The remains of this once fine wood extend from this point of the road
to the village of Fay, 1,500 yards to the right. From 1914 to 1916 it
formed part of the German first-line defence-works, and was covered
with entrenchments of all kinds.
On July 1, 1916, the French carried the whole wood, promptly
re-organised the defence-works, and used them against their former
occupants.
[Illustration: A CORNER OF SATYRES WOOD.]
[Illustration: SATYRES WOOD.
_The German Post of Commandment seen in the photograph below, is under
this road._]
Numerous cottages and shelters hidden by the trees were used as billets
by the enemy troops in this sector. The officers occupied a special
quarter. A large signboard with the inscription, "Durchgang nur für
Offiziere," interdicted its access to the common soldiers. All the
shelters were spacious and comfortably furnished with beds, tables,
armchairs, hangings, chandeliers, and even pianos--all taken from the
neighbouring villages. Some of the cottages were decorated outside, and
sometimes bore inscriptions like the following, carved on the door of a
post of commandment:--
"Macht Joffre auch ein böses Gesicht
Hier treffen uns seine Granaten nicht."
(Joffre may roll his eyes: his shells cannot reach us here.)
Tho French soldiers called this wood "Satyres Wood," as they found
women's clothing in various places.
[Illustration: SATYRES WOOD. GERMAN POST OF COMMANDMENT UNDER THE ROAD
_(see above)_.]
[Illustration: DENIÉCOURT WOOD AT SUNSET.]
_Return to the entrance to Estrées, and take the road on the right to
=Deniécourt=. On entering the village, take on foot the small road
on the right to =the ruins of Deniécourt Château=_, situated in a
devastated park.
Deniécourt village lies about 2 km. (by road) east of =Soyécourt=.
Across the fields, the distance is shorter, and it was covered in
a single rush on the day Soyécourt was captured, after which the
advance was stayed. The second German line ran through Deniécourt,
which was fortified accordingly. The most important defence-works were
those around the château, which latter formed the key of the whole
position. Deep shelters had been made under the château itself and
also in the surrounding park. The whole formed an inextricable maze of
trenches, fortified works, machine-gun posts, traps and barbed-wire
entanglements, which had to be reduced by shell-fire. The castle was
razed to the ground, the defences in the park destroyed and the ground
levelled.
On the day of attack, the fighting was none the less desperate in the
neighbourhood, and afterwards inside the village. The French advance
was several times held by furious counter-attacks, and it was only on
September 18 that the whole position could be surrounded and carried,
after several days of bitter fighting. Of Deniécourt village, château
and park, not a stone or a tree remained.
_Return to the car and take the road already followed (G.C. 164)
back to the fork (300 yards north of the village), then the road to
=Soyécourt= (G.C. 79), on the left._ At the entrance to Soyécourt the
ruins of a château--of which only the base of one tower remains--will
be seen on the left.
[Illustration: SOYÉCOURT CHURCH IN 1916.]
For nearly two years the French first lines ran close to the western
outskirts of this village, which lies at the bottom of a ravine. On
several occasions the communiqués mentioned sharp fighting around here,
which was, however, merely of local importance.
It was only on September 4, 1916, that decisive fighting took place
here, when the French, after a long and terrific bombardment, carried
the village in a single rush, and progressed beyond it in the direction
of Deniécourt.
_Leaving Soyécourt, keep along G.C. 79 to =Vermandovillers= (2 km.)._
On September 4, 1916, the village was attacked from the east and north.
Progress was slow, and marked by fierce fighting from house to house.
Vermandovillers was only captured in its entirety on September 17.
_At the fork in the village, take the left-hand road (G.C. 143) to
=Chaulnes=._
[Illustration: VERMANDOVILLERS.]
[Illustration: CHAULNES WOOD. GERMAN BLOCKHOUSE.]