2nd Royal Irish Rifles 7/7/16

[LiverpoolLou]

Hello,

I'm trying to maps covering the action of the 2nd R.I.R., 7/7/16, at Ovilliers? My grandad was wounded in this action and I would love to walk the attack if possible.

 

Regards,

Bill

[JasonMc]

Hi Bill,

I'd start with a trench map from here. For example

https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=15.124123480936037&lat=50.0313&lon=2.6897&layers=101464801&b=1

That has a map of the front a the end of April showing the area they were to attack.

 

Then if you have a look through the war diaries for the 2nd Btn you will be able to plot the locations that are mentioned to give more exact locations to visit.

 

The majority of the 2nd RIR killed that day are commemorated on the Thiepval memorial and one is buried in Olliviers Military Cemetery so you may like to visit here too.

 

The 2nd were in action first in Bouzincourt, then 6th July : La Boisselle and then 7th July: Ovillers so that should give you a rough direction. But the war diary will give you the specific coordinates to pinpoint the walk.

[LiverpoolLou]

Brilliant.

 

Cheers Jason.

[Jimmy Taylor]

Hello Bill,

I have attached the map from the battalion history

[WhiteStarLine]

Bill, to walk the attack, here is the southern boundary axis, with co-ordinates below.  The LHS is a walking trails map and the RHS the 1916 trench map.  This took me 10 minutes and you can fine tune some of my co-ordinates.  Use preview.tmapper.com and centre the start point in the black circle starting in 57d.X.14.c.  Click the menu (top-left) and Map Centre => Trench Reference at Centre.  This gives you the lat, lon and trench map references and Google Maps will navigate to these points.  I've done this near Bouchavesnes.

 

50.02219, 2.70113 to Sheet 57d.X.14.d.3.9
50.02382, 2.70255 to Sheet 57d.X.14.b.5.2
50.02486, 2.70373 to Sheet 57d.X.14.b.7.5
50.02594, 2.70491 to Sheet 57d.X.14.b.9.8
50.02706, 2.70746 to Sheet 57d.X.9.c.3.0
50.02792, 2.71006 to Sheet 57d.X.9.c.7.2
50.02925, 2.71178 to Sheet 57d.X.9.c.95.50
50.03026, 2.71368 to Sheet 57d.X.9.d.3.8
50.03154, 2.71567 to Sheet 57d.X.9.b.6.1
50.03228, 2.71774 to Sheet 57d.X.9.b.9.3

 

Now, paste just the trench map references using Bulk Convert and make them all the same colour, to spot them easily.
57d.X.14.d.3.9
57d.X.14.b.5.2
57d.X.14.b.7.5
57d.X.14.b.9.8
57d.X.9.c.3.0
57d.X.9.c.7.2
57d.X.9.c.95.50
57d.X.9.d.3.8
57d.X.9.b.6.1
57d.X.9.b.9.3

 

Select Map Centre => Trench Maps at Centre and chose an August 1916 map:

[WhiteStarLine]

Bill, KML is a bit outside this scope but not too hard to learn.  You can paste these co-ordinates into a file and use tMapper for:

 

The Street View button will show you where your journey starts (if it's not exactly on a road, click on the nearest road):

[Michael Thomson]

Absolutely fascinating! Thank you for the work you've put into this...I too would like to walk this route when I'm next in the Somme.

[LiverpoolLou]

Hello Jimmy,

Thanks for the map. My grandads photo is in your superb book.

 

Regards,

Bill

White Star,

Wow. That is simply amazing. Many, many thanks for taking the time to reply and to do this work. 

 

Regards,

Bill

[WhiteStarLine]

No trouble, we don't always get thanked.

 

I completely forgot that you can get distances and bearings for 6 or so legs using the Distance and Bearing button within the My Conversions tab. 

[LiverpoolLou]

Brilliant White Star. I'm looking forward to re-tracing my grandads steps with your help.

 

Regards,

Bill