_Tourists arriving by the N. 29, enter Bapaume through the suburb of
Arras, where turn to the right. Cross the railway (l.c.), coming out
at the Place Faidherbe, via the Rue d'Arras._
To commemorate General Faidherbe's victory over the Germans near
Bapaume on January 3, 1871, a bronze statue was erected in the Place
Faidherbe. This statue was carried off by the Germans, and when the
British entered the town in 1917, they found it had mockingly been
replaced by an enormous stove-pipe.
In the Place Faidherbe, at the corner of the Rue d'Arras, stood the
Hôtel-de-Ville, an interesting building dating from the fifteenth,
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, on the ground-floor of which was a
porch formed by a series of arcades.
In 1917, the Germans set fire to it, previous to evacuating the town.
On March 25, one week later, a formidable explosion, caused by a bomb
with retarded fuse, destroyed all that had been spared by the fire. Two
members of the French Parliament were found dead under the ruins of the
building.
_Take the Rue de Péronne, on the right of the Place, then the Rue de
l'Eglise, on the right, which leads to St. Nicholas Church._
The Church of St. Nicholas was a large fifteenth and sixteenth century
pile, with three naves, whose ruins to-day are most impressive. The
belfry has completely disappeared, while all that remains of the body
are broken, gaping fragments of the outside walls, a few pillars of the
nave and several vaulted bays of the aisles.
_Return to the Rue de Péronne, at the end of which are_ The Promenades.
On the right are the ancient ramparts; a fairly high eminence, near by,
was used as an observation-post for the artillery (pretty view over the
town).
[Illustration: _See photo below._]
_At the end of The Promenades take the G.C. 10, on the right._ The road
passes through the villages of =Thilloy= and =Ligny-Thilloy=--a single
"_commune_," which likewise includes the village of =Barque=.
It was at and around Ligny-Thilloy that on January 3, 1871, was fought
the battle of Bapaume. This unavailing victory of General Faidherbe's
forced the Germans to evacuate Bapaume and begin their retreat towards
the Somme. In October, 1914, during the fighting which took place near
Thilloy, the Germans "compelled a group of some ten women and children
to stand before them and face the French positions, then, kneeling
behind them, they opened fire on the French troops" _(Report of the
Commission of Enquiry)_.
In 1917, the fighting in this region was again in favour of the Allies,
as on February 27-28, after a feeble resistance, the villages of
Barque, Ligny and Thilloy were captured by the British.
The industrial and agricultural "_Commune_" of Ligny-Thilloy, which had
already suffered severely during the war of 1871, was completely ruined
by the late War.
_One kilometre beyond Ligny, there is a mine-crater on the right of the
road._
At the crossing with the Gueudecourt road stands a large cross, erected
to the memory of the New Zealanders who fell around there. _Keep
straight on to =Flers=_--completely ruined. In May, 1919, two damaged
tanks were still to be seen at the entrance to the village.
[Illustration: BRITISH CROSS.
_See above sketch-map._]
This was one of the villages captured by the British during their
offensive of September 15, 1916.
_The Report of the Commission of Enquiry contains the following_:--
[Illustration: RUINS OF FLERS VILLAGE.]
[Illustration: BRITISH TANKS AT ENTRANCE TO FLERS VILLAGE, MAY, 1919.]
"During the first month of the German occupation, M. Delmotte, baker,
was ordered to supply the enemy with bread. He complied with their
demands, without, however, receiving anything in exchange, except
requisition forms. Some time afterwards, his stock of flour having run
out, he was forced to procure some from Bapaume at his own expense.
The Germans having meanwhile taken possession of the mill, it was they
who sold him the flour. Finding this arrangement unsatisfactory, he
subsequently refused to work any longer for the German soldiers unless
at least the flour which he had to buy were paid for. The Germans,
displeased at this, sought an opportunity to revenge themselves. On
October 14, they ordered Delmotte to hand over his fowling-piece, which
he did without protesting. Two days later they directed him to deliver
up his ammunition. Again complying with their request, he handed over
a box containing a few cartridges, shell splinters, and two cartridge
clips which his son had picked up in the fields. He was immediately
arrested for detaining arms and locked up in his cellar, where he was
closely watched. The next day he was shot in his garden, beside a grave
which his murderers had dug beforehand."
[Illustration: DELVILLE WOOD.]
_Beyond Flers, G.C. 197--which forms the continuation of G.C.
10--although in bad condition, is passable with careful driving._ It
crosses a devastated, shell-torn region, in which are numerous graves,
shelters and gun-emplacements. _Before reaching Longueval, it skirts
the western edge of =Delville Wood=_, the skeleton remains of which are
to be seen on the left.
[Illustration: THE DEVIL'S TRENCH, DELVILLE WOOD.]
[Illustration: GERMAN CEMETERY, BETWEEN DELVILLE WOOD AND LONGUEVAL.]
_Beyond the wood, before entering Longueval_, a German cemetery with
200 graves _is seen on the left, near the railway (photo above)_.
Delville Wood and Longueval were the scene of desperate fighting during
the latter part of July, 1916.
These two positions had been brilliantly carried by the British on
July 14 and 15, in spite of their powerful defences, but German
counter-attacks with lachrymatory and asphyxiating gas shells, forced
the British to fall back a few days later. However, the latter soon
returned to the attack, and a terrible struggle began, which lasted
five days and nights without intermission (July 23 to 28).
One South African Brigade gave proof of marvellous courage and
endurance in Delville Wood, where, attacked by nine and a half
battalions, supported by an overwhelming artillery, it did not yield an
inch of ground. One group of machine-gunners was reduced to one man,
who continued to fire, until his gun jammed, when he coolly took it to
pieces, set it right and resumed firing. Only after he had emptied all
his cartridge belts did he withdraw. In another corner of the wood,
Scottish units, on the point of being surrounded, charged with bayonet
and grenades, and in spite of the enemy's numerical superiority,
succeeded in cutting their way through, after a furious hand-to-hand
struggle. On July 28, the wood was finally cleared of its last German
occupants. On both sides the losses were very heavy. Three German
regiments were completely annihilated.
[Illustration: WHERE LONGUEVAL CHURCH USED TO STAND.
_At the back_: DELVILLE WOOD]
The desperate nature of the struggle is attested by the present aspect
of Longueval village and Delville Wood. It is almost impossible, even
with the help of a map, to locate the site of this once pleasant spot
amid this chaos of stones and bricks, tree-stumps and shell-torn ground.
_In Longueval, take the Contalmaison road, on the right._
_Two kilometres beyond Longueval, turn to the left towards
=Bazentin-le-Grand=._
Bazentin-le-Grand was a small hamlet, belonging to a large
agglomeration of houses (now razed to the ground), of which
Bazentin-le-Petit was the continuation.
After capturing Contalmaison and Mametz Wood in July, 1916, the British
soon reached and carried Bazentin-le-Grand.
A desperate struggle then began on July 14, 1916, before
Bazentin-le-Petit. To the strains of the _Marseillaise_ the British
attacked the German entrenchments, captured and lost the village
several times, and finally remained masters of it. To consolidate the
conquered ground they immediately advanced beyond it.
Penetrating into the German third line, they gained a footing in
Foureaux Wood (High Wood), and on the slopes of Hill 155.
[Illustration]
A squadron of British Dragoon Guards--the first appearance of British
cavalry in the trench warfare--charged the wood, spreading panic in the
enemy ranks.
Foureaux Wood, literally covered with formidable defences, was only
captured after two months of incessant fighting. Finally, the last
defenders, surrounded on all sides, were forced to surrender on
September 15.
In August, 1918, the British, after piercing the lines on the Ancre
and Thiepval Plateau, attacked the German forces, not, as in 1916,
parallelly to the Albert-Bapaume road, but at right-angles to it. In
two days (August 25-26) they captured Contalmaison village, Mametz
Wood, Bazentin, Foureaux Wood and Martinpuich, to the east of the road.
_Pass through Bazentin-le-Grand. The road crosses_ Hill 144, _then
descends to a quarry on the left_, in which several hundred British
soldiers were buried. _It next climbs up to =Montauban=_--a village
rising tier upon tier on the slope of an eminence, the top of which,
slightly further to the west (Hill 136), is one of the highest spots in
the whole region between Albert and Péronne.
[Illustration: MONTAUBAN. WAYSIDE CROSS AT ENTRANCE TO VILLAGE.]
_The road passes a cross (photo above)_ in the village, _at the
junction of two ways. Take the one on the right, which leads to the
site of the late church._ Of the latter, nothing remains but a few iron
crosses in the surrounding cemetery (_photo below_).
Montauban was captured by the British on the first day of their
offensive (July 1, 1916). The struggle was short, but fierce and
sanguinary. Numerous machine-guns posted in the cellars of the
houses directed a continuous and murderous fire upon the assailants
through the vent-holes, and had to be destroyed one by one, by means
of grenades. The enemy losses were very heavy. During the artillery
preparation, and on the day of the attack, the Bavarian 6th Regiment
lost 3,000 men out of 3,500; the casualties of another of their
Infantry Regiments (the 190th) amounted to half its total strength.
Since the third month of the war, Montauban had remained quite close to
the front line, and was reduced to ruins. The few houses spared by the
Allies' artillery were destroyed later by the German guns.
It is utterly impossible to locate the site of a street or house. The
only remaining landmarks are the pond and the cemetery--the latter
considerably enlarged by the addition of numerous German graves.
Everywhere else nothing is to be seen, except heaps of stones and
rubbish, beams, scrap-iron, and débris of all kinds.
[Illustration: MONTAUBAN. WHERE THE CHURCH STOOD.]
[Illustration]
_At Montauban Church turn to the right. On leaving the village take the
road on the left to =Carnoy=._
It was to the north of Carnoy that from September, 1914, to July, 1916,
the front line became fixed.
On July 1, 1916, the British set out from Carnoy to attack Montauban,
in _liaison_ on their right with the French.
_Outside Carnoy the road crosses a ravine_, in which runs the short
Albert-Péronne railway, and passes a large cemetery on the left. _It
next rises sharply to the Albert-Péronne road, which take on the right._
_Two kilometres beyond the fork, take the road to =Mametz=, on the
right._
The village of Mametz (completely destroyed) was captured by the
British on July 1, 1916, in spite of a desperate resistance.
_In the village, take the road to =Fricourt= (1 km.), on the left._
Fricourt village was fortified by the Germans and formed part of their
front line until July 1, 1916.
[Illustration: CONTALMAISON. SITE OF THE DESTROYED CHURCH.]
Rising in tiers on the brow of a hill, this village consisted of
a continuous series of blockhouses and redoubts, with numerous
machine-guns. Underneath the houses were deep, comfortable shelters,
some of which were 45 feet deep. As was the case throughout the whole
of the sector before Albert, Fricourt was the scene of violent mine
warfare for many months. On various occasions sanguinary encounters
took place for the possession of the mine-craters, but the front line
trenches continued to occupy the same positions. The Germans kept the
village, while the French clung to its south-western outskirts.
[Illustration: CONTALMAISON. ENTRANCE TO THE CHÂTEAU.
_The cellars were used as dressing stations._]
It took the British no less than thirty-six hours of incessant fighting
to carry it on July 2, 1916. 1,500 prisoners were taken.
_Take the road to =Contalmaison= (3 km.), which branches off to the
right at Fricourt._ Before entering the village notice the British
cemetery on the left.
The ancient market-town of Contalmaison was important, on account of
its dominating position at the junction of several roads. Surrounded
with redoubts and defended by the Prussian Guard, it was taken, then
lost, on July 7, 1916. Attacked again from the south and west, it was
finally carried on July 11, together with Mametz Wood, lying to the
east. Contalmaison was completely destroyed.
A few crosses mark the site of the church and cemetery.
_Take the Boisselle road on the left, and, return to Amiens, via
Albert, a short distance further on._
[Illustration: CONTALMAISON. BRITISH CEMETERY NEAR THE CHÂTEAU.]
[Illustration]