Battle of Delville Wood

Battle of Delville Wood
Part of the Battle of the Somme of the First World War
Date 14 July – 3 September 1916 Location Delville Wood, Longueval, the Somme, France 50°01′40″N 2°48′36″E / 50.0278°N 2.8099°E / 50.0278; 2.8099Coordinates: 50°01′40″N 2°48′36″E / 50.0278°N 2.8099°E / 50.0278; 2.8099 Result British victory
Belligerents
British Empire South Africa United Kingdom	German Empire
Commanders and leaders
Douglas Haig Henry Rawlinson	Fritz von Below Max von Gallwitz
Strength
8 divisions, 1 brigade
Delville Wood Location of Delville Wood, department of the Somme

 British Empire

The Battle of Delville Wood (15 July – 3 September 1916) was a series of engagements in the 1916 Battle of the Somme in the First World War, between the armies of the German Empire and the British Empire. Delville Wood (Bois d'Elville), was a thick tangle of trees, chiefly beech and hornbeam (the wood has been replanted with oak and birch by the South African government), with dense hazel thickets, intersected by grassy rides, to the east of Longueval. As part of a general offensive starting on 14 July, which became known as the Battle of Bazentin Ridge (14–17 July), General Douglas Haig, Commander of the British Expeditionary Force, intended to capture the German second position between Delville Wood and Bazentin le Petit.

The attack achieved this objective and was a considerable though costly success. British attacks and German counter-attacks on the wood continued for the next seven weeks, until just before the Battle of Flers–Courcelette (15–17 September), the third British general attack in the Battle of the Somme. The 1st South African Infantry Brigade made its Western Front début as part of the 9th (Scottish) Division and captured Delville Wood on 15 July. The South Africans held the wood until 19 July, at a cost in casualties similar to those of many British brigades on 1 July. When captured, the village and wood formed a salient, which could be fired on by German artillery from three sides. The ground rose from Bernafay and Trônes woods, to the middle of the village and neither the village or the wood could be held without the other.