Delville Wood order of battle

This article is about the Delville Wood order of battle. The Battle of Delville Wood was fought from 14 July – 3 September 1916, one of the engagements of the Battle of the Somme. It was fought between Allied forces and the German Empire in the Somme River valley in northern France. The battle was the début of the 1st South African Brigade (part of the 9th (Scottish) Division) on the Western Front, which captured Delville Wood and held it from 15–19 July. The casualties of the brigade were similar to those of many British brigades on 1 July 1916.[1] Delville Wood is well preserved with the remains of trenches, a museum and monument to the 1st South African Brigade. After the relief of the South Africans the battle for the wood continued until the end of August, when the last German footholds were captured by the 43rd Brigade of the 14th (Light) Division on 27 August. A large German counter-attack on 31 August regained part of the north edge of the wood until British attacks from 4–8 September, which secured the wood until the battles of 1918.[2]

Main article: Battle of the Somme
Battle of Delville Wood
Part of the Battle of the Somme in the First World War
Date14 July – 15 September 1916
Location
Delville Wood, Longueval, the Somme, France
50.0278°N 2.8099°E / 50.0278; 2.8099
Result British victory
Belligerents

 British Empire

  German Empire
Commanders and leaders
Douglas Haig
Henry Rawlinson		 General–Major Fritz von Below
Max von Gallwitz
Strength
9 divisions, 1 brigade
Only brigades and battalions that participated in the actions associated with the Battle of Delville Wood are shown. For details on the full organisation, see the Order of Battle for the Somme.

Orders of Battle

British and Dominion forces
Map of the Longueval and Delville Wood area (commune FR insee code 80378)

South African casualties
1st South African Brigade: Casualties during the Battle of Delville Wood 14–20 July 1916[12]
Brigade / UnitUnit strength
14 July		KilledWoundedMissing / POWDied of wounds
to October		Total CasualtiesEffective unit
strength after
20 July
Off*Other
Ranks		TotalOff*Other
Ranks		TotalOff*Other
Ranks		TotalOff*Other
Ranks		TotalOff*Other
Ranks		TotalOff*Other
Ranks		TotalOff*Other
Ranks		Total
1st Battalion317487797108115173463632737512930275565834192196
2nd Battalion2866969711951061237338509292325282658561128486
3rd Battalion298478768120128154034186225231030302977880706969
4th Battalion276726994104108152933081848503232205135337159166
Other896104000202000000202696102
Total1233,0323,15530427457611,4151,476947448341161201042,4322,53619600619

Note: * = Officers

German Forces


Footnotes
German trench Delville Wood, September 1916
  1. GPSO 2010, pp. 99–111.
  2. Miles 1992, pp. 90–100, 102–112, 136–141, 149–156, 178–185, 190–196, 262–270.
  3. Miles 1994, p. 109.
  4. Liddle 1992, p. 186.
  5. Miles 1994, p. 107.
  6. Ewing 2009, pp. 397–399.
  7. Wyrall 1921, p. 246.
  8. Liddle 1992, p. 187.
  9. Moorhouse 2003, p. 267.
  10. Miles 1994, p. 111.
  11. Miles 1994, p. 113.
  12. Uys 1991, pp. 194–198.
  13. Miles 1994, p. 118.
  14. Miles 1994, p. 119.

References
Memorial, South African Brigade Headquarters, Delville Wood.
  • Ewing, J. (2009) [1921]. The History of the Ninth (Scottish) Division 1914–1919 (Naval & Military Press ed.). London: John Murray. ISBN 978-1-84342-190-0.
  • Liddle, P. (2001) [1992]. The 1916 Battle of the Somme. London: Pen & Sword Books. ISBN 978-1-84022-240-1.
  • Miles, W. (1992) [1938]. Military Operations in France and Belgium 1916: 2 July to the End of the Battles of the Somme. History of the Great War Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence. II (Imperial War Museum & Battery Press ed.). London: Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-89839-169-5.
  • Miles, W. (1994) [1938]. Military Operations, France and Belgium 1916: Maps and Appendices. History of the Great War Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence. II (Imperial War Museum & Battery Press ed.). London: Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-89839-207-4.
  • Moorhouse, B. (2003). Forged by Fire: The Battle Tactics and Soldiers of a World War One Battalion, The 7th Somerset Light Infantry (1st ed.). Staplehurst: Spellmount. ISBN 978-0-89839-207-4.
  • The Union of South Africa and the Great War 1914–1918: Official History (Imperial War Museum and Naval & Military Press ed.). Pretoria: Government Print and Stationery Office. 1924. ISBN 978-0-89839-207-4. OCLC 16795056.
  • Uys, I. (1991). Rollcall: The Delville Wood Story. Germiston: Uys Publishers. ISBN 978-0-9583173-1-3.
  • Wyrall, E. (1921). The History of the Second Division, 1914–1918. II. London: Thomas Nelson and Sons. OCLC 869415401.

Further reading

Books

Journals

  • Uys, I. (December 1986). "South Africans at Delville Wood". South African Military History Journal. South African Military History Society/Die Suid-Afrikaanse Krygshistoriese Vereniging. ISSN 0026-4016. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
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