2017 Battlefield Tour Page 10

Ovillers & la Boiselle.

Just off the D929 on the right (towards the Lochnagar crater) is the la Boiselle Tyneside memorial seat. This location is just to the north-west of the 'Glory Hole' and also almost exactly on the British front line of July 1st, 1916. This memorial was erected quite soon after the War, as inscriptions on its rear show. These state that it was approved by Presidential decree on the 13th October 1921, erected by the trustees of the Colonel Joseph Cowan Fund and opened by Marshal Foch on the 20th April 1922.

On the front, the central plaque depicts a classical mounted warrior battling a dragon, whilst being overlooked by a weeping maiden. The inscription, in English on the left and French on the right reads:-

"Greater love hath no man than this that he lay down his life for his friend."

In front of this monument on 1/7/16 the 'Tyneside Scottish' and the 'Tyneside Irish' brigades attacked the enemy. For many hours the fortunes of arms fluctuated but here night had fallen the two Tyneside Brigades with the aid of other units of the 34th Division attained their objective. Think not that the struggle and the sacrifice were in vain."

The motifs of the two Brigades, officially the 102nd and 103rd Brigades, are displayed on the pillars flanking either side of the seat.

On the 1st of July 1916, both villages were just behind the German front lines. This is today marked by a sign on the D929 road. The gap between the German and British front-line trenches was wide in front of Ovillers (to the left of the road as you head towards Bapaume), and very narrow just to the right of the road near la Boiselle.

The area also had geographical features that had importance during the Somme battles. The road is higher than the ground to the left (north) of it, and that valley was called Mash Valley. To the right (or south) of la Boiselle is another valley called Sausage valley. The latter may have been named after a German observation balloon (or 'sausage') which flew there, although there are also suggestions that the appearance of the contour lines on the map led to the name. After Sausage Valley was named, it was perhaps inevitable that the valley to its north would be named 'Mash'!

The attacks here on the 1st of July were made by the 34th Division, with the 8th Division to their north in front of Ovillers. They met with little success, and casualty rates in the attacking battalions were extremely high. A number of mines were blown on the first day of the Somme, and two large mines were blown here two minutes before the infantry attacked; Lochnagar and Y Sap. The crater made at Y Sap (which was located just to the north of the main D929 road) has since been filled in, and no trace remains. Lochnagar crater, however, remains as one of the best-known sites in the 1916 Somme battlefield region.

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