During the first months of the offensive of 1916, the Germans,
installed on the top of the slopes which dominate both banks of the
river, resisted successfully in the Ancre sector. On the east, they
occupied the whole of the Thiepval Plateau (maximum altitude, 540
feet), which they transformed into a veritable fortress. To the west,
after crossing the Ancre below the hamlet of St.-Pierre-Divion, their
trenches ran in front of the high ground of Beaumont-Hamel (Hill
135) and Serre (Hills 143 and 141). From these elevated points they
dominated the British positions, which is why the British, before
attacking, were forced to take the Thiepval Ridge (end of September,
1916). This enabled them to take the German intrenchments in the rear.
On November 13, 1916, the attack was launched under very unfavourable
weather conditions. The ground was sodden, and a thick fog hid
everything from view. In spite, however, of the five successive lines
of trenches which protected the enemy positions, the British first
captured the hamlet of St.-Pierre-Divion, then, three hours afterwards,
the fortress of Beaumont.
[Illustration]
In 1918, the German thrust broke down, as in 1914, on the banks of
the Ancre. Caught in the swampy ground, they were unable to establish
themselves strongly on the heights of the western bank. Leaving
advanced posts only in the valley, with strong patrols, they reoccupied
their old entrenched positions; but with the ground in such a state of
upheaval, a prolonged resistance there was impossible.
The Germans were unable to prevent the British, on August 22, 1918,
from crossing the Ancre near Aveluy and carrying, within forty-eight
hours, the Thiepval and Beaumont Heights, against which their efforts
had so long been unsuccessful.
_The road passes the railway station of =Beaumont-Hamel=._ The
important market town of this name _(1 km. 500 beyond the station)_ is
now a mere heap of chaotic ruins.
The report of the Enquiry Commission appointed by the French
Government, contains the following:--
_"On October 12, 1914, an aeroplane flew over Beaumont-Hamel. The
Germans pretended that two women (Mme. Roussel and Mme. Flament)
signalled to the aeroplane, the first-named by leading a red horse and
a white horse into her yard, the second woman by displaying a large
piece of cloth-stuff. The facts are: Mme. Flament had simply used
her handkerchief, and Mme. Roussel, in the absence of her mobilised
husband, having to attend to their large farm, had led two horses into
the yard, to facilitate the cleaning of the stable._
_"Together with other inhabitants of the village who were under
arrest for similar futile motives, Mme. Roussel and Mme. Flament were
questioned by the officer attached to the Colonel commanding the 110th
Infantry Regiment. After having ordered them to confess their guilt,
this officer was particularly infuriated against Mme. Flament, and
promised the others that their lives should be spared if they would
denounce her. He had a personal grievance against the woman. A few days
before he had asked her for champagne wine, and she had replied that
she had not any, but, on leaving the house, he noticed that some of his
men had wine and, believing that she had mocked him, he had indulged in
violent reproaches._
[Illustration: BEAUMONT-HAMEL, WHERE THE CHURCH USED TO STAND.]
_"In spite of the danger, the brave women replied that they preferred
to die rather than accuse an innocent person. Exasperated by their
resistance, the German allowed them three minutes for reflection, and
then had them placed against the wall of the church. While his soldiers
covered the women with their rifles, he counted, 'one, two ----,' then,
in the belief that this sham execution had terrorized the defenceless
women, he allowed them half an hour's respite and sent them back to
the Town Hall. At the expiration of this delay he again pressed them
with questions, seized two sums of money (one of 776 francs, the other
of 1,345 francs, which Mme. Roussel and Mme. Flament, believing that
their last hour had come, had requested a friend to hand over to their
families), threatened in a fit of rage to have Mme. Flament buried
alive, and ordered all the persons under arrest to swear that they were
innocent. At the last moment, the courage to carry out this abomination
failed him, and he sent the unfortunate women back to Mme. Roussel's
house. Here they were watched until October 28, and were then sent
to Cambrai with the other inhabitants who had been held as hostages,
because they were unable to pay the whole of the war contribution
of 8,000 francs which had been set upon the district."_--_Report of
December 8, 1915, page 22, Vol. V._
_One kilometre beyond the station of Beaucourt-Hamel the road crosses
the village of =Beaucourt=_, where not a single wall remains standing
_(see sketch-map, p. 40)_.
It was on November 13, 1910, that the British, after capturing
Beaumont-Hamel, carried Hill No. 135, between Beaumont and Beaucourt,
and reached the outskirts of Beaucourt. The entire village was occupied
the next day.
But the approaching winter and continuous bad weather did not allow
them to exploit their success. In the operations of the previous two
days, they had been greatly hampered by the deep sticky mud through
which, in places, the men had had to advance up to their waists. It was
therefore decided to make the new positions their winter quarters.
The cessation of the offensive did not, however, mean inaction. From
November, 1916, to the end of January, 1917, raids were incessantly
carried out in the enemy trenches.
Early in February, 1917, a violent and incessant bombardment was the
forerunner of fresh attacks. From February 8 onwards, the British made
considerable progress along the Beaucourt-Miraumont road.
_After leaving Beaucourt, keep along this road._ A great heap of red
bricks, on the right, by the side of the river Ancre, is all that
remains of Baillescourt Farm, the defence-works of which were captured
on February 8, 1917.
A few days later, the British reached the outskirts of the important
position of =Miraumont=.
[Illustration: MIRAUMONT. RUINED CHURCH ON THE LEFT.]
This large village was divided by the Ancre and the Albert-Arras
railway, the village proper being situated on the north bank. The
smaller agglomeration of houses lying on the south bank, known as
Petit-Miraumont, was the first to fall into the hands of the British,
after desperate fighting. The approaches to Petit-Miraumont had been
covered with successive lines of trenches, bristling with barbed wire
entanglements, redoubts and concrete blockhouses for machine-guns. All
these positions had to be carried one by one. The village itself was
only captured on February 24, 1917.
Two days later, Miraumont-le-Grand, defended only by a rearguard
company and a section of machine-gunners, was easily carried by the
British. This marked the beginning of the "strategical withdrawal"
which, the following month, ended with the capture of Bapaume,
Miraumont (7 km. to the west) being one of its advance fortresses.
Lost again in the following year, Miraumont was one of the few
positions which the Germans fiercely defended at the time of the
British counter-offensive of August, 1918. They tried all they knew
to stop the British advance on Bapaume at this point. The fight
lasted all day on August 24, and the German retirement began only
after the capture of Grandcourt and Thiepval (on the south) and of
Irles and Loupart Wood (on the north-east) threatened them with
complete encirclement. That night, a strong detachment of British
troops slipped into the fortified ruins of the village, held by picked
machine-gunners. A fierce struggle followed in the dark. At daybreak
the German garrison attempted a sortie, and succeeded in encircling the
British detachments. However, a British aeroplane, which was hovering
over the scene of the struggle, signalled that reinforcements were
coming, and finally the Germans were encircled, and several hundreds of
them taken prisoners.
[Illustration: GERMAN MONUMENT IN FRONT OF MIRAUMONT CHURCH (1917).]
After the fights of 1916, Miraumont was one of the least damaged of
the reconquered villages. Many of the houses retained parts of their
walls, and some their frame-work, though in a dislocated condition.
To-day nothing remains. Of the modern church which used to stand on the
highest point of the village, only a fragment of wall remains _(photo,
p. 42)_. On the right, in the devastated cemetery which surrounds the
church, stands a massive stone monument, erected by the Germans before
their retreat of 1917 _(photos, above and below)_.
_At the entrance to Miraumont, take the Courcelette road on the right,
which crosses the marshes, then passes under the railway bridge and
afterwards traverses the site of Petit-Miraumont_ (now razed). _It next
climbs the hill on the left bank of the Ancre. Leave the road to Pys on
the left, and keep straight on to =Courcelette=._ Numerous shelters,
trenches and British and German graves may be seen along the road.
The village of Courcelette was taken by the British during the
offensive of September 15, 1916.
[Illustration: MIRAUMONT. RUINS OF CHURCH AND GERMAN MONUMENT
_(1918--see above)_.]