Amiens, a city right behind the front

After receiving the first contingents of the British Expeditionary Force, on 30 August 1914 the city of Amiens was captured by the Germans, who abandoned it after the Marne victory of September 1914. During this short occupation, the local population was treated very severely and suffered heavy requisitioning. Following the German retreat, the city, in French then British hands, remained very exposed to German artillery fire and aerial bombardments for the remainder of the war. In March 1918, this strategic location was bitterly disputed. At a cost of major sacrifices from the British Army and the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, the pressure from the Germans was finally lifted in August 1918.

The Battles of the Somme, 1914-18

The first engagements on the Somme took place during the “Race to the Sea”, a manoeuvre which saw each of the belligerents attempt to outflank the other to the north. It was a failure: the front became entrenched and the Germans dug themselves in solidly along the Bapaume to Péronne road. From then on, the war in the trenches raged from Beaumont-Hamel to Beuvraignes, heightened by tunnel warfare. In July 1915, the British forces took over control of this sector from the French, whose 10th Army was assigned to the defence of Chaulnes to the south, while its 6th Army occupied both banks of the Somme.

In August 1919, the city of Amiens received an army citation, stating that “for four years, it withstood the bombardments and threat of the enemy with unwavering courage and dignity”.

The biggest offensive, carried out primarily by the British, took place in 1916, when General Joffre decided to attack in a “quiet” sector, at the juncture of the French and British armies.

The original plan to batter the enemy was upset by operations in Verdun, which reduced by half the number of French troops assigned to the offensive. The high command therefore decided to conduct a Franco-British operation, supported by strong artillery. General Haig lined up a large number of infantry battalions, all of them inexperienced, with the aim of making a large-scale breakthrough. On 24 June 1916, the artillery preparation got underway, but poor weather conditions meant that the assault was put back to 1 July.

The first days saw heavy losses, and the offensive soon descended into a war of attrition, in which the British, failing to secure any major successes, paid a high price. However, the Germans were forced to withdraw artillery from the Verdun area, so that one of the objectives of the Franco-British operation was achieved.

The progress of the French force, comprised of more experienced units, was more tangible than that of the British and Commonwealth contingents. With fresh reinforcements, the French attempted to develop their actions north of the Somme, but progress fell short of expectations. For ten weeks, the Allied troops chipped away at the German positions, without making a decisive breakthrough. The commanders-in-chief of the Allied armies therefore decided to suspend the overall offensive, but to keep up the pressure on the enemy by launching partial attacks at regular intervals and bringing the first tanks into play. On 18 November 1916, the offensive finally came to an end.

From the map, the Allied troops may appear to have made a dramatic advance, but in fact they moved forward only three miles during the whole battle. The human cost was extremely high. By the end of the offensive, the Germans had lost 650 000 men, the French nearly 200 000. For the British, the Somme remains the biggest military disaster of the 20th century, with the sacrifice of 420 000 men.

The Battle of Cantigny, which took place from 28 to 31 May 1918, remains extremely important in the history of the United States as it was the first major American battle in the Great War.

The Battle of Cantigny helped to contain the German offensives during the spring of 1918, giving newfound confidence and morale to the Allies and demonstrating the American soldiers’ fighting skills. General John J. Pershing wrote, "It was a question of pride for the American Expeditionary Forces that the division’s troops, in their first battle... should display the moral strength and courage of the veterans, holding on to land taken and refusing to let the enemy take the slightest advantage".

Over 1,000 American soldiers were put out of combat during this battle and 199 of them died. At Cantigny, the 1st Division began a series of American successes, powerfully amplified by the heroic position of the 2nd and 3rd US Divisions along the Marne a few days later. With nearly one million Americans in France at the time, the Allies’ morale was about to change, from a defeatist spirit to the certainty of victory soon to come. Cantigny was the first battle of the US 1st Division (now known as the 1st Infantry Division) which was again to make a name for itself in 1944 during the attack on Omaha Beach in Normandy on 6 June.

Many famous Americans fought at Cantigny, including George C. Marshall, Army Chief of Staff during World War II and later Secretary of Defence and the Secretary of State who implemented the Marshall Plan. Robert R. McCormick, owner of the Chicago Tribune who changed the name of his property to Cantigny when he returned to the United States. Upon his death, the property was transformed into a park open to the public in keeping with his last wishes; a foundation that bears his name was set up along with a museum dedicated to the history of the 1st Division from 1917 to the present, in Wheaton, Illinois. There are several monuments in Cantigny, in the Somme department, that serve to remind us of their exploits. A small private museum houses vestiges of the battle and can be visited by appointment.

"Pays de Parmentier" Tourist Office
5 Place du Général de Gaulle 80500 Montdidier
Tel.: +33 (0) 322 789 200 Fax : +33 (0) 322 780 088
Mail: ot-montdidier@orange.fr

Somme Somme Tourism Committee

“Pays Parmentier” Tourism

 First Division Museum

La Somme 14-18

The village of Pozières was the site of the first large-scale operation led by the Australian troops (memorials to the 1^st and 2^nd Australian divisions). The remains of a bunker named the "Gibraltar" can still be seen today. Pozières is also where you can see the monument to tanks decorated with four small tank models.

This village was the obstacle to be overcome to reach first Mouquet Farm and then Thiepval Hill.

This obstacle was largely entrusted to the troops from Australia the majority of which had just returned from Gallipoli. The village was situated on a ridge traversed by a double network of trenches forming the second German line and flanked by two bunkers/observatories overlooking the entire battlefield (Albert side, "Gibraltar" – Bapaume side, "the Windmill").

After arriving on 23 July 1916 and seizing Pozières, the Australian troops, exhausted by constant artillery counter-attacks, were relieved on 5 September by the Canadians at Mouquet Farm. Three of their divisions had passed through the sector of Pozières and suffered losses of more than one-third of the soldiers engaged. The village was completely razed. The name Pozières has such a reputation in the Australian memory that it was bestowed, after the war, on a small village in Queensland (Australia). On 15 September 1916, tanks made their first appearance on a battlefield. Of the 32 British Mark I tanks deployed on the Courcelette-Longueval line, only nine made their targets. Nevertheless, this date marked the start of a more balanced British advancement.

The Battle of Pozières is one of the many Battles of the Somme, an important part of the allied strategy of coordinated attacks: Russia launched the Brusilov Offensive on 4 June and the Italians attacked in Trentini. During the course of 1916, the Front line was situated between the Ancre Valley in Thiepval and Pozières. The British launched the offensive on 1 July 1916; opposite, the German army, forging solidly ahead on the village of Pozières and its windmill, resisted: 60,000 men killed or wounded on the first day of fighting. The Australian forces (1st Division, 22nd Division, 4th Division) took over and succeeded in seizing the position on 23 July. Replaced in September, the Australians lost some 23,000 men.

Somme Tourism Committee

21 rue Ernest-Cauvin 80000 Amiens

Tel: +33 (0) 322 71 22 71

Fax: +33 (0) 322 71 22 69

Email: accueil@somme-tourisme.com

The Somme Tourism Committee is on hand to give you all the information you need on the Somme battlefield and the Circuit du Souvenir visitor's trail: commemorations, getting around, transport, guided tours for individuals or groups, helicopter flights, accommodation and more. The Tourism Committee also publishes a range of brochures on Remembrance Tourism.

La Somme 14-18

Taking back the village of Rancourt was important, not just for the pursuit of the offensive’s general direction toward the east, but also in that it cut off the important German lines of communication along the Bapaume-Péronne road. This was the mission entrusted to the 32^nd French Army Corps on 25 September 1916. Today, Rancourt has the sad distinction of having 3 cemeteries on its territory: French, British and German. It is also an important site –one of the only ones – preserving the memory of France’s participation in the Battle of the Somme.

Le Souvenir Français Chapel and the French national necropolis

This chapel in ashlar stone was not the result of an official decision, but rather of a private initiative: the du Bos family, natives of the region, wanted to erect a monument to the memory of their son and his comrades in arms killed on 25 September 1916. In 1937, Le Souvenir Français took over management of the building and the memorial. Rancourt Cemetery is the largest French necropolis in the Somme region (8,566 soldiers – 28,000 m²). It attests to the violence of the battles during the last 3 months of the offensive (September – November 1916).

Le Souvenir Français Chapel

2, Route Nationale 80360 RANCOURT

Tel.: +33 (0)3 22 85 04 47

The Somme Tourism Committee

21 rue Ernest-Cauvin 80000 Amiens

Tel.: +33 (0) 322 71 22 71

Fax: +33 (0) 322 71 22 69

e-mail: accueil@somme-tourisme.com

The Somme Tourism Committee will be happy to provide you with any information concerning the Somme Battlefields and the Circuit du Souvenir: commemorations, access, transportation, guided tours for groups and individuals, helicopter tours, accommodation, etc. The Tourism Committee also publishes a range of brochures on Memorial Tourism.

Le Souvenir Français Committee of the Canton of Dun sur Meuse

The Somme 1914-1918

The Somme Tourism Committee

The Somme 1916 Museum is located in an old gallery dug in the chalky ground by the Albertines in the 9th century.

These hiding places, or "muches", were designed to escape Norman, and later Spanish, invaders. A few centuries later, Lahyre, one of Joan of Arc’s fellow soldiers, was imprisoned at Albert, called Encre at the time.

During World War I, the town of Albert housed a British garrison. It was the starting point of the offensive against the German lines. One of the most fearsome battles of the war took place in the Somme in 1916, with 58,000 men out of action in one day, on 1 July 1916. The medieval galleries were reoccupied. In 1918, during the last attack to take back the town from the Germans, the British army systematically bombarded the sector, wiping out the town.


In 1939, the municipality of Albert decided to rehabilitate the underground gallery to shelter the civilian population and avoid a massive exodus: seven air raid shelters were built.

At the end of 1991, the “Somme 1916” Shelter Museum project was born. Work on repairing and securing 250 metres of underground galleries took months. The museum opened its doors on 1 July 1992.

The “Somme 1916” Museum presents the life of the soldiers in the trenches during the 1 July 1916 offensive. Some fifteen alcoves and showcases have been set up in a 230-metre underground gallery used as an air raid shelter during World War II. Sound, light and pictures give the visitor a view of these soldiers’ everyday life. There is a shop.


“Somme 1916” Museum

Rue Anicet Godin - 80300 Albert

Tel: 03.22.75.16.17

Fax: 03.22.75.56.33

e-mail : musee@somme1916.org

Somme Tourism Committee

21 rue Ernest-Cauvin - 80000 Amiens

Tél. : +33 (0) 322 71 22 71

FAX : +33 (0) 322 71 22 69

e-mail : accueil@somme-tourisme.com

The Somme Tourism Committee will be happy to provide you with any information you may desire on the Somme Battlefields and the “Circuit du Souvenir” (Remembrance Trail): commemorations, access, transportation, guided tours for groups and individuals, helicopter flyovers, accommodation, etc... The Tourism Committee also publishes a range of brochures on Remembrance Tourism.

Somme Tourism Committee

The Somme 14-18

Somme 1916 Museum

Welsh Division Memorial (Mémorial à la division galloise )

The 7th British Division skirted Fricourt Salient by the south and took the village on the afternoon of 1 July 1916. But the name Mametz has remained associated with the woods on the north east. This pocket of resistance handicapped efforts to advance eastward but fell (almost completely) into the 3rd Welsh Division's hands on 12 July 1916 after eight days of fierce fighting that took a brutal human toll. A plaque affixed to the memorial in 1994 remembers the Manchester regiment. The Welsh Division memorial. A memorial to the 38th Welsh Division was inaugurated on 11 July 1987, which sustained heavy losses between 3 and 12 July 1916 in Mametz Wood. The monument - a red dragon flapping its wings, spitting fire and crushing barbed wire - is of course Wales' emblem. This mythical creature is ambivalent; it may be good or evil, and angelic or demonic. At Mametz, it symbolizes Wales protecting France against the Germans.
Somme Tourist Board (Comité du tourisme de la Somme) 21 rue Ernest-Cauvin 80000 Amiens, France Phone +33 (0) 322 71 22 71 Fax +33 (0) 322 71 22 69 e-mail: accueil@somme-tourisme.com The Somme Tourist Board will be happy to provide any information you might require about the Somme battlefields and Circuit du Souvenir (remembrance events, directions, transport, private and group tours, helicopter flights, accommodation, etc.). CDT also publishes a series of Memorial Tourism brochures.

Seizing Delville Wood (also known as Devil Wood) - a battlefield, memorial, museum and cemetery - was a sine-qua-non for troops to move eastward. That was what the South African troops were asked to do. They met their baptism of fire on that western front from 15 to 20 July 1916. The nightmare began when they were cut off from the rearguard and came under fierce artillery fire - as many as 400 shots a minute - with only makeshift shelters for cover. When the time came to relieve them, only 143 of the brigade's 3,200 men emerged from the trenches unscathed. Longueval is also home to New Zealand's memorial. It was on 15 September 1916 that New Zealand's tank-backed division set out from its bases (between Longueval and Fourcaux Wood - or High Wood) towards its objective, Flers, which it reached later that same day. The 47th London division captured High Wood on 15 September.

The South African National Memorial (Mémorial national sud-africain) Delville Wood, where the South African Infantry Brigade fought in July 1916, spans 63 hectares. The South African Government bought it in 1920 to build its National Memorial. The monument was inaugurated in 1926. It stands at the end of an avenue lined by oak trees grown from South African acorns. The memorial, which consists of a cenotaph (empty tomb) and a triumphal arch, was designed by Herbert Baker. The two typically colonial houses, in Baker's words, symbolise South Africa's two white races, and the semi-circular wall represents the bulwark of civilisation. Alfred Turner sculpted the bronze piece surmounting the arch, depicting Kastor and Polydeuces (the Dioscuri in Greek mythology) holding a spirited horse. Kastor and Polydeuces were the sons of Leda and Zeus. The first was mortal, the second immortal. Their relationship was such, however, that, when Kastor died, Polydeuces persuaded Zeus to unite them in eternity. The underlying message is that two completely different people can share the same destiny. This, the sculptor says, mirrors the camaraderie between South Africa's English and Dutch brothers in arms. British and Boer South Africans had been at war with each other only a few years before, but lay down their lives for the British Commonwealth fighting against a common enemy. This monument was inaugurated on 10 October 1926 by the widow of Louis Botha, the president who unified the country after the 1899-1902 Boer War between Dutch and British settlers in South Africa.
The South African National Museum (Musée national sud-africain)
The Museum was built behind the monument and around the Cross of Consecration, and inaugurated in 1986. It is a replica of Cape Fort and commemorates South Africa's contribution to WWI (on Europe's western front and in Germany's African colonies), WWII, the Berlin Blockade (1948-1949) and the Korean War (1950-1953). Useful Information: The South African National Memorial and Museum (Musée et Mémorial national sud-africain) 5, route de Ginchy 80360 Longueval, France Phone +33 (0) 322 850 217 Fax +33 (0) 322 857 999 Open Tuesday to Sunday from 10.00 am to 3.45 pm from 1 February to 10 November, and from 10.00 am to 5.45 pm from 1 April to 14 October. Somme Tourist Board (Comité du Tourisme de la Somme) 21 rue Ernest-Cauvin 80000 Amiens, France Phone +33 (0) 322 712 271 Fax +33 (0) 322 712 269 e-mail: accueil@somme-tourisme.com The Somme Tourist Board will be happy to provide any information you might require about the Somme battlefields and Circuit du Souvenir (remembrance events, directions, transport, private and group tours, helicopter flights, accommodation, etc.). CDT also publishes a series of Memorial Tourism brochures.

Thiepval hill, village and (now disappeared) chateau - along with Hamel - were one of the German defence lines' strongholds north of the British flank in 1916. This natural bastion was protected by the Ancre marshlands below and by numerous deep tunnels underground. The Leipzig Salient - as this mainstay was called - saw the British Forces endure catastrophic losses on 1 July that year: Britain lost 58,000 troops (20,000 of whom died) in what became the biggest tragedy in Great Britain's history - and an event that will always be associated with Thiepval. Fighting for control over Thiepval began on 1 July and ended on 26 September 1916.

The 36th Ulster division controlled the area from the skirts of Thiepval Forest to the village of Hamel. And it was the only division that fulfilled its objectives that 1 July. But those ill-fated soldiers got caught between the advancing British artillery and enemy machine-gun fire when German gun crews emerged from the underground passageways in Souabes redoubt. That division lost more than 5,500 men in a few hours and had to be evacuated the following morning.
Thiepval Visitor Centre opened on 1 July 2004, by the Great War's most emblematic and busiest memorial. The Somme General Council and the Thiepval Project group (which ran a fundraising drive across Great Britain) worked together on this project, which likewise secured European Union funding. This centre counts a number of amenities (an information desk, shop, projection room, vending machines and toilets) and an exhibition area casting light on the Battles of the Somme and on the events that befell Thiepval throughout WWI. There are also displays presenting the CWGC (1), Lutyens, reconstruction work, and the debt of remembrance. Open daily from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm 1 May through 30 November and from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm 1 December through 30 April. Closed mid-December through mid-January.
This troubadour-gothic style tower was erected in 1921 following a public fundraising drive. It is the exact replica of the tower on the 36th Ulster Division's training grounds outside Belfast. (The 36th Ulster Division was trapped in German and British crossfire on 1 July 1916). It is Ireland's monument commemorating the Battle of the Somme and a memorial to all the Ulster soldiers killed during the Great War. Visitor facilities on site. In the park, you will find a plaque that the Royal Irish Rangers laid to the memory of the 36th Ulster Division soldiers and to the nine Victoria Crosses. At the back of the park, you will also find a gate leading though to a smaller memorial to the Irish of the Orange Institution, inaugurated in 1994.
Overview You will find a visitor information centre, an audiovisual library, a shop and a cafeteria at Ulster Tower. Open Tuesday through Sunday from 10.00 am to 5:00 pm (and 10.00 am to 6.00 pm from 1 May through 30 September).
The British Government decided to erect this Memorial in 1932. It was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, an architect, in 1923. Its sheer monumental magnitude is the first thing that hits the eye. The great arch towers 45 metres above ground and stands on 16 pillars. It stands to the memory of the 73,367 British who died between July 1915 and March 1918 and have no known grave. Their names are engraved on white Portland stone under laurel wreaths listing the Battles of the Somme. This monument reminds visitors that the French and British armies fought side by side. At the foot of the memorial, facing the valley, you will find the Franco-British cemetery. There, 300 unknown British soldiers and 300 unknown French soldiers are buried as a sign that both countries sustained comparable losses. This cemetery was inaugurated on 31 July 1932 by the Prince of Wales in the presence of then French President Albert Lebrun.
Thiepval Memorial (Mémorial franco-britannique) 80300 Thiepval Phone +33 (0) 322 746 047 Fax +33 (0) 322 746 544 Ulster Tower (La Tour d'Ulster) 80300 Thiepval Phone +33 (0) 322 748 111 Fax +33 (0) 322 748 068 e-mail : sommeassociation@btconnect.com e-mail : teddy.colligan@orange.fr Somme Tourist Board (Comité du Tourisme de la Somme) 21 rue Ernest-Cauvin 80000 Amiens Phone +33 (0) 322 712 271 Fax +33 (0) 322 712 269 e-mail: accueil@somme-tourisme.com The Somme Tourist Board will be happy to provide any information you might require about the Somme battlefields and Circuit du Souvenir (remembrance events, directions, transport, private and group tours, helicopter flights, accommodation, etc.). CDT also publishes a series of Memorial Tourism brochures.
Note: (1) The CWGC is responsible for the upkeep of graves of Commonwealth soldiers in the world.