Fricourt-Mametz by Michael Stedman

Author:Michael Stedman
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781473814462
Publisher: Leo Cooper

The route into Mametz, followed by 22 Brigade as they moved slowly forward on the evening of 3rd July to make their abortive attack on Mametz Wood’s approaches, and where Sassoon saw many of the Gordons’, Devons’ and South Staffordshires’ dead.

Gordon Highlanders out to rest. Mametz Wood 1916. TAYLOR LIBRARY

These events mark the beginning of the final phases of the 1916 fighting covered by this guide. Soon the emphasis would switch to the attempts being made by the 38th Division to capture Mametz Wood. However, before that process could proceed the trenches known as Quadrangle Support and Pearl Alley to its west and north-west had to be captured. The area between the western boundaries of Mametz Wood and Contalmaison communal cemetery, south-east of Contalmaison village, lies on the very north-eastern limits of this guide’s area. I have therefore drawn upon a small section of text from the La Boisselle guide in order to help clarify the nature of the fighting in this area west of Mametz Wood.5 By 7th July a period of strength sapping and devastatingly wet weather set in, making any effort almost intolerable for the men. As on the 4th, the weather during 7th July 1916 had a catastrophic effect on the trenches. The Official History reports that,

‘The trenches became knee-deep, in some cases waist-deep, in clinging slime, and, under shellfire, collapsed beyond recognition. Movement was often an agony: men fainted from sheer exhaustion whilst struggling through deep mud; in some localities a team of fourteen horses was required to bring up a single ammunition wagon. Under such handicaps, the advance of reinforcements and the circulation of orders suffered grave delay; and on many occasions artillery barrages were called for in vain, so frequently did hostile bombardments cut telephone lines in the forward areas where there had been no time to bury them.’

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