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Hangard Wood

Coordinates: 49°50′18″N 2°30′34″E / 49.83833°N 2.50944°E / 49.83833; 2.50944
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hangard Wood is a locality south of Villers-Bretonneux northern France. It was the site of Hangard village and a battle in World War I. The battle of Hangard Wood was part of the German offensive Operation Michael, in the ArrasSaint-QuentinLa Fère sector of the Somme fought in March 1918. The battle of Hangard Wood was more specifically part of the larger Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux, fought between the Canadian, British, Australian and French armies on one side and the German army on the other.[1]

The Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux on 24 April 1918 was significant as the first tank-on-tank battle in history, and the Red Baron was shot down on 21 April.

Today the wood lies adjacent to a British cemetery, maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, and known as Hangard Wood British Cemetery.[2][3][4][5] John Croak VC is buried there.

Units involved in the battle

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173rd Infantry Brigade (Great Britain)

5th Brigade (Australia) 18th Battalion (Australia)

20th Battalion (Australia)

Victoria Cross recipients

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Military Medal recipients

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References

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  1. ^ Australian Battlefields of WW1.
  2. ^ Wikimapia latitude/longitude 49°50'12"N 2°30'28"E
  3. ^ HANGARD WOOD BRITISH CEMETERY.
  4. ^ "HANGARD WOOD BRITISH CEMETERY". Archived from the original on 2015-05-05. Retrieved 2015-04-28.
  5. ^ "The Australian Remembrance Trail". Archived from the original on 2015-04-27. Retrieved 2015-04-28.

49°50′18″N 2°30′34″E / 49.83833°N 2.50944°E / 49.83833; 2.50944