The battle of delville wood

The village of Longueval is situated on a ridge at the junction of four roads and had, in 1914, 130 houses and 406 inhabitants. Adjacent to the village is Delville Wood, 156 acres with a dense undergrowth and seamed with grassy ridges.

Facing enemy fire of 400 shells per minute, the First South African Infantry Brigade was told to hold Delville Wood ‘at all costs’ as it was key to an offensive on the nearby town of Longueval. Despite losses of up to 80%, the South African Springboks held the wood in what has since been described as the “bloodiest battle hell of 1916’^1.

In “a fight that would come to define the First World War”, the first day of the Battle of the Somme was one of the bloodiest in British history². Offensives in the Somme region [1 July – 18 November 1916] were part of the Allied grand strategy to wear down the German army and put an end to the war.

The South African Brigade, part of the corps reserve of General Sir Henry Rawlinson’s Fourth Army and Major General William Furse’s Ninth Scottish Division, arrived in Marseille from 20 April 1916 and travelled north towards Le Bizet where, on 23 May, they experienced for the first time the effectiveness of the enemy’s 8-inch shellfire³. The capture of Waterlot Farm, the village of Longueval and Delville Wood were a key objective of the Allied plan.

Control of the wood was essential to ensure the capture of the village and the continuation of the offensive towards Flers. As with many villages in the area, Longueval had been turned into a fortress equipped with reinforced cellars, underground tunnels, and machine-gun nests manned by German soldiers who had been told not to yield a metre of ground. On the 14^th July 1916, the 2nd Battalion of the 16^th (Bavarian) Infantry Regiment was entrenched at Longueval.

14 july 1916

The ridge was attacked at 03h35 by the 26^th and 27^th Brigades of the 9^th (Scottish) Division. The South African Infantry Brigade was in reserve and it had initially been planned that it would take part in the “cleaning” of the village; patrols of the 8^th Black Watch entered the wood. But the Germans held the northern part of the village, which was strongly fortified, especially in the wood. The fierce fighting in the village and around Waterlot Farm had caused heavy losses among the assailants. The 1^st SAI was sent to the village to assist in clearing the southern part of Longueval and the three other South African regiments were ordered to penetrate the wood, but the advance was postponed to the following morning.

15 july 1916

At 05h00 the first South African soldiers penetrated the wood under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Tanner. Progress was slow because of the tangle of trees destroyed by the first shellings. At noon, the whole wood, except its north-western part, which was too strongly defended, was in South African hands. The entrenchment began, but this was difficult because of the nature of the ground. Moreover, the Germans launched three counter-attacks, all of which were repulsed. The brilliant marksmanship of the South Africans was used to telling effect. The rate of German shelling often reached 400 shells per minute, of all calibres. Casualties were heavy and the only reserve of the Brigade consisted of three companies, despite the fact that the 1^st SAI had reverted to Lukin’s command.

Before the attack, two companies of the 4^th SAI were detached to the 5^th Cameron Highlanders. They took part in the attack on the Waterlot Farm, which was not taken till the following day. They joined the South African Brigade in Delville Wood.

16 july 1916

All through the furious fighting on the night of the 15^th, South Africans were digging trenches to save their lives. At 02h35, Lukin received orders from the Division that the portion held by the enemy had to be taken. Without artillery preparation, the attack by the Royal Scots from the village and the 1^st SAI from Princes Street was a failure and the attacking groups fell back. It was then that Private W.F. Faulds won his Victoria Cross. It was during this hot and dusty day that the first difficulties in bringing up food and water occurred. The evacuation of the wounded became perilous. Lieutenant Colonel Dawson, C.O. of the 1^st Regiment, asked for relief but fresh troops could not yet be spared for the work. The Division ordered that the wood be held at all costs. Moreover, another attack on the north-west corner was ordered the next morning.

17 july 1916

In spite of artillery preparation, this attack made shortly before dawn by the 1^st and 2^nd SAI did not succeed. The Germans were stubborn defenders. In the morning General Lukin visited the wood and was worried about the fatigue of his men. He had no troops who had not been in action for at least 48 hours. A fight in a wood was the most wearying kind of battle and most of the South Africans had to endure continuous machine-gun and artillery fire. On his return to his headquarters, Lukin discussed the situation on the telephone with General Furse, Commanding Officer of the 9^th (Scottish) Division, but there was no hope of relief or reinforcements. Moreover, the instructions from the XIII Corps stood that the wood had to be held at any cost. Delville Wood became a death trap.

Lieutenant Colonel Tanner was wounded in the evening and Lieutenant Colonel Thackeray succeeded him in charge of the troops in the wood.

18 july 1916

The Germans, after being resigned to the loss of Bazentin ridges to the west, then concentrated all their guns and troops on retaking Longueval and Delville Wood. The bombardment began at 08h00 and  was to last for seven-and-a-half hours. An SOS signal was seen in the wood after 14h00. Whole sections of the perimeter trenches with their occupants had been annihilated and the survivors fell back on Thackeray’s HQ in Buchanan St. At 14h30 150 men of 1^st SAI advanced into the wood where they found many wounded officers and men lying in the trenches. The men were then detailed to take these wounded back to safety. The Germans forced their way to Princes St, then moved around Buchanan St to the southern edge of Delville Wood where they were stopped by concentrated artillery and machine-gun fire from Montauban and Longueval. That afternoon the Germans received fresh reinforcements and the South Africans found that they had to face the enemy from both front and rear. Three massed attacks were launched on Thackeray’s HQ that night but were repulsed with heavy losses to the defenders.

19 july 1916

With their ammunition exhausted, the survivors of the 3^rd SAI on the eastern and southern flanks of the wood were compelled to surrender.  That afternoon the German regiments faced Thackeray in an S-shaped front around Princes and Buchanan Streets. Thackeray and his small party clung to the south-west corner of the wood against overwhelming odds.  German bombers and snipers came forward to be followed by massed attacks on three sides.  Two wounded officers of 3SAI remained with Thackeray and the small band of brothers were shelled and sniped at throughout the day.  By his personal example Thackeray kept up their morale up.  Though bone-weary and worn down by the continual fighting, they nevertheless rallied each time he called for it and threw back the attacking enemy.

20 july 1916

The promised relief did not arrive during the night.  During the fighting that day the Germans hurled themselves against Thackeray but could not overrun the South Africans.  He himself threw Mills bombs and fought with a rifle on the parapet.  His personal courage and example inspired his gaunt survivors to superhuman efforts.  Their defence may have well saved the entire flank of the British front.  At noon, General Haig, the British Commander-in-Chief, enquired about the position at Delville Wood.  Orders were then issued for XIII Corps to seize Longueval and Delville Wood.  The British fought valiantly to relieve the South Africans. That afternoon Major Mitchell-Baker, the South African Brigade Major, made strong representations to the high command which resulted in the British 3^rd Division relieving Thackeray at 18h00.

Out of the 121 officers and 3 032 other ranks that formed the Brigade on 14^th July in the morning, only 29 officers and 751 other ranks were present at roll call when the unit was gathered some days after the battle. The heroic resistance of the South African Brigade, against the power of the German Army, had saved the southern part of the British line.

The wood remained the scene of bitter fighting until early September. The Germans eventually relinquished their grip on Delville Wood on 9th September after their forces surrendered in Ginchy