Fricourt
The village of Fricourt is situated 5km east of Albert on the D939 Albert to Péronne road.
On July 1, 1916 Fricourt lay just behind German lines in what was a pronounced salient. Like other villages in the area, it had been heavily fortified with trenches, strong points and very deep dugouts. Notably the Germans had even used the cellars of houses to provide shelters up to 45 feet below the surface. Mine warfare was fought around the village for many months, resulting in the village’s complete destruction.
Fricourt was attacked on the July 1, 1916 by the 17th Division and by the end of the day it was caught between that Division on the west, the 21st to the north and the 7th Division to the South. It was occupied by the 17th Division the following day.
Fricourt captured after 36 hours fighting
In the attack on the village on July 1 two whole battalions, the 10th West Yorkshires and the 7th Green Howards, were virtually annihilated by just one German Maxim machine-gun. The village was captured after 36 hours of fighting by the 17th Division on July 2.
Mametz
The village of Mametz is situated 6km east of Albert, to the north of the D938 Albert to Péronne road.
Like many other villages along the German front line, Mametz was heavily fortified by July 1, 1916. It had excellent observation from well-sited trenches and strongpoints. Over 8,500 were killed or wounded in attack on Mametz.
On July 1 the 7th Division under Major-General H.E. Watts was tasked with capturing the village. Running through the village was a major German trench known as ‘Dantzig Alley’. As the 7th Division reached this, the resistance became much tougher as the Germans fiercely counter-attacked. Despite this, by the middle of the afternoon practically all of Mametz was in British hands. The losses were horrendous – totalling over 8,500 men either killed or wounded. Amazingly – and in comparison with some of the other parts of the front – this was considered at the time to be a major success.
A Captain D.L. Martin earned fame when he predicted that a machine-gun would probably be sited on the southeastern edge of Mametz. He predicted that if there was, it would decimate his company as they left their trench on July 1. Regrettably he was proved correct, and 153 men of the Devonshire Regiment lie buried in the old front line trench in Mansell Copse, including the Captain himself.
The Kaisergraben
A German trench called the ‘Kaisergraben’ ran across the rising ground between Mametz Wood and the village of Contalmaison. A section of this was captured by the 52nd Brigade of the 17th Division on the night of July 4/5.
Mametz Wood itself was held by the Germans, there being a number of machine-gun emplacements along the southern edge of the wood. These covered the upward sloping ground over which the British would have to attack. Officially it was known as ‘Caterpillar Valley’ – unofficially and perhaps more accurately – it was known as ‘Death Valley’.
