Location 11 – Mametz Wood

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Directions – From Devonshire Cemetery return back down the D938 in the direction of Fricourt and then take the right turn for Mametz. Continue to the crossroads in the village and go straight across onto the C4 to Contalmaison. Note the green CWGC sign below noting this is also the route to the 38th (Welsh) Division Memorial. Continue along this lane keeping to the right as it forks at the next two CWGC signs and you will pass through an open area of land before moving back through the trees to the 38th (Welsh) Division Memorial – in the unmistakable shape of a red dragon. Park beneath it.

Practical Information – Due to the poor condition of the lane (which at some points is little more than a stony dirt track) coaches cannot get to this site and I have personally never seen another soul here on three visits. However, care should be taken on the lane – unless you have a 4x4 drive slowly and watch for the raised central camber grinding the underneath of the chassis.

Historical Notes – Mametz was one of a series of woods which lay in the path of the British advance in the south following the 1st July attack. Together with Caterpillar, Bernafay and Trτnes it had to be cleared prior to an assault on the German second defence line.

To do it the British brought up the 17th and 38th (Welsh) Division. The first attempt to take the wood on 7th July ended in failure. The 115th Brigade, consisting of the 10th and 11th South Wales Borderers and the 16th Welsh Regiment, attacked over the open ground towards the south-east corner of the wood, known as the "Hammerhead" due to its unusual shape. They were hit by German machine guns firing from Flatiron and Sabot Copses to their right as well as by fire from German positions in the Hammerhead itself. The advance broke down and the brigade sustained over 400 casualties.

Following efforts by 17th Division to make inroads to the west of the wood, a further attack was scheduled for the early morning of 10th July on the south-west aspect. This time the artillery bombardment was much better co-ordinated. The British shelled the enemy frontline positions and then paused, during which time many German defenders manned the parapets thinking the attack was imminent. The artillery then opened up again catching the defenders in the open before commencing a "creeping" barrage ahead of the assault troops. These consisted of the 16th and 14th Royal Welsh Fusiliers on the left, the 14th Welsh in the centre and the 13th Welsh on the right nearest the Hammerhead.

The artillery plan enabled the Welsh battalions to cover the open ground to the wood and get in amongst the undergrowth whereupon they began a lengthy and bitter close-quarters fire fight with the German defenders. These came mainly from the 2nd Battalion of the Lehr Regiment of the Prussian Guard, amongst the German Army's best soldiers. Gradually, the Welshmen fought their way forward through the shattered wood. By mid- afternoon almost the whole of the division was committed but still the battle raged. After a short reorganisation of units in the wood at 4 pm, a further advance saw some forward troops make it close to the northern boundary of the wood before they were stopped by German rifle and machine gun fire. The day ended with both sides exhausted and short of food and water.

Early in the morning of the following day the 10th South Wales Borderers at last secured the Hammerhead but communication and command had begun to break down in the confusion. Some senior commanders made it into the wood but it was not until 3 pm in the afternoon that another attack was organised. Disastrously, however, a British barrage designed to aid the advance fell short and many Welshmen were killed and wounded by their own shellfire. Despite this, advances were made to the northern and eastern edges of the wood but, coming under incessant German machine gun and shellfire and without reinforcements, the attackers retreated back to their start line. That night the Welsh division was relieved by the 21st Division, who succeeded in securing the remainder of the wood the following day. The Welsh Division's losses were indeed severe – 46 officers and 556 men were dead with a further 6 officers and 579 men missing. A total of 138 officers and 2,668 men had been wounded.

The Welsh Division had been formed at the instigation of David Lloyd George, Minister of Munitions, who would become Prime Minister in December 1916. It was made up largely of volunteers and, within its ranks, had a high proportion of the poets and writers who were to become such a key feature of the war including Siegfried Sassoon and Robert Graves. By its very nature as Wales' only division at the front, there were also many brothers fighting together at Mamtez Wood. One of the most moving such stories was recounted by Captain Wyn Griffith, who was told by the battalion signals officer that his younger brother had been killed whilst carrying his own order to cancel an artillery barrage that was falling on his men,

"So I had sent him to his death bearing a message from my own hand in an endeavour to save other mens' brothers. Night came. I could not sleep. At two in the morning we set out to join the battalion and as the dawn was breaking over Bazentin I turned towards the green shape of Mametz Wood and shuddered in a farewell to one, to many. I had not even buried him nor was his grave ever found."