Bailiff Wood

[Mat McLachlan]

Hi all,

Can anyone please give me a brief history of the fighting at Bailiff Wood, near Contalmaison?

I checked it out in June and it is certainly knocked about - shell holes and trenches all over the place.

I assume from its location that it was prominent in the Somme fighting - can anyone fill me in on the specifics?

Thanks in advance,

Mat

[burlington]

Mat

If you can get a copy of 148 Days on the Somme, Barry Cuttell, pages 104/5 give a brief acount of the fighting.

Essentially, it was attacked from the South on 6 July but came under severe fire from Contalmaison & German positions in the north and had to withdraw.

It was attacked again on 8 July, and secured all but the extreme eastern edge. It was fully secured on the 10th.

Hope this is helpful.

Martin

[Mat McLachlan]

Thanks Martin. I'll look out for the book.

Cheers,

Mat

[Peter Beckett]

Matt,

pm me your email address and I will send the pages to you as a jpg or pdf file

Peter

0419 508585

[Paul Reed]

Matt - the positions in the wood you see now probably date from later in the battle, or even 1918. There were gun positions here during the fighting for Pozieres, and I know several RFA units had their HQ at this location. The shell holes probably indicate counter-battery fire.