Battle of Guillemont

Battle of Guillemont Part of the Battle of the Somme of World War I German dead in a trench and machine gun post near Guillemont during the Battle of the Somme, September 1916. Date 3 – 6 September 1916 Location Guillemont, France Result Indecisive Belligerents United Kingdom German Empire

The Battle of Guillemont was a British assault on the German-held village of Guillemont during the 1916 Battle of the Somme. Guillemont lay on the right flank of the British sector where it linked with French forces and by holding it, the Germans prevented the Allied armies from operating in unison.

Ernst Jünger in uniform during World War I

Guillemont came in range of British forces following the Battle of Bazentin Ridge on 14 July and it was subjected to a number of costly attacks in late July and August. This sector contained a number of German strongpoints — Delville Wood, Falfemont Farm, the villages of Guillemont, Combles and Maurepas — each providing protection for the other.

On 18 August a combined British-French offensive was launched on the sector with three British corps attacking around Guillemont while the French attacked Maurepas. The British managed to seize Guillemont Station but otherwise failed to reach their objectives.

Battle

Fourth Army

The decisive attack came on 3 September with the British 20th (Light) Division and 47 Brigade of the 16th (Irish) Division capturing Guillemont while the British 5th Division advanced on the right, eventually taking Falfemont Farm on 5 September. German units fought to the death, Fusilier Regiment 73 of Lieutenant Ernst Jünger was involved in the defence of Guillemont and in his memoirs, Storm of Steel, he describes the dreadful conditions the Germans had to endure. Regiment 73's history states : "Nobody from 3rd Company can provide a report - all the men were killed, as was every officer". There were 5 survivors of 5th Company Infantry Regiment 76.

Guillemont Village was captured by the 6th Connaught Rangers commanded by Col. J.S.M. Lenox-Conyngham, as part of an attack also involving the 7th Leinsters, 6th Royal Irish and the 8th Munsters, largely recruited from the Irish National Volunteers.

The capture of Guillemont weakened the German hold on this sector. Delville Wood was finally secured and the neighbouring village of Ginchy fell relatively quickly to the 16th (Irish) Division on 9 September. By 15 September the British were in a position to mount their next major offensive on a broad front — the Battle of Flers-Courcelette.

French operations

The French Sixth Army attacked north of the Somme at noon on 3 September capturing most of Cléry, much of the German position along the Cléry–Le Forest road and all of the village of Le Forest. On the left I Corps occupied high ground south of Combles and entered Bois Douage. On 4 September the Germans counter-attacked at Combles ravine, stopping the French advance towards Rancourt. to the south VII Corps advanced on the left and maid gains around Cléry. When the British took Falfemont Farm on 5 September the French gained touch at Combles ravine and patrols captured Ferme de l'Hôpital 0.5-mile (800 m) east of Le Forest. VII Corps took all of Cléry and met XXXIII Corps on the right, which had taken Omniécourt south of the Somme. A I Corps attack on 6 September failed. South of the Sixth Army, the Tenth Army attacked on the south bank from Chilly to Barleux but after three days only Soyécourt was captured and Chilly enveloped; attacks on Barleux, Derniécourt and Vermandovillers failed.

See also

Lt. John Holland of the Leinsters was awarded the Victoria Cross.

References

• Miles, W (1938). Military Operations France and Belgium, 1916, 2nd july 1916 to the end of the battles of the Somme (Battery Press 1992 ed.). London: Macmillan. ISBN 0-901627-76-3. 
• Sheldon, J. (2005). The German Army on the Somme 1914–1916 (Pen & Sword Military 2006 ed.). London: Leo Cooper. ISBN 1-84415-269-3. 
• Donaghy, C (ed.) et. al. (2011). "The 6th Connaught Rangers: Belfast Nationalists and the Great War". Ulster Historical Foundation. ISBN 1-90368-835-3. Retrieved 4 January 2013.