Delville Wood order of battle

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
LocationDelville Wood, Longueval, the Somme, France
50°01′40″N 2°48′36″E / 50.0278°N 2.8099°E / 50.0278; 2.8099Coordinates: 50°01′40″N 2°48′36″E / 50.0278°N 2.8099°E / 50.0278; 2.8099
Result British victory
Belligerents

 British Empire

  German Empire
Commanders and leaders
United Kingdom Douglas Haig
United Kingdom Henry Rawlinson		 German EmpireGeneral–Major Fritz von Below
German Empire 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.

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]

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 / Unit Unit strength at
start of Battle
14 July 1916		KilledWoundedMissing / POWAdditional
wounded who
died of wounds
up to October 1916		Total CasualtiesEffective unit
Strength after
Battle
20 July 1916
Off*Other
Ranks		TotalOff*Other
Ranks		TotalOff*Other
Ranks		TotalOff*Other
Ranks		TotalOff*Other
Ranks		TotalOff*Other
Ranks		TotalOff*Other
Ranks		Total
1st Battalion 317487797108115173463632737512930275565834192196
2nd Battalion 2866969711951061237338509292325282658561128486
3rd Battalion 298478768120128154034186225231030302977880706969
4th Battalion 276726994104108152933081848503232205135337159166
Other 896104000202000000202696102
Total 1233,0323,15530427457611,4151,476947448341161201042,4322,53619600619

Note: * : Officers

German Forces

Footnotes

German trench Delville Wood, September 1916
  1. ↑ GPSO 1924, pp. 99–111.
  2. ↑ Miles 1938a, pp. 90–100, 102–112, 136–141, 149–156, 178–185, 190–196, 262–270.
  3. 1 2 Miles 1938, p. 109.
  4. ↑ Liddle 1992, p. 186.
  5. 1 2 Miles 1938, p. 107.
  6. 1 2 Ewing 1921, pp. 397–399.
  7. ↑ Wyrall 1921, p. 246.
  8. ↑ Liddle 1992, p. 187.
  9. ↑ Moorhouse 2003, p. 267.
  10. ↑ Miles 1938, p. 111.
  11. ↑ Miles 1938, p. 113.
  12. ↑ Uys 1991, pp. 194–198.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Miles 1938, p. 118.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 Miles 1938, p. 119.

References

Memorial, South African Brigade Headquarters, Delville Wood.
Books
  • Ewing, J. (1921). The History of the Ninth (Scottish) Division 1914–1919 (N & M Press 2009 ed.). London: John Murray. ISBN 1-84342-190-9. 
  • Liddle, P. (1992). The 1916 Battle of the Somme (2001 ed.). London: Pen & Sword Books. ISBN 1-84022-240-9. 
  • Miles, W. (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 (IWM & Battery Press 1992 ed.). London: Macmillan. ISBN 0-89839-169-5. 
  • Miles, W. (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 (IWM & Battery Press 1994 ed.). London: Macmillan. ISBN 0-89839-207-1. 
  • 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 1-86227-191-7. 
  • The Union of South Africa and the Great War 1914–1918: Official History (IWM and N & M Press 2010 ed.). Pretoria: Government Print and Stationery Office. 1924. ISBN 1-845748-85-9. OCLC 16795056. 
  • Uys, I. (1991). Rollcall: the Delville Wood story. Germiston: Uys Publishers. ISBN 0-9583173-1-3. 
  • Wyrall, E. (1921). The History of the Second Division, 1914–1918 (PDF) (N & M Press 2002 ed.). London: Thomas Nelson and Sons. ISBN 1-84342-207-7. 

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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