#mametz

Sep 1916 During the Battle of the Somme, war photographer Ernest Brooks takes this photo, IWM Q 870, of a captured German machine gun post near Mametz.

August 1916-08 

05/05/2019 - Day 2 (Part 1)

Day 2 is the first full day of the trip and starts at a nice 9.30am. The groups meet at a local supermarket to stock up on lunch essentials, mainly consisting of bread and cheese (when in France).

The iternary today is the following;

Various cemeteries 

Sausage Valley

Lochnagar Crater 

Mametz Wood

Delville Wood 

High Wood 

Caterpillar Valley

German Bunkers

Multiple frontline positions

Instead of talking about every detail of travelling from point to point i’d like to share the facts we learnt at each important location.

Sausage Valley The name given by British soldiers during the first world war to a valley south of of La Boisselle in the Somme. Named because the Germans would fly an observation balloon that looked like a "sausage", at the head of the valley. To the north of La Boisselle a valley was therefore logically known as Mash Valley.

Lochnagar Crater The Crater was created by a large mine that was at the time believed to be  placed beneath the German front line on the first day of the Battle of the Somme, The British named the mine after ‘Lochnagar Street’, a British trench where the Tunnelling Companies of the Royal Engineers dug a shaft down about 90 feet deep into the chalk. Then excavated some 300 yards towards the German lines to place 60,000 lbs of ammonal explosive in two large underground chambers. The aim was to destroy a strongpoint called Swabian Heights south of the village of La Boisselle.

Mametz Wood Was the objective of the 38th Division (Welsh), to attack over a ridge, focussing on the German positions in the wood at a lower level, This occured between 7th July and 12th July 1916. On 7th the first wave of men proceeded with the expecatation to take the wood in a matter of hours. However, strong fortification and machine guns decimated over 400 soldiers before they’d even reached the wood.

Mapping The World With §ound§ in Mametz - Pas-de-Calais

Église St-Vaast  Une seule cloche "Cette cloche a été fondue le 14 juillet 1862 et bénite solennellement sous l’administration de Messieurs Chartier Prosper maire de la commune de Mametz département du Pas de Calais et Scat Jean-Baptiste Adjoint. Monsieur l’abbé Delton, Amable Jean-Baptiste desservant la paroisse de ladite commune. Elle a reçu les noms de Félicie Marie Florentine de ses parrain et Marraine Monsieur Prisse Albert Florian Joseph attaché au Ministère des Finances et Madame Chartier Prosper née Félicie Rosamonde Lahure."

Mapping The World With §ound§ in Mametz - Pas-de-Calais église St-Vaast  Une seule cloche - Le Glas "Cette cloche a été fondue le 14 juillet 1862 et bénite solennellement sous l’administration de Messieurs Chartier Prosper maire de la commune de Mametz département du Pas de Calais et Scat Jean-Baptiste Adjoint. Monsieur l’abbé Delton, Amable Jean-Baptiste desservant la paroisse de ladite commune. Elle a reçu les noms de Félicie Marie Florentine de ses parrain et Marraine Monsieur Prisse Albert Florian Joseph attaché au Ministère des Finances et Madame Chartier Prosper née Félicie Rosamonde Lahure."