The Gommecourt Salient

The village of Gommecourt marked the northern extremity of the front during the Battle of the Somme. 

The Germans had held the village since the lines had become established in the area.  In common with eight other villages along what was the front line at the start of the Battle, it was very strongly fortified. 

The German lines bulged out around the village taking in the woodland of Gommecourt Park to form a salient.  The point of the woodland was marked before the Battle by a famous oak tree – the ‘Kaisereiche’ or ‘Kaiser’s Oak’.

Hébuterne

Facing the south west of the Gommecourt salient, the village of Hébuterne was held by the 56th (London) Division of the British Third Army. 

At that time the village consisted of one long street with a half-ruined church, a few run-down farms abandoned by their farmers and some cottages occupied by the Army. 

The French had originally fortified the village and later by the British to become one of the strongpoints of this section of the lines.  The front line ran parallel a little to the east of the village’s main street.

Foncquevillers

The village of Foncquevillers faced the north west of the Gommecourt salient. 

It had been held by the 46th (North Midland) Division of the British Third Army for almost a year, during which time the troops who struggled with the French pronunciation had christened it ‘Fonky-villers’.

Preparing the attack on Gommecourt

It was from the villages of Hébuterne and Foncquevillers that the Third Army attacked Gommecourt at the start of the Somme offensive. 

The two objectives of the attack led by General Sir Edmund Allenby were firstly to eliminate the salient and secondly to divert German attention from the main thrust of the push by the Fourth Army to the south of Gommecourt astride the Albert to Bapaume road.

Lieutenant-General Snow planned the detail of the attack.  Rather than attack the salient head on, he planned to attack and advance along its two fronts with the aim of linking up behind the village – in the process cutting the salient off.

The plan called for the 46th (North Midland) Division to attack from the north while the 56th (London) Division attacked from the south.  It was planned the attack would be preceded by the same artillery bombardment as that mounted by the Fourth Army to the south, and that the attack should be mounted at the same time. 

The factor which made Allenby’s and Snow’s task more difficult was that as their attack was a diversion, it was critical the Germans knew an attack on Gommecourt was being planned.

The preparations for the attack had to be obvious to the Germans, so during May a number of works were started to give the impression of enormous fortification of Hébuterne. 

These included building a new headquarters with associated roads, railways and pipelines being laid.  No Man’s Land was up to 800 yards wide between Hébuterne and Gommecourt, so a new trench half way across this and 2,000 yards long was dug by the 56th (London) Division. 

It was from this new trench that the British emerged at 07.30 on July 1 – its advance position meaning they had less distance to cover to reach the German trenches.

Attack on Gommecourt from Foncquevillers

As the attack started the men of the 46th (North Midland) Division attacking Gommecourt from the north were in trouble very quickly. 

They started at a disadvantage in that their area had been badly waterlogged by the rains over the previous days.  Many of the men had to spend the night before the attack standing up to their knees or above in mud and water.  Adding to their difficulties, the Germans shelled their trenches during the night causing many casualties. 

As they advanced it was discovered the wire in front of the German trenches was mostly uncut and almost impossible to pass.  This was all compounded by extremely heavy machine-gun fire directed at the attackers by the Germans. 

As a result the North Midlanders suffered very heavy casualties.  Many of the men died in No Man’s Land and on the German wire.  In a short time the assault ground to a halt and the few British soldiers who had reached German positions were cut off and destroyed.

Attack on Gommecourt from Hébuterne

In contrast, to the south of Gommecourt, the attack by the 56th (London) Division started well. 

Five battalions attacked vigorously from the newly dug trench capturing the German front line and advancing almost to the point where it was planned they would link up with the 46th (North Midland) Division. 

At that point initiative was lost and the attackers paused to wait reinforcements.  At midday the Germans counter attacked strongly with a heavy barrage and machine-gun fire.  Attempts were made to reinforce the attackers – but every attempt resulted in the annihilation of more and more men by the German machine-guns. 

As the afternoon and evening wore on the Germans continued the pressure, gradually wearing the Londoners down.  At dusk the shattered remnants of the battalions returned to their own trenches leaving many dead comrades in the German positions they had captured earlier. 

All the ground won was lost again by the end of the day.  The Londoners had fought well, but had suffered huge losses.

Attack fails

The Third Army’s attack on Gommecourt had failed in its attempt to take the salient, but it did provide the diversionary effort required.  The Germans had suffered nearly 2,000 casualties during the day’s fighting – but the British suffered a staggering 6,769 casualties from some of the best of the Territorials in France.

Gommecourt remained in German hands for another eight months – finally falling on February 27, 1917. 

Even though over seven months had passed following the initial British attack, some decomposed bodies from the 46th (North Midland) Division were found on the German wire.  Others were collected from No Man’s Land. 

The Germans never retook the village.  When their great offensive in March 1918 was finally halted the village remained just inside British lines.