Battle of Guillemont

Battle of Guillemont
Part of the Battle of the Somme of World War I
Battle of the Somme 1 July – 18 November 1916
Date 3–6 September 1916 Location Guillemont, France Coordinates: 50°0′49.6″N 2°49′28″E / 50.013778°N 2.82444°E / 50.013778; 2.82444 Result British victory
Belligerents
British Empire  United Kingdom France	German Empire
Commanders and leaders
Douglas Haig Ferdinand Foch Henry Rawlinson General Émile Fayolle	Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria Max von Gallwitz Fritz von Below
Strength
6 divisions

 British Empire

The Battle of Guillemont (3–6 September 1916) was an attack by the Fourth Army on the village of Guillemont. The village is on the D 20 running east to Combles and the D 64 south-west to Montauban. Longueval and Delville Wood lie to the north-west and Ginchy to the north-east. The village was on the right flank of the British sector, near the boundary with the French Sixth Army. The Fourth Army had advanced close to Guillemont during the Battle of Bazentin Ridge (14–17 July) and the capture of the village was the culmination of British attacks which began on 22/23 July. The attacks were intended to advance the right flank of the Fourth Army and eliminate a salient further north at Delville Wood. German defences ringed the wood and had observation over the French Sixth Army area to the south, towards the Somme river.

Preparatory to a general attack intended for mid-September, from the Somme north to Courcelette (beyond the Albert–Bapaume road), the French Sixth Army, the Fourth Army and Reserve Army conducted numerous attacks, to capture the rest of the German second line and to gain observation over the German third line. The German defences around Guillemont were based on the remaining parts of the second line and numerous fortified villages and farms northwards from Hem, Maurepas and Combles, to Falfemont Farm, Guillemont, Ginchy, Delville Wood and High Wood, which commanded the ground in between.

Numerous attempts were made by Joseph Joffre, Sir Douglas Haig, Ferdinand Foch and the army commanders Henry Rawlinson and Émile Fayolle to co-ordinate joint attacks, which failed due to the recovery of the German 2nd Army from the disorganisation caused by the defeats in early July, disagreements over tactics by Haig and Joffre in July and August and organisational constraints, caused by congestion behind the front, roads and tracks obliterated by Anglo-French artillery-fire becoming swamps when it rained and increasing German artillery-fire on targets behind the front line. Inexperience, unreliable machinery, guns and ammunition and an unpredictable flow of supplies from Britain, reduced the effectiveness of the British armies. Difficulty in coordinating attacks by the Allied armies and the large number of piecemeal attacks resorted to by the British, have been criticised as costly failures and evidence of muddle and incompetence by Haig and Rawlinson. The French Sixth and Tenth armies had similar difficulties and severe strain had been put on the German 2nd and 1st armies, forcing them into a similar piecemeal defence.

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