Capture of Stuff Redoubt

Capture of Stuff Redoubt
Part of the Battle of the Somme, World War I
Battle of the Somme 1 July – 18 November 1916
Date 1 July, 27 September – 9 October 1916 Location Picardy, France 50°3′16.3″N 2°41′18.2″E / 50.054528°N 2.688389°E / 50.054528; 2.688389Coordinates: 50°3′16.3″N 2°41′18.2″E / 50.054528°N 2.688389°E / 50.054528; 2.688389 Result British victory
Belligerents
British Empire	Germany
Commanders and leaders
Douglas Haig	General Erich von Falkenhayn
Stuff Redoubt Stuff Redoubt (Staufen Feste)

The Capture of Stuff Redoubt (Feste Staufen) was a tactical incident in France, during the Battle of the Somme in 1916. The redoubt had been built as part of the fortification of the Somme front by the German 2nd Army (General Fritz von Below) after the open warfare of 1914. On 1 July, the First Day on the Somme, troops of the 36th (Ulster) Division occupied part of the redoubt before being forced to retreat by German counter-attacks. British troops were not able to reach the redoubt again until the Battle of Thiepval Ridge (26–28 September) when parties of the 11th Division captured part of the redoubt. The rest of the redoubt was taken by the 25th Division during the Battle of the Ancre Heights (1 October – 11 November).

Some German officers thought that the blow to German morale was worse than news of the fall of Thiepval. The loss of the redoubt and the success of an attack by the British II Corps on Stuff Trench beyond the redoubt on 21 October, exposed the Ancre valley and Grandcourt to ground observation. The army group commander Crown Prince Rupprecht and Erich Ludendorff the deputy Chief of the General Staff of the German army wanted to retire from the salient that had formed from St Pierre Division and Beaumont Hamel but Below preferred to hold on since the remaining positions were strong and on high ground with good observation. The last big attack by the Reserve Army (renamed Fifth Army) the Battle of the Ancre (13–18 November) against these positions was a great success.

The 26th (Württemberg) Reserve Division (Generalmajor Franz von Soden) of the XIV Reserve Corps (Generalleutnant Hermann von Stein), arrived on the Somme in late September 1914, attempting to advance westwards towards Amiens. By 7 October, the advance had ended and temporary scrapes had been occupied. Fighting in the area from the Somme north to the Ancre, subsided into minor line-straightening attacks by both sides. The primacy of artillery had been established during the fighting of 1914 and the exploitation of artillery fire power in defensive fighting, required means of communication between the front line and artillery positions in the rear. Artillery organisation needed to be centralised to make sure that all guns in range engaged targets.