End of the Battle of Guillemont

In British battle nomenclature, 6 September 1916 is the last day of the Battle of Guillemont. Three days earlier the 20th Division and the Irish 47th Brigade had taken in under three hours the ruined village of Guillemont, which the British had been fighting for since the end of July. On its right flank, however, the strongpoint at Falfemont Farm remained untaken, and on its left the Germans held Ginchy. The following days were spent straightening the line.

4 September was windy and wet. The 5th Division attacked Falfemont Farm again, and the French neighbours in the ravine near Combles again failed to move, so the frontal attack by a Norfolk battalion broke down under machine-gun fire. Things went better on the flank: a Bedfordshire battalion, working along a German trench from Wedge Wood, took more than 180 prisoners and occupied two corners of the farm. In the evening two companies of a Devonshire battalion entered Leuze Wood, which the British nicknamed “Lousy Wood”, and began to dig in there. There were few Germans in it. During the night the Germans began to give way. By three in the morning of 5 September the Norfolks had occupied Falfemont Farm, and by 7.30 a.m. the whole trench of the second position. In the morning companies of a Royal Warwickshire battalion went down the slope into the ravine and linked up with the left flank of the French. The capture of the farm allowed the French to establish contact with the British across the ravine.

That morning battalion commanders reported that the Germans were shattered and inclined to retreat. General Henry Rawlinson, who happened to be at XIV Corps headquarters, ordered Leuze Wood and the high ground between it and Ginchy to be boldly occupied. In the afternoon the Devonshire battalion manned a German trench in Leuze Wood, but two attacks by the 7th Royal Irish Fusiliers on Combles Trench broke down on wire hidden in the standing corn. At 9.20 a.m. on 5 September the 20th Division’s sector was taken over by General William Hickie’s 16th (Irish) Division, which in the evening linked up with the 5th Division at the northern edge of Leuze Wood.

6 September was a fine autumn day. The 8th Royal Irish Fusiliers crossed the Combles–Ginchy road and entered Bouleaux Wood, but lost touch with their neighbours and were under heavy fire all day. In the evening, as the London 56th Division was taking over the front, the Germans counter-attacked in Leuze Wood. Some of the Irish fell back behind the road, but the trench in the wood was held, and the London Scottish drove the Germans off before 10.30 p.m. A French attack on Combles in the afternoon also failed. On the left wing the 7th Division attacked Ginchy twice more. In the afternoon its men broke into the village and sent prisoners to the rear, but at 4.30 p.m. a counter-attack drove them out again. General Herbert Watts reported that his division could do nothing more.

The battle was costly. According to the British official history, the 5th Division lost 4,233 officers and men from 26 August to 7 September, the 20th Division 2,950 from 22 August to 8 September, and the 7th Division 3,800 from 23 August. In return the British eliminated the salient at Delville Wood, took the German second position from Ginchy to the ravine near Combles and stood on the ridge above Combles. Between Leuze Wood and Ginchy, however, the Germans held a fortified point the British called the Quadrilateral. For the Battle of the Somme the most important thing was that Ginchy had been exposed from the south. The Irish of the 16th Division were to take it as early as 9 September, and General Douglas Haig had gained a line from which in the middle of the month he intended to launch a great offensive with tanks.