The Redan Ridge is a neglected part of the Somme Battlefield. Sitting between the frequently visited Serre Road and Beaumont Hamel, it has few roads and is exposed to extremes of weather: incredibly hot in summer but desolate in winter. It attracts few visitors; certainly the large tour buses are seldom seen here and only the most determined battlefield visitors explore the area.
This brief tour of the area is not intended to be an exhaustive guide, but just to highlight some aspects of the CWGC cemeteries in the area.
Background
The Redan Ridge was fought over twice in 1916, firstly on the opening day of the Battle of the Somme, and secondly at the end of the Somme battle in November; this latter attack commenced on 13 November.
In the November attack, north of the river Ancre, the assault was carried out by the 63rd (Royal Naval) Division; it was the first time they had taken part in a major action on the Western Front since their arrival from Gallipoli. The division captured the German front line despite heavy German resistance. Further north, the attack (led by the 51st (Highland) Division) made less progress; however, the village of Beaucourt was captured, as was Beaumont Hamel, and the 2nd Division managed to capture parts of the Redan Ridge.
The attack was renewed on 14 November, which led to further, limited success. One final attack was made on 18/19 November but this proved to be disappointing: the weather had deteriorated and it had begun to snow and sleet. Overall, the attacks were relatively successful: Beaumont Hamel and Beaucourt were taken, but Serre and the northern part of the German line remained uncaptured. The state of the ground intervened and prevented the use of tanks which helped the defenders significantly. The all-pervading mud inevitably made communications tremendously difficult.
In 1917, with the devastated Somme battlefield in Allied hands, the grisly work of bringing in and burying the dead was begun by the British V Corps, which created many new cemeteries. A high percentage of the burials were unidentified and were interred, alongside those men who could be identified in small, neat cemeteries, all of which were originally given the name ‘V Corps Cemetery' with a number added.
Photo: Waggon Road Cemetery. Note "V Corps Cemetery No 10" on gatepost. Courtesy of Olivier Bayart
Many of these cemeteries were made permanent after the war and are dotted throughout the landscape. In the winter months, with no crops in the fields, these isolated cemeteries stand out as poignant reminders of the fighting that took place in these fields.
A Tour of the Ridge
If you are in a car, possibly the best place to park is at the bottom of the track that leads to Luke Copse, Serre Road No 3, Queens and Railway Hollow Cemeteries; alternatively it may be possible to park alongside Serre Road Cemetery No 1. Please take the usual precautions by keeping valuables out of sight.
Opposite Serre Road Cemetery No 1 is a narrow, but metalled road. Here, south of the Serre Road and north of Beaumont-Hamel are three cemeteries. Heading along the road across the ridge (behind Serre Road Cemetery No 2) the first cemetery you come to is Redan Ridge Cemetery No 3. This is situated on top of the old German front line trenches. Almost all of the 33 identified burials (out of 67 graves in total) date from the attack on 13 November and are from units of the 2nd Division. The headstones of rows A and B are close together, whereas row C contains only four widely separated headstones, two of which commemorate seven and five unknown soldiers. Twenty of the identified soldiers belonged to three battalions of 5 Infantry Brigade of 2nd Division (24th Royal Fusiliers, 2nd Ox & Bucks Light Infantry and 2nd Highland Light Infantry).
Photo: Redan Ridge Cemetery No 3. Courtesy of Olivier Bayart
Turning right, further along the track and out of sight is Redan Ridge Cemetery No 1 This contains 154 graves, of which 81 are identified by name. It is positioned in the centre of the No Man's Land of 1 July 1916. It contains a mix of July and November fatalities (there are 31 identified causalities from 1 July and the same number from 13 November).
Photo: Redan Ridge Cemetery No 1. Courtesy of the CWGC
Returning to Redan Ridge Cemetery No 3 and continuing southwards towards Beaumont Hamel, a track to the right appears leading to Redan Ridge Cemetery No 2 - this is triangular in shape and again in the old No Man's Land. The largest of these three cemeteries, it contains the graves of 279 men, the majority from the 1 July attack.
Photo: Redan Ridge Cemetery No 2. Courtesy of Olivier Bayart
Continuing along the track and turn sharp left, you will be at the top of the famous "sunken lane" shown in the 1916 film of the Battle of the Somme. At the bottom of this lane is the memorial to the 8th Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. This is largest battalion memorial on the Somme and probably the largest in France and Flanders. Before you get to the metalled road, on the left is Beaumont-Hamel British Cemetery. This was originally 'V Corps Cemetery No 23'. One of the men buried here is Joshua Smith who was killed on 21 February 1917; he was the first member of his battalion, the newly arrived 2/5th KOYLI, to be killed in action. His unit - part of the 62nd (West Riding) Division - had only arrived in France a few weeks earlier. He lost his life during the follow up to the German withdrawal of February 1917.
Photo: Beaumont-Hamel British Cemetery. Courtesy of the CWGC
Head to road and turn left into Beaumont Hamel village where you will see a flagpole on your left. The original flagpole was placed here by the 51st (Highland) Division after the war. Over the decades that followed it was damaged and became a mere stump. Thankfully, on the initiative of the Western Front Association's North of Scotland Branch, the flagpole was replaced in 2006.
Photo: Derek Bird, the WFA's Scotland (North) Branch Chairman pays his respects after laying a wreath on behalf of his branch.
At this juncture you may wish to return to your car. Now turn sharp left after the flagpole, go up the hill past the houses and back over the ridge.
Just past the flagpole is a crossroads; at these turn left and follow the signs to Munich Trench and Waggon Road Cemeteries. This area saw the last actions of the 1916 fighting of the Battle of the Somme. Four cemeteries made by V Corps are grouped together and these all have connections to the actions at the very end of the Battle of the Somme. These cemeteries - Munich Trench, New Munich Trench, Waggon Road and Frankfurt Trench British Cemeteries - are isolated and rarely visited.
After the attack on 13 November, the Fifth Army commander, General Gough, persuaded the British Commander in Chief, Sir Douglas Haig, to allow him to carry out another attack; this subsequent attack took place on 18 November by the 2nd KOYLI, 11th Border, and 16th and 17th Highland Light Infantry. This attack failed in appalling conditions; however about 100 men of the 16th Highland Light Infantry had managed to advance and became trapped on far side of Munich Trench in the next German trench - this was called Frankfurt Trench. Isolated but still with plenty of fight left in them, these men barricaded themselves into this captured trench. Several attacks were made from the British lines to try to rescue the Highlanders, the most intensive of which was one on 23 November by the 16th Lancashire Fusiliers (2nd Salford Pals) which cost the lives of three officers and 60 men killed. All these rescue attempts failed. On 25 November the survivors, who were still in Frankfurt Trench, eventually surrendered.
The story of the rescue attempt is told in Michael Stedman's history of the Salford Pals
In their positions in the Waggon Road trenches above Beaumont Hamel the men were experiencing the most inhumane conditions which war had created, amidst terrible mud, water, sickness and death. Since the previous attack on 18 November the party of men from the 11th Border and 16th Highland Light Infantry had been cut off in Frankfurt Trench.... During the 20th, 21st and 22nd November four men from the besieged party escaped across the German wire with reports that the other 120 men were in a desperate position, with little ammunition, water or food. Although it was believed that, individually, many of the men could have escaped the Scots were reluctant to leave their wounded behind.
As a result of this news, a plan to rescue the besieged party was drafted. This was to include three companies of the 16th Lancashire Fusiliers plus one company of the 2nd Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, under the command of Major Charles Merryweather. When the covering barrage opened the first wave managed to get into Munich Trench without too much difficulty. In the meantime, Lieutenant George Higginson and his party of men from the second wave pushed on towards Frankfurt Trench in order to rescue the men trapped there. Unfortunately this desperate attempt was unsuccessful and the party with Lt Higginson leading were unable to reach the trapped men. Major Merryweather was shot as he stood on the parapet of Munich Trench whilst attempting to direct the withdrawal.
Following the road to Munich Trench and Waggon Road Cemeteries. The first to be encountered is Waggon Road Cemetery (originally V Corps Cemetery No 10). This contains the graves of 195 men including Lt GN Higginson who took part in the 16th Lancashire Fusiliers rescue attempt on 23 November. Fifteen of his men are also buried here: Private H Barlow, Private T Bateson, Private A Collins, Private M Hawksworth, Private S Houghton, Private A James, Private R Knight, Private J Miller, Private J Mills, Private H Neville, Private J Phillips, Private J Shand, Private R Taylor, Private J Williamson, Private W Wills.
Photo: Waggon Road Cemetery. Courtesy of Olivier Bayart
Further along the road is Munich Trench British Cemetery (V Corps Cemetery No 8) which is named after a German Trench which was the objective of the 51st Division on 13 November. Amongst those buried here is a British officer seemingly of German extraction, Captain Heinrich William Max Thomas of the 1st East Lancashires who was killed on 1 July 1916.
Photo: Munich Trench British Cemetery. Courtesy of Olivier Bayart
Returning along the road to the cross roads, turn left and head out of the village following the signs for Frankfurt Trench, New Munich Trench and Ten Tree Alley Cemeteries. Continue up and away from Beaumont Hamel and you will again come across a track on the left.
Along this track is Frankfurt Trench British Cemetery which contains the graves of 134 men, thirty-eight of whom are from the Highland Light Infantry, the majority of these from the 16th Battalion. A further five men of the 16th Lancashire Fusiliers are buried here: Private E Brereton, Private W Connolly, Private J Cottam, Private R Hesketh, Private E Rigby.
One of the headstones marks the grave of Private JC Boon who was killed on 16 November. He was a relative of the author Henry Williamson and the "model" for Percy Pickering in his "Chronicles of Ancient Sunlight". The entrance gate still bears its original name, V Corps Cemetery No 11.
Photo: Frankfurt Trench British Cemetery. Courtesy of Olivier Bayart
Return to the road and continue away from Beaumont Hamel. Yet another track to the left leads to New Munich Trench British Cemetery - this is V Corps Cemetery No 25. Of the 128 identified soldiers buried here, 88 are from the 16th and 17th Highland Light Infantry (the Glasgow Boys Brigade Battalion and the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce Battalion). They probably took part in the attack on 18 November and may have been those who were isolated and cut off in Frankfurt Trench. One man from the ‘rescue battalion' (16th Lancashire Fusiliers) - Private W Taylor - is buried here.
Photo: New Munich Trench British Cemetery. Courtesy of Olivier Bayart
Returning to the road, continue heading away from Beaumont Hamel. Take a road which bears sharp left (signposted to Ten Tree Alley Cemetery). This road leads towards Serre. After a short time a track on the right leads to Ten Tree Alley Cemetery (V Corps Cemetery No 24) which marks the limit of the November advance in this section of the line. It is a tiny cemetery, with just 67 graves (43 identified). There are eight men from the Border Regiment buried here who died on 18 November. These men were part of a small group that managed to push even further into the German lines beyond those isolated in Frankfurt Trench described earlier.
Photo: Ten Tree Alley Cemetery. Courtesy of the CWGC
Returning to the road, continue until you come to the main road. Before turning left, a few yards to the right of the ‘T' junction is the Sheffield City Battalion Memorial. The memorial was unveiled on 21 May 1923, by Lt-Col. G H Wedgwood. About 150 men from the battalion who had fought at Serre in 1916 were also present. It is inscribed "To the memory of the Officers and Men of the 12th Battalion York and Lancaster Regiment Sheffield City Battalion who fell before Serre 1916."
Head back towards Serre Road Cemetery No 1 to complete the tour.
Further reading
Martin and Mary Middlebrook: The Somme Battlefields (London: Viking, 1991)
Michael Renshaw: Battleground Europe - Redan Ridge (Barnsley: Pen and Sword, 2004)
Michael Stedman: Salford Pals. 15th, 16th, 19th and 20th Battalions Lancashire Fusiliers. A History of the Salford Brigade (London: Leo Copper, 1993)
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to Olivier Bayart who has kindly allowed the use of his photographs for this article. His superb photographs are shown on his web site www.oliv62photographie.zenfolio.com. Also thanks to the CWGC for the use of their images.
Article and images contributed by David Tattersfield MA.
