Sausage Valley



Sausage Valley was the name given by British soldiers during the First World War to a shallow valley south of the village of La Boisselle in the Somme département, France. Sausage Valley was so named because the Germans would fly an observation balloon, known as a "sausage", at the head of the valley. The neighbouring valley to the north of La Boisselle was therefore logically known as Mash Valley.

Sausage Valley was the scene of heavy fighting during the early stages of the Battle of the Somme. On the first day on the Somme, 1 July 1916, the 101st Brigade of the 34th Division made a failed attack up the valley. They were followed up by the 1st and 4th Tyneside Irish battalions of the 103rd (Tyneside Irish) Brigade, some of which managed to traverse the valley and advance towards Contalmaison before being captured or killed.

Once the villages of La Boisselle and Fricourt, which flanked the valley, were captured, Sausage Valley became an important thoroughfare, supply dump and artillery base for the British. The head of the valley was known as "Gordon's Dump". Most traffic bound for the fighting at Pozières and Mouquet Farm in late July and August passed along Sausage Valley.