Somme1916 Posted 11 March , 2003 Share Posted 11 March , 2003 As some of you know I am currently preparing a briefing and battlefield tour for the SHAPE Military History Society on OPERATION MICHAEL, the German Spring Offensive of 1918. Due to the enormity of the battle I’ve decided to focus my tour mainly on the saga of the 9th Scottish Infantry Division. So far I’ve been able to locate many of the places I want to show our group except one. I am unable to pin down the area where the majority of the South African Brigade was finally forced to surrender after it’s most heroic stand on 24 Mar 18. From my readings I’ve been able to determine that the action occurred around Rancourt. I assume it was probably astride what is now the N 17 on the South East side of Rancourt as the accounts state their stand halted the German advance for over 7 hours and stacked up traffic along the road to Bouchavesnes. Can anyone help me locate the scene of this fight? My thanks, Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Reed Posted 12 March , 2003 Share Posted 12 March , 2003 Jon - I have visited the site of this action several times with South Africans - if you email me privately I will be happy to give you directions. I would normally post the details on this site, but there is quite a well preserved trench system in the area, and given how this information can be misued by the wrong people, I am not sure we should always be advertising this in the 'public domain'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Somme1916 Posted 13 March , 2003 Author Share Posted 13 March , 2003 Thanks Paul, I'll do that. As for the tour group I'll not point out the trench system you mentioned to them. Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now