametz Wood which was captured at great cost by the 38th (Welsh) Division. At Flatiron Copse Cemetery pause for a moment as it was from this area that the left flank of the successful Dawn Attack of 14 July was launched. We continue into Bazentin-le-Petit and visit Bazaetin-le-Petit Communal Cemetery and Extension where Robert Graves was taken after he had been wounded. From the cemetery it is a short distance to the church and your vehicle.

Directions to start: The small village of Bazentin is situated north of the D20 between Longueval and Contalmaison. Once in the village park near to the church.

Route Description: With the church on your left proceed uphill along the D73 for approximately 160m. Here you will see a CWGC signpost directing you to Bazentin-le-Petit Military Cemetery along a grass pathway on the left. Note the screw pickets that are still used for fencing along here and at other places in the village. An advanced dressing station during the Somme offensives, the cemetery was used from July 1916 until May 1917. Today the cemetery contains 182 burials, of which 15 are unidentified. There are some apparent spaces in the rows, which are the result of German graves which were later removed to Fricourt. The Cross of Sacrifice is set in a triangular section in one corner of the cemetery. There are fifty-five Australians buried here of whom 39-year-old Captain Harold Teague (G.11), 11/Battalion, was killed on Valentine’s Day 1917. Teague, from Bendigo, Victoria, is remembered with the usual CWGC headstone and a smaller headstone beside it. A wooden cross may have once been placed on the pin that can be seen on the smaller headstone.

The church at Bazentin is close to the Lamark Memorial.

Bazentin-le-Petit Military Cemetery.