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, a...