Travelling To The Somme

[Auchonvillers]

Hi, My name is Mark and am due to visit the Somme to carry on reseach into a familly member who saw active service on the Somme as an ambulance driver. In his diaries he talks of a dressing station at a place called Auchonvillers and a sunken road which saw a lot of action during the first day of the Somme.

Does any one know if these places still exist as i would very much like to try and find them whilst i am out there. Any help would be most welcome.

Mark.

[ianw]

Mark - I think you are maybe on to some winners here. There is a famous B&B at ocean villas run by the redoubtable Avril Williams. There is a dressing station in her cellars which she delights in showing her guests. Whilst there will probably have been more than one such station at Auchonvillers, it must be worth a visit. It's also a great place to stay to investigate this area. Avril is a real character !

Within a mile or so of AV is the famous Sunken Road in front of Beaumont Hamel. It is most certainly still there and is one of the most evocative places on the Somme Battlefields - and arguably in British military history. It featured in Malin's famous contemporary film "The Battle of the Somme". Again, there are several sunken roads on the Somme so beware as your relative may be referring to any of them. If you post some detail, I am sure the resources of the Forum will help confirm the details for you.

[Auchonvillers]

Mark - I think you are maybe on to some winners here. There is a famous B&B at ocean villas run by the redoubtable Avril Williams. There is a dressing station in her cellars which she delights in showing her guests. Whilst there will probably have been more than one such station at Auchonvillers, it must be worth a visit. It's also a great place to stay to investigate this area. Avril is a real character !

Within a mile or so of AV is the famous Sunken Road in front of Beaumont Hamel. It is most certainly still there and is one of the most evocative places on the Somme Battlefields - and arguably in British military history. It featured in Malin's famous contemporary film "The Battle of the Somme". Again, there are several sunken roads on the Somme so beware as your relative may be referring to any of them. If you post some detail, I am sure the resources of the Forum will help confirm the details for you.

Hi ianw,

Thanks for your reply and informative information,what could be a more fitting tribute and moving experience for me to stay at the band b and explore from there,the area.

Thanks again Mark.

[Paul Reed]

While I don't want to get into an argument about what this B&B was or was not during the Great War (it was my understanding it was a Stretcher Bearers Post), it is a fact that there was only one Advanced Dressing Station in Auchonvillers, and it was at the Red Barn, which is in front of where the Auchonvillers Military Cemetery is today. Some of the farm buildings are original; below is a photo of the farm as it is today.

Mark if you drop me an email I have some wartime photos of the Red Barn ADS, one of which shows an ambulance.

[Paul Reed]

Mark, and as Ian says, the Sunken Lane in front of Beaumont Hamel is quite a famous place. Below is a photo of it as it is today. If you stay in Auchonvillers, you can easily walk out to it.

[ianw]

Quite take your point , Paul. I am sure many sheltered places were used for medical treatment - as witnessed by the frequent finds of empty morphine vials, cut off buttons etc - but of course they are not formally designated ADS's.

No doubt Mark's forebear would have been familiar with Red Barn. What great work was done by those ambulance drivers in horrendous conditions.