German units opposite Hamel September 1916

[Perth Digger]

Can anyone please tell me which German units were involved in repelling two raids by the 1/1st Cambridgeshires on the night of 16/17th September 1916? The Cambridgeshires held the trenches described as the HAMEL right subsection, near Mailly Wood. Their trenches abutted the left bank of the River Ancre.

Where might the German war diaries be located?

Thanks

Mike

[sotonmate]

Mike

Not sure how you are fixed for the book "The Somme-the day by day account" by Mc Carthy.

I recall there are several maps there of the disposition of our and opposing German units at different times. Whilst it shows the higher echelon of opposition it doesn't show it down to unit,as some of ours do,but at least,in the absence of an other facts, you may get to know which Regt opposed.

Sotonmate

[Jack Sheldon]

The question can be answered quite simply but it is not easy to provide detailed information. The sector north of the Ancre was held by RIR 55 at the time. RIR 119 was finally in need of relief after beating off the attack of 3 Sep 16, so RIR 55, part of 2nd Guards Res Div was posted into 51 Res Inf Bde, 26th Res Div to relieve it. This was completed by 8 Sep 16 and the sub sector which interests you was the responsibility of 3rd Bn under Major Tauscher. This was a quiet sector, where fighting only flared up to provide diversions from the main thrust elsewhere - hence 3 Sep to tie down troops during the final attacks on Guillemont and the raid/attack which interests you, which must have been linked to the Battle of Flers-Courcelette.

Because this was a Prussian regiment, all its archived material went up in smoke when the RAF bombed Potsdam on 14 Apr 1945, so all we have is what it says in the regimental history - and that is not much. The only personal account is by a Lt Helmich, a former member of 2nd Bn, who writes as follows (describing, I suspect, the action which interests you):

'Of the many battles, the one which sticks in my mind particularly, is the attack the Briitsh made on the high ground south of Beaumont and down to the Ancre in the middle of September. The attack was preceded by heavy drum fire, lasting three days and three nights. I specially remember Offizierstellvertreter Schmeling, despite the bombardment, calmly smoking his elegant 'Ernst August' cigarettes and also the calmness of Leutnants Roedlingshoefer and Angott. I must also mention the three batmen, 'Big Henry' and the other two, one of whom, that of Schmeling, I am certain was killed.

After the crazy drum fire, the British attempted to attack. I commanded the 6th Coy platoon manning the front line - though the word 'line' was hardly appropriate, because it was reduced to shell holes. Our hand grenades, machine gun and rifle fire prevented the enemy from gaining access to the trenches and a large number of dead were lying in front of the barbed wire obstacle. Then, all of a sudden, off to the left down in the Ancre valley, the British succeeded in getting into the front line trenches. In the meantime the drum fire had been lifted to the second line where the supports were located. We succeeded in sealing off the enemy, rolling them up in hand to hand fighting and ejecting them out of the neighbouring trenches to our left. The attack and counter-action lasted about four hours. We then had a few hours of peace before the next onset of drum fire. This business of nightly preparatory fire, followed by attacks, recurred every two to three days ...'

This sort of defence was only possible, despite all the fire, because the dugouts and tunnels in the 'Kolonie' area in the rising ground south of Station Road were some of the strongest, deepest and best prepared anywhere on the Somme.

I hope that this helps a little.

Jack