Painting depicting Welsh and German troops in fierce hand-to-hand combat during the Battle of the Mametz Wood, July 1916

Painting depicting Welsh and German troops in fierce hand-to-hand combat during the Battle of the Mametz Wood, July 1916.

Today 107 years ago, on July 7, 1916, the Battle of the Mametz Wood began as part of the Battle of the Somme. Despite July 1, 1916 being known for the British disaster on the Somme, on the southern part of the front they did manage to capture the villages of Fricourt, Montauban and Mametz, the latter which the Mametz Wood was named after - still in German possession. It was determined in order to exploit the success achieved here and launch a big fresh attack, the Mametz Wood had to be captured. This task was assigned to the British (Welsh) 38th Division, formed from inexperienced Welsh volunteers, many of whom had never seen combat before. On July 7, 1916, the Welsh troops attacked towards the Mametz Wood and met the same difficulties as the British on July 1: ineffective artillery, communication failures, inexperienced soldiers and fortified German defenses, all while attacking in open fields in broad daylight. There was heavy rain that day too; the Welsh troops were completely mowed down by German machine-guns, failing to even reach the wood. On July 10, the Welsh attacked again, this time with a bigger artillery barrage. Terrible losses were suffered in the attack, but they forced their way into the wood. Fierce hand-to-hand combat took place in the Mametz Woods with many casualties. The Welsh also faced struggles with not having enough water, communication failures, and the British artillery falling short, killing their own troops. After another day of bitter and bloody fighting, the Germans abandoned the woods on July 12. The Welsh 38th Division had emerged victorious, but had suffered 4,000 casualties out of a force of 20,000 men. Around 1,000 of these were deaths. Many visitors have reported hearing voices in the Mametz Woods and consider it haunted by the Welsh volunteers who perished there in a fierce and bloody battle over a century ago.

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