The battle extended over the Picardy plateau, south and north of the
Somme. Before the war, the region was rich and fertile, the chalky
ground having a covering of alluvial soil of variable thickness.
The slopes of the undulating hills and the broad table-lands were
covered with immense fields of corn, poppies and sugar beet. Here and
there were small woods--vestiges of the Arrouaise Forest, which covered
the whole country in the Middle-Ages. There were scarcely any isolated
houses, but occasionally a windmill, farm or sugar-refinery would break
the monotony of the landscape.
The villages were surrounded with orchards, and their low, red-tiled
houses were generally grouped around the church. The plateau was
crossed by wide, straight roads bordered with fine elms.
The war has robbed the district of its former aspect. The ground, in
a state of complete upheaval, is almost levelled in places, while the
huge mine-craters give it the appearance of a lunar landscape. The
ground was churned up so deeply that the upper covering of soil has
almost entirely disappeared and the limestone substratum now laid bare
is overrun with rank vegetation. From Thiepval to Albert, Combles
and Péronne, and from Chaulnes to Roye, the ground was so completely
upturned as to render it useless for agriculture for many years to
come, and a scheme to plant this area with pine trees is now being
considered.
Nearly all the villages were razed, and now form so many vast heaps
of débris. This battlefield is a striking example of the total
destructions wrought by the late war.