Location 15 – London CWGC Cemetery & Extension and High Wood

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Directions – Return in the direction of Longueval and take a left before you reach the village, the D107 signposted to Martinpuich (the junction is marked by a memorial cross which commemorates the 12th Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment, "Bristol's Own", which fought in this area between July and September). Continue down into the small valley. As you drive up the other side you will pass High Wood on your right. London CWGC Cemetery is further along as the road levels out on your left.

Historical Notes – High Wood was the northernmost of the belt of woodland that were such a feature of the Somme fighting in July, August and early September 1916. As with the other woods we have visited on this tour, the battle for it was long and bitter. It was initially captured by the 7th Dragoon Guards and 2nd Deccan Horse in a cavalry charge following the panic that ensued from the Night Attack of 14th July. However, reserves were slow in arriving and the wood was lost again on the night of 15th July. It was a massive lost opportunity, for the wood was to remain in German hands until the Tank Attack of 15th September.

During the intervening period the Fourth Army threw a series of poorly conceived and co-ordinated attacks into the wood. Each time they were repulsed by the German defenders, who turned High Wood into the lynchpin of the German defences between Pozières and Flers. The British were further hampered by the fact that their field artillery located in Caterpillar Valley had too flat a trajectory to effectively support their attacks. Throughout July and August the 33rd and 51st (Highland) Divisions battered themselves against the wood, each push ending in failure. By September it was estimated that 6,000 British casualties had been sustained in the battle.

High Wood was eventually captured during the Tank Attack of 15th September, when the 47th (London) Division was in action here. However, their Corps Commander, Lieutenant General Sir William Pulteney, decided to use tanks alone to capture the German positions. These new weapons of war were totally unsuited to the ground conditions in the wood and the decision condemned the 47th Division to suffer heavy casualties in their follow-up advance. Forty-seven of the 4,500 losses sustained by 47th Division between 15th and 19th September were buried in a shell hole on the site of London Cemetery. The cemetery was further extended after the Armistice so that it now contains 3,300 burials of whom 3,100 are unknown.

A future warwalk will explore this corner of the Somme battlefield in more detail.