Chapter 7

BAPAUME. THE PLACE FAIDHERBE.

THE HÔTEL-DE-VILLE, BEFORE THE WAR.

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.

ST. NICOLAS CHURCH, BEFORE THE WAR.

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.

BAPAUME. RUINS OF ST. NICOLAS CHURCH AND BARRACKS.

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This statue was carried off by the Germans, and when the British entered the town in 1917, they found it had mockingly been replaced by an enormous stove-pipe.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 areThe 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).

See photo below.

At the end of The Promenades take the G.C. 10, on the right.The road passes through the villages ofThilloyandLigny-Thilloy—a single "commune," which likewise includes the village ofBarque.

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 toFlers—completely ruined. In May, 1919, two damaged tanks were still to be seen at the entrance to the village.

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

BRITISH CROSS.See above sketch-map.

BRITISH CROSS.

See above sketch-map.

The Report of the Commission of Enquiry contains the following:—

RUINS OF FLERS VILLAGE.

"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 cartridgeclips 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."BRITISH TANKS AT ENTRANCE TO FLERS VILLAGE, MAY, 1919.

BRITISH TANKS AT ENTRANCE TO FLERS VILLAGE, MAY, 1919.

DELVILLE WOOD.

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 ofDelville Wood, the skeleton remains of which are to be seen on the left.

THE DEVIL'S TRENCH, DELVILLE WOOD.

GERMAN CEMETERY, BETWEEN DELVILLE WOOD AND LONGUEVAL.

Beyond the wood, before entering Longueval, a German cemetery with 200 gravesis 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.

WHERE LONGUEVAL CHURCH USED TO STAND.At the back: DELVILLE WOOD

WHERE LONGUEVAL CHURCH USED TO STAND.

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 thehelp 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 towardsBazentin-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 theMarseillaisethe 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 crossesHill 144,then descends to a quarry on the left, in which several hundred British soldiers were buried.It next climbs up toMontauban—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.

MONTAUBAN. WAYSIDE CROSS AT ENTRANCE TO VILLAGE.

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.

MONTAUBAN. WHERE THE CHURCH STOOD.

At Montauban Church turn to the right. On leaving the village take the road on the left toCarnoy.

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, inliaisonon 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 toMametz, 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 toFricourt(1 km.), on the left.

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

CONTALMAISON. SITE OF THE DESTROYED CHURCH.

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.

CONTALMAISON. ENTRANCE TO THE CHÂTEAU.The cellars were used as dressing stations.

CONTALMAISON. ENTRANCE TO THE CHÂTEAU.

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 toContalmaison(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.

CONTALMAISON. BRITISH CEMETERY NEAR THE CHÂTEAU.

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