In October, 1914, the front line became fixed, west of this village.
A fierce trench-to-trench struggle continued throughout 1915, when it
developed into ceaseless, desperate mine warfare.
At the end of December, 1914, the French captured that part of La
Boisselle which lies south of the church. German counter-attacks,
launched almost daily, failed to drive them out. On January 17, 1915,
after a violent bombardment, the French were compelled to withdraw
from that corner of the hamlet, but the next day they succeeded in
re-occupying the still smoking ruins.
These attacks and counter-attacks had brought the German and French
trenches so close together that it became impossible to fight in
the open. The struggle was therefore continued underground. On both
sides subterranean galleries were bored under the opposing trenches,
generally to a depth of 20 to 26 feet. Mine-chambers, filled with
cheddite, at the end of the galleries, were fired electrically. In
the ensuing upheaval the trenches entirely disappeared, giving place
to huge craters, for the possession of the edges of which bitter
hand-to-hand fighting followed.
[Illustration: BRITISH CEMETERY, BETWEEN ALBERT AND LA BOISSELLE, ON
THE RIGHT.]
During the night of February 6, 1915, the Germans fired three mines in
the southern part of La Boisselle occupied by the French, and captured
the craters, but were unable to debouch from them. The next day a
spirited French counter-attack drove them back.
The communiqués of 1915 mention many feats of this kind, and to-day the
traces which still remain of this ferocious struggle attest its extreme
violence.
On each side of the Albert-Bapaume road, opposite La Boisselle village,
huge craters form an almost continuous line.
[Illustration: BRITISH GRAVES IN THE GREAT MINE CRATER AT LA BOISSELLE.]
The largest crater lies on the right. It has a diameter of about 200
feet and a depth of 81 feet. British graves lie at the bottom _(photo
opposite)_.
This mine warfare procured no appreciable advantage to either side.
Fresh defences were immediately made on the edge of or near the new
craters, in place of those which had been wiped out, and the front line
remained practically unchanged until the offensive of the Somme.
On July 1, 1916, the British rushed the German trenches in front of
La Boisselle and Ovillers, giving rise to a fierce engagement. After
two days of incessant fighting the whole of La Boisselle village was
captured. A battalion of the Prussian Guard made a desperate resistance
at Ovillers, the survivors--124 men and 2 officers--surrendering only
on July 17.
[Illustration: MINE CRATER AT LA BOISSELLE.]
_Leave La Boisselle on the right, and take N. 29._
[Illustration]
_Ten yards from milestone "Albert 5 km. 4," take the left-hand road to
=Ovillers= (600 yards distant)._ Of this village not a wall remains
standing.
_The road turns to the left and crosses the village_, in which numerous
shelters and military works can still be seen.
_Outside Ovillers, on the right, there is_ a large cross, erected by
the British in memory of their fallen comrades of the 12th Division. _A
little further on, there is_ a British cemetery _on the same side of
the road_.
_The road turns to the right, then descends steeply to the Ancre
marshes. Cross these by the footbridge built by the Army Engineers, to
=Aveluy= village on the opposite side._
Of this village, only a few walls remain standing, among which are
numerous military works.
_On leaving Aveluy, the road crosses the railway. Take the road on the
right immediately after._
_Follow the marshy valley of the Ancre upstream._
[Illustration: PANORAMIC VIEW OF THE VALLEY OF THE ANCRE, AS SEEN ON
LEAVING HAMEL FOR BEAUCOURT-SUR-ANCRE.]
[Illustration: THE ANCRE MARSHES, IN FRONT OF THE RUINS OF AVELUY.]
_The road crosses =Aveluy Wood=_, the trees of which are cut to pieces.
_2 km. 500 beyond Aveluy, before the fork with the road to Mesnil,
there is a_ British cemetery _on the right_.
_On leaving the wood, follow the railway to the_ ruins of =Hamel=
village. _Before entering_, note the British cemetery _on the left_.
Opposite, on the crest of the hill, on the left bank of the Ancre, is
=Thiepval Wood=, cut to pieces by the shells. The view of the Ancre
Valley from here is most impressive _(photo below)_.