On July 1, 1916 Fricourt and Mametz lay just behind German lines in what was a pronounced salient.  Like other villages in the area, they had both been heavily fortified with trenches, strong points and very deep dugouts.  Mametz had excellent observation over the British positions from well-sited trenches and strongpoints. 

Private Fred Ball enlisted in the Liverpool "Pals" in January 1915 - crossed to France on November 7, 1915 - served in France continuously during the remainder of the War. 

He was wounded once - very slightly - near Arras in August or September 1918.  After the Armistice he went into Germany with the Army of Occupation, leaving there to be demobilised at the end of March 1919.  He neither sought nor received promotion.  He wrote:

The village of Fricourt from the south west.  Fricourt is in the centre, with the Bois de Fricourt beyond it. 

The village of Fricourt from the west.  The lightly wooded area left of centre in front of the village is the remains of the Tambour Mine Crater. 

The German Cemetery at Fricourt contains a total of 17,027 German soldiers.  There are 5,057 marked burials with a further 11,970 in mass graves at the back of the cemetery.  6,477 graves are unknown.  Graves in the cemetery are marked with black crosses.  Each cross marks the graves of up to four German soldiers.

Fricourt New Military Cemetery contains in the order of 200 graves.  Next to the cemetery are the remains of the Tambour Mine Crater. 

Fricourt New Military Cemetery is a little west of the north end of Fricourt on the old German front line.  It comprises four big graves made by the 10th West Yorkshire Regiment after the capture of Fricourt in July 1916 and a few single graves of September 1916. 

There are seven mine craters at Tambour, five dating from before the Somme offensive and two from the Somme offensive itself.

On June 30, 1916 Fricourt was just inside the German front line.  It was attacked on 1 July, 1916 by the 17th Division.  By the end of that day it was caught between the 17th Division to its west, the 21st to the north and the 7th Division to the south.  The village was occupied by the 17th Division on 2 July 1916.

The memorial to the 7th Battalion, Yorkshire Regiment is located in Fricourt British Cemetery.  The memorial remembers those of the 7th Battalion, Alexandra Princess of Wales Own Yorkshire Regiment who fell in the Fricourt area on 1 July 1916.

Point 110 Old Military Cemetery is named following the contour on the map.  In September 1916 it was called King George’s Hill. 

Point 110 New Military Cemetery was begun by the 403rd French Infantry Regiment in May to July 1915.  It was continued by British units between February and July 1916.  Later 26 French and 2 German graves were removed. 

Fricourt was captured by the 17th Division on 2 July 1916, but the southern part of the commune, in which this cemetery is situated, was already in Allied hands.

On the road from Fricourt to Bray, before it reaches the top of the plateau, are two points 71 metres above sea level, known to the Army as 71 North and 71 South. A little further on was a feature known as the Citadel.

Citadel New Military Cemetery is in the Northern part of a valley, running from Fricourt to the Somme, which was known in 1916 as "Happy Valley."

On September 28, 1914 there was a request from a meeting of men considered as representative of the views of the people of Wales that a Welsh Army Corps of two Divisions should be raised.   Two weeks later on October 10 this request was officially sanctioned and the Welsh Army Corps came in to being from that date. 

Between September and November nine battalions were raised.  A further four battalions were raised early in 1915.  In Spring 1915 the idea of a Welsh Army Corps in the strict sense was abandoned and the division that had been formed was granted the title "Welsh" and from that time on was styled as the 38th (Welsh) Division.

The village of Mametz from the southwest. 

The village of Mametz from the west. 

The village of Mametz from the southwest. 

Mametz Wood from the southwest.

The 7th Division Memorial at Mametz has been erected by the Lancashire and Cheshire Branch of the Western Front Association.

Flatiron Copse Cemetery at Mametz contains the graves of 1,520 soldiers from the United Kingdom, 30 from New Zealand, 17 from Australia, and one from South Africa.  There are 416 unnamed graves.  Special memorials are erected to 36 soldiers from the United Kingdom thought to be buried among them.

The grave of Corporal Edward Dwyer, VC, is located in Flatiron Copse Cemetery, Mametz.  Corporal Dwyer served with the 1st Battalion East Surrey Regiment and was killed on 3 September 1916, aged 20.  Corporal Dwyer also received the Cross of St George (Russia). 

The grave of Captain Charles Edward Piercy Henderson, MC, Royal Field Artillery, is located in Flatiron Copse Cemetery, Mametz.

There are three pairs of brothers buried in Flatiron Copse Cemetery, Mametz.  In all three cases, the brothers were serving with the same unit and were killed on the same day.

On July 1, 1987 the South Wales Branch of the Western Front Association unveiled the magnificent memorial to the 38th (Welsh) Division near Mametz Wood. 

Dantzig Alley British Cemetery was begun in July 1916.  It was used by Field Ambulances and fighting units until the following November.  At the Armistice the cemetery consisted of 183 graves, but it was then increased by the concentration of 1,782 additional graves to bring it to its final total of 1,965 graves.

The Devonshire Cemetery, Mametz was started by the 8th and 9th Battalions of the Devonshire Regiment on July 4, 1916 when following their offensive on July 1 they buried their dead in a portion of what had been their own front line.

The Gordon Cemetery contains a total of 97 graves of which 94 are of men of the 2nd Battalion, Gordon Highlanders, of the 7th Division.  They were killed on 1 July 1916 and buried in their own support trench in a double semi-circle around the Cross of Sacrifice.

Bronfay Farm Military Cemetery was begun by French troops in October 1914, but was little used.  Later it was used by British troops between August 1915 and February 1917.