The car tour can be done very quickly — certainly within forty five minutes, if it is used purely to get one’s bearings.
Assuming that the visitor is mobile, I would strongly recommend the car tour that is described below, which should enable the tourer to get a clearer idea of the ground which the guide describes; the walk is of greatest benefit, as it is very difficult to appreciate the detailed lie of the land until one has been over it by foot.
See Map 14
The car tour starting point is Hamel. Take the Auchonvillers road. The British were to the right of this road, the Germans obviously further over still. After some distance, Newfoundland Park will be seen on the right.
On reaching a T Junction, proceed into Auchonvillers by turning right. Remember that the French have a system of priority from the right; in this case you would have priority over oncoming traffic, but do be cautious. I tend to treat all road junctions where there might be some doubt about the right of way on the basis of coming to a halt, or very close to it.
Auchonvillers (Ocean Villas to the Tommy) was just behind the British line. At the crossroads in the village, turn right, and shortly afterwards left. This road used to be known as the Sunken Road, and should not be confused with that nearer to Beaumont Hamel. Looking right you are viewing the support areas of the British line. A small road on your right is open only to those with business along it; this is Kilometre Lane; just below the turning, in descending order, was the crossing point of Sunken Road, of Fifth Avenue, a trench railway (installed after the July 1st attack) and Fourth Avenue.
The ruins of Beaumont Hamel, showing the road to Beaucourt, taken by a German photographer at the end of October 1916.
Frankfurt Trench Cemetery, with its excellent views across Newfoundland Park
The Sunken Road meets the main Mailly-Puisieux road, where you turn right. The farm at this junction is on the site of a sugar factory. On turning right, after a few yards, look across to your left across the fields to La Signy Farm. Staff Officers watched the battle for Serre on July 1st from there, and it was to this place that some tanks were brought up in the forlorn hope of being able to assist the November 13th attack in that area.
Looking across to the right provides a view of the British position before Beaumont Hamel. As the road curves around, the great mass of Serre Road Cemetery No 2 appears on the left. It is the largest British cemetery on the Somme, and stands in part of the old German Front Line. In due course, on the left, there is a small French Military Cemetery, soon followed by Serre Road Cemetery No I. Opposite the cemetery will be seen a small shrine chapel; take the right turning immediately beyond it — you are now on Frontier Lane, which ran for almost its entire length on or about the German Front Line. There are excellent views across the battlefield from here; the Thiepval Memorial stands out proudly, and nearer to Beaumont Hamel there are good views of Auchonvillers and the Hawthorn Crater.
Panorama of the German view from the eastern end of the Beaucourt Redoubt.
The Royal Naval Division Memorial, with the rebuilt and repositioned Beancourt Church behind.
In Beaumont Hamel turn left and take the second on the left, the road inclining slightly up the ridge. This is Beaucourt Road. The cemetery sign to New Munich Trench is a good point to stop and look at the view which the Germans had over the British positions over on your right; whilst the strength of the Second German Line can also be appreciated.
Beaucourt Road brings one into Beaucourt; just before the ground starts dropping to the Ancre there is a crossroads: this is the area of the Beaucourt Redoubt. In Beaucourt turn right; at the edge of the village will be seen the Naval Division Memorial (in passing it is of interest to note that the Germans had a Marine Division in this sector in late June 1918). This road will bring you to Beaucourt Station, the scene of such heavy fighting in November 1916. Turn right here for Beaumont Hamel; this is Station Road. After some distance you will see a Quarry on the right which had dugouts and underground workings in it. Looking down into the valley on your left, just before Beaumont Hamel, you will see the Civil Cemetery; just before it is the eastern exit point of Y Ravine. Drive straight through Beaumont Hamel and come out on the New Beaumont Road, soon passing Beaumont Hamel Cemetery on your right and Hawthorn Crater above you on the left; Sunken Road is a hundred metres or so further on on the right. Some three hundred yards beyond this, on your left, is a well-established track, the bottom end of Old Beaumont Road. This is usually, except in severe weather conditions, passable, with care, to cars. Thus an alternative route is to go up this, and just when all looks as though it might be lost, a metalled surface makes its appearance on a left hand bend — do not attempt to follow the rest of Old Beaumont Road up to Auchonvillers! This metalled road brings you up to Hawthorn Ridge, again with good views, before bringing you out on the Hamel — Auchonvillers Road at the approximate location of Thurles Dump. Turn left, and you will be on the road to the Newfoundland Park and to Hamel. The recommended car route is to stay on the New Beaumont Road and return via Auchonvillers — it is safer for the car, if less interesting.
The rather forlorn looking station at Beaucourt Hamel.
Beaumont Hamel civilian cemetery, in the same wartime location. The Quarry beyond, just above Station Road, was honeycombed with German dugouts.
A WALK ALONG THE FRONT.
The walk can take as long as a day if the tourer uses this as the basis on which he wishes to use the whole of the guide; or it can take about three hours of reasonably brisk movement. The time of the walk depends entirely on how the walker wishes to follow the options given.
It is possible to walk along tracks from the Ancre to the boundary of the 29th Division (July 1st) and 51st Division (13th November) attacks following the broad line of the front line on those momentous days. From the point of view of seeing the countryside, it is probably best to start from the Sunken Road, near the 1/8 Argylls’ Memorial, because the countryside falls away as one comes down into the Ancre valley, and so greater vistas are opened up as one walks along. It is also preferable to have two cars, so that one can be left at the end of the walk to bring the party back; the fit and hearty might well be willing to go both ways on foot! Stout walking shoes are recommended, and in most weather conditions these should suffice. It is also possible to take the walks in smaller sections, and cover the ground by a series of leapfrogs.
The route is indicated on the accompanying map; the relevant sections of the book which relate to what the walker should be seeing is stated alongside. For purposes of convenience I have split the route into parts, so that it can be taken as such or as a whole. Car parking points are indicated — the three best are by the Ancre Cemetery, the Newfoundland Memorial and the 1/8th Argylls’ Memorial. Should the visitor have to go across a field, then please ensure that you keep to a field line and respect the local farmer’s livelihood. The farmers of the region are very tolerant of the army of visitors that descend upon them, and it is in all our interests to follow basic country code practices. Be well aware that the countryside is still full of munitions and other battlefield debris; the only safe rule is to leave it alone. The French are great ones for shooting, and some times of the year there are many people out with their shotguns — one October visit sticks in my memory for the sheer number of guns out on the fields. So, again, be warned. If one parks a car other than the places I have suggested, do so with caution — tractors have a tendency to turn up at the most awkward time! One should be conscious of other road (and track) users.
Part 1: From the 1/8th Argyll’s Memorial to Y Ravine.
Refer to Chapters 1, 2 (both in part), 3, 4, 5, 7 (in part), 8 (in part), 13 and 14.
The walk in this area is designed to enable the visitor to get a firm grasp of the ground over which the Lancashire Fusiliers on July 1st and the 8th Argylls on November 13th fought over. Leaving the vehicle at the Memorial, walk up the Sunken Road right up to Redan Ridge Cemetery No 2. There are good views over the attacking ground, and beyond to Hawthorn Ridge. Along the Sunken Road, on the German side, there are signs in the banks of excavations of various types.
Panorama from the slope of Redan Ridge, in No Man’s Land.
Returning to the Memorial, walk up to Beaumont Hamel Cemetery and beyond. Look back from the German position on the forward edge of the wood, to gain some impression of the task facing the British attackers. The Hawthorn Crater looms up above on the Ridge. Returning to the Memorial again take the track that runs alongside it to the west; this soon climbs out of an embankment and provides a good view of the British attack on the other side of the New Beaumont Road, as well as the exposed nature of the ground to the main British position on July 1st. The tunnel and communication trench opened up on the night preceding the July 1st attack ran across the track when it begins to level out with the adjacent fields.
Return to the Memorial and the road and walk back along it a few hundred yards towards Auchonvillers. Another track goes off on the right hand side of the road; this is Esau’s Way. It is possible to drive along this, but I would not recommend it — a dent somewhere vital is a distinct possibility. I also very nearly ran over a shell last time I drove along here, so feet are perhaps best! The likely position of Malins when he filmed the Mine going off on Hawthorn Ridge is in some bushes towards the base of the embankment.
Esau’s Way brings you around on Tenderloin Street and finally to White City. Even now that it is so much less high than it used to be (if stories of forty feet cliffs are to be taken at face value) it is obvious that this provided good cover from German observation, and made a logical place for Headquarters, Aid Posts and the like. It is possible to get to the site of the Bowery (meaning a plantation; the French name for this field is ‘the cherry wood’), and which gave the British views into Beaumont Hamel itsel, only when there are no crops growing; it is now just part of a large field. The two east-west running embankments to the north of it mark the route of Fourth Avenue (joining in this area with Third Avenue for a while) and Fifth Avenue. 88 Trench ran south from the Bowery and across the New Beaumont Road.
A view from the rear of the British line. White City was on the left of the bank which runs across the middle of the picture. The Bowery was off picture to the right of the bank on the right edge of the picture.
Return to the New Beaumont Road and walk up to the Hawthorn Crater, being extremely careful of the barbed wire fence that encloses the pathway. Look over what had been No Man’s Land from its northern lip. Immediately to the east of the crater is the strong point that caused so much difficulty to the November 13 attack. Make one’s way across the fields to the access road to Hawthorn Ridge Cemetery No 1 which is just in No Man’s Land, a matter of metres in front of the old British Front Line. Again, important views are to be had. From the Cemetery make your way to the Newfoundland Park, entrance being made near the western end of Y Ravine.
Part 2: From Y Ravine to Mary Redan.
Refer to Chapters 1, 2 (both in part), 6, 7 (in part), 8 (in part), 13 (in part) and 14.
This is again a rather circuitous route, which takes the visitor around the Newfoundland Park. However, if the park has already been explored, or the visitor wishes to leave it for another time, omit the second section of this part of the walk. Should one wish to do the Park walk, read that section first and then return to what follows here.
Take the track leading eastwards, running along the northern edge of Y Ravine. There are good views of the ground behind Beaumont Hamel and the German positions that were there. Frankfurt Trench Cemetery may be seen, site of one of the furthest of the Highland Division’s objectives on November 13th. After some five hundrd yards there is a track T Junction; go right (turning left will bring you out into Beaumont Hamel), down into Y Ravine and up a track on the other side of the ridge. Where the ground begins to rise is where the German Front Line crossed the track, the line following its course for a while before it snaked off to the south east. Y Ravine cemetery can be seen on your right; the German Front Line was about 150 yards to the north of it. The view that this part of the German front had over the attacking troops in what is now Newfoundland Park is excellent — even better if the trees did not obstruct the view. The ground on the right witnessed some of the heavy fighting of July 1st — the forlorn charge of 1/Essex for example. Mary Redan was more or less under the line of pylons that traverses the road, with the British line running west and south of it. After the abject failure of their attack on July 1st, the Newfoundland Regiment spent that night in support trenches some three hundred yards away, near to the track running down to Y Ravine Cemetery. On the left of the track is where the various battalions of the left hand Brigade of the 36th Ulster Division did their best on that fateful day.
A view of Beaumont Hamel from the track running north of Y ravine.
If one moves a few yards off the track on the left hand side at the high point of ground, it is possible to look down into Beaucourt and to see the Naval Division memorial; you are looking across what would have been line after line of German defences.
View of Beaucourt from the Mary Redan area. The RND memorial is just visible to the right of the white buildings in the centre of the photograph.
The western part of Y ravine, leading on to Point 89.
The Park Circuit.
Refer in particular to Chapters 6 and 7 (in part).
Having entered the Park at Y Ravine, make your way very carefully to the bottom of it, and proceed eastwards, observing the clear indentations and other signs of workings on its steep banks. Your route will be barred by barbed wire after a hundred and fifty yards or so; take the right fork, which is open to access. This is where heavy fighting took place between the German defenders and the attacking Highland Division in November. Following this branch of Y Ravine brings the visitor out to a well marked grass path and the German Front Line position, which ran east-west here along the length of the Ravine. Many of the British attackers on July 1st would have been walking past this position, heading eastwards, making them open to enfilade fire. Walk to Y Ravine Cemetery’, then in No Man’s Land. Over to the east, outside the park, the German line was some two to three hundred yards away, climbing up the ridge. Looking back to where you have just come from, and across to the German position, see how just exposed this attack was. Point 60 (the right boundary of the Newfoundland Regiment attack) is almost directly east of the cemetery, on the track running up to Mary Redan. The Caribou Memorial, sited on the extreme right of the Newfoundland attack is easily seen from the cemetery: thus some idea of the path of the mayhem that plunged the families of Newfoundland into mourning may be well appreciated.
Trenches from which the 13 November attack by 7/Gordon Higlanders was probably launched.
Also in this direction may be seen the trench that runs diagonally across the park, close to the Danger Tree. This was the British Front Line trench on November 13th, when the axis of the advance of the attacking battalions was somewhat different, heading straight for the length of Y Ravine.
Proceed up the slope, but instead of heading straight for the Caribou, move to the south, and investigate some of the trench lines round the Superintendent’s Lodge—these are much neglected by visitors. Then return to the Caribou and proceed along the grass path to the cemeteries and memorials clustered around the western edge of Y Ravine. Return to the path to Hawthorn Ridge Cemetery No 1, and then follow the route as above.
Part 3: From Mary Redan to the Ancre Cemetery
Refer to Chapters 1, 2 (both in part), 6 (in part), 9, 10, 11 (in part) and 14.
This section is very straightforward, but possibly rather muddy! About fifty yards or south of the pylons, a track leads off the road heading due east; at this point it was just outside the British Front. Within a hundred and fifty yards or so the track crosses the German Front Line, which was heading in approximately a north-west, south east line. The track eventually meets another — to the left it will take you to Beaumont Hamel via the civil cemetery; to the right it leads down to Railway Road by Ancre British Cemetery. Within a few yards of this turning, the walker will be in the middle of the ground that formed part of the redoubt that was to cause so much trouble to the Naval Division, and which was finally crushed by the two tanks on November 14th.
The cross of sacrifice in the Ancre Cemetery in the centre of the photograph shows the deep dip which lay in No Man’s Land on 1 July and was the jump off point for many men of the Royal Naval Division on 13 November. Taken from the road to Mary Redan.
RECOMMENDED READING
There are a number of guides on the Great War and on the Somme Battlefields. Foremost amongst the general guides remains Miss Rose Coombs, Before Endeavours Fade. This guide is reasonably priced and is an excellent book to lead the visitor around all the memorials and cemeteries, as well as the trench museums and other remnants of the war that exist on the Western Front. On the Somme there are several publications available. There is a straightforward and easy to use pocket guide, produced by Major and Mrs Holt; there is also a most useful accompanying map of the Somme battlefield as it is to-day, with the reverse showing dispositions during the battle. John Giles’ Somme Then and Now is a useful anthology of explanation and individual experiences. It is profusely illustrated. Gerald Gliddon’s When the Barrage Lifts is a very extensive topographical survey of the Somme area, with details on the villages and significant woods, trench lines and the like. It is occasionally factually flawed, but this should not detract too much from an enormous labour of love. There are frequent references to significant figures, such as war poets, VC winners and the like. The most recent entry to the lists is Martin and Mary Middlebrook’s The Somme Battlefields. This is a first rate vade mecum to the Somme Department, and is an invaluable touring aid. It also makes interesting reading on its own! Whilst on Martin Middlebrook, his First Day of the Somme must still rate as one of the great books on that day, and of its type (a history illustrated by personal recollections) is, in my opinion, the best of its kind. Lyn MacDonald’s Somme uses a broadly similar method, but covers the whole of the First Battle of the Somme, and is also an excellent read. These books are generally all available at the coffee and bookshop attached to the Delville Wood Museum.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Tunnellers Capt W Grant Grieve and Bernard Newman. Herbert Jenkins 1936.
Official History France and Flanders 1916, Volumes 1 (Edmonds) and 2 (Miles)
How I Filmed the War Lieutenant Geoffrey Malins OBE. Herbert Jenkins Ltd.
A Medico’s Luck In the War Colonel David Rone DSO. Milne and Hutchison 1929.
The Secret Battle AP Herbert. OUP 1982.
For the Sake of Example Anthony Babington. Leo Cooper 1983.
Shot at Dawn Julian Putkowski and Julian Sykes. Wharncliffe Publishing 1989.
From Trench and Turret SM Holloway. Royal Marines Museum
The HAC in the Great War ed G. Goold Walker. London, Seeley, Service and Co. 1930.
The Hawke Battalion: Some Personal Reminiscences of Four Years. Douglas Jerrold. Benn 1925.
The Royal Naval Division Douglas Jerrold. Hutchinson. 1923
Georgian Adventure Douglas Jerrold. William Collins Sons. 1937
General Lord Freyberg VC P Singleton-Gates Michael Joseph 1963
Bernard Freyberg VC. Soldier of Two Nations. Paul Freyberg. Hodder and Stoughton 1991.
What became of Corporal Pittman? Joy B Cave. Breakwater Books Ltd.
The Fighting Newfoundlander GWL Nicholson. Govt. of Newfoundland
I survived didn’t 1? The Great War Reminiscences of Private ‘Ginger’ Byrne. Ed and intro by Joy Cave. Leo Cooper 1993.
The Trail of the Caribou. Newfoundland in the First World War, 1914–18. T Murphy and P Kenney. Harry Cuff Publications Ltd.
My Bit. A Lancashire Fusilier at War 1914–1918 G. Ashurst ed. R Holmes. Crowood Press 1987
The History of the Lancashire Fusiliers 1914–1918 Vol 1. Major General JC Latter. Gale and Polden 1949.
The Cross of Sacrifice, Vol 1 SD and DB Jarvis. Robert Medals Pub 1993.
The Tanks Volume 11914–1939. BH Liddell Hart. Cassell 1959.
The Somme AH Farrar-Hockley. Batsford 1964.
Somme Lyn Macdonald. Michael Joseph 1983
The First Day of the Somme. Martin Middlebrook. Allen Lane 1971
History of the 36th (Ulster) Division. Cyril Falls. McGaw, Stevenson and Orr Ltd 1922.
History of 51st (Highland) Division. W Bewsher, DSO, MC. Wm Blackwood & Sons 1921.
A History of the Black Watch in the Great War. Volume Two, Territorial Force Maj Gen AG Wauchope CB. Medici Society 1926.
History of the 17th (Northern) Division. A Hilliard Atteridge. R McElhose & Co 1929.
The East Yorkshire Regiment in the Great War. Everard Wyrall. Harrison and Sons 1928
History of the Dorsetshire Regiment, 1914–1919. Henry Ling. 1932
The Sixth Gordons in France and Flanders. D MacKenzie, MC. Rosemount, Aberdeen 1922
Marshal Foch walking through Newfoundland Park on the occasion of the unveiling of the 51 Division Memorial.