Capture of Martinpuich

Martinpuich is situated 18 mi south of Arras, near the junction of the D929 and D6 roads, opposite Courcelette. The village lies south of Le Sars, west of Flers and north-west of High Wood. In September 1914, during the Race to the Sea, the divisions of the XIV Corps advanced westwards, on the north bank of the Somme towards Albert and Amiens, passing through Martinpuich. The village became a backwater until 1916, when the British and French began the Battle of the Somme (1 July – 13 November) and was the site of several air operations by the Royal Flying Corps, which attacked German supply dumps in the vicinity.

The 15th (Scottish) Division of the Fourth Army captured the village on 15 September, during the Battle of Flers–Courcelette (15–22 September). Several hundred prisoners of the 3rd Bavarian and 45th Reserve divisions were taken. After the village was captured, the pre-war light railway was repaired. The village was lost on 25 March 1918 during Operation Michael the German spring offensive and was recaptured for the last time on 25 August, by the 21st Division.

1914–1915
Troops of the 4th Bavarian Division reached Martinpuich on 27 September, during the Battle of Albert (25–29 September 1914) and the 28th (Baden) Reserve Division advanced on the south side of the Bapaume–Albert road through the village towards Fricourt on 28 September. Operations on the Somme south of the Ancre diminished in 1915, with only trench raids and night patrols undertaken. A tacit understanding developed that when the Germans bombarded Aveluy and Mesnil, Martinpuich and Courcelette were bombarded in retaliation.

1916
On 25 July, a German machine-gun detachment saw an RFC aircraft flying low from Martinpuich, managed to shoot it down and collected a prize of ℳ 350. During the Battle of Pozières (23 July – 7 August) Martinpuich became a transit point for German reinforcements moving to the front and for wounded to be evacuated. On 30 July a raid by 23 Squadron on the village caused a huge explosion, which sent clouds of smoke high into the air and caused fires, which were still burning when the squadron raided the village late the next morning.

British offensive preparations
German positions in the neighbourhood of Martinpuich were systematically bombarded by the guns of III Corps, results being reviewed by the examination of photographs taken by reconnaissance aircrews. The field batteries concentrated on wire cutting, which was observed by ground and air observers; German artillery retaliated with great accuracy, directed by observers in High Wood. Working parties of the 15th Division, managed to dig four jumping off trenches beyond the front line, called Egg, Bacon, Ham and Liver. Dumps of bombs, ammunition were accumulated, dressing stations were built and water supplies established.

To hold the line while the 45th and 46th brigades were practising the attack, the 44th Brigade, the 103rd Brigade of the 34th Division and its pioneer battalion, the 18th Northumberland Fusiliers, took over the line on 7 September. Next day, two companies of the 9th Black Watch attacked from Bethell Sap to a German trench running from the north-west of High Wood, during an attack on the wood by the 1st Division, took thirty prisoners from Bavarian Infantry Regiment 18 and defeated a powerful German counter-attack. After the 1st Division was repulsed the party withdrew, having lost 98 casualties. The 45th and 46th brigades spent eight days rehearsing the attack on ground marked to resemble the terrain south of Martinpuich and three days before the attack two battalions of the 23rd Division were attached to the 15th Division as reinforcements. During the night of 14/15 September, the attacking battalions made their way to Egg, Bacon, Ham and Liver trenches.

British plan of attack
For the Fourth Army attack, the first objective (the green line) was set 600 yd forward at the Switch Line and the connecting lines which covered Martinpuich. The second objective (brown line) was 500 – further on in the 15th Division area among more defences between Martinpuich and Flers. The final objective (blue line) was another 350 yd on for the 15th Division, which would envelop the village, outflank German artillery positions around Capture of Le Sars and gain touch with the right flank of the Reserve Army. III Corps had the field artillery of the 15th, 23rd, 47th, 50th and 55th divisions, with 228 × 18-pounder field guns and 64 × 4.5-inch howitzers distributed around Mametz Wood, Caterpillar and Sausage valleys in the vicinity of La Boisselle. Five heavy and siege artillery groups had 28 × 6-inch howitzer, 16 × 8-inch howitzer, 12 × 9.2-inch howitzer one 15-inch howitzer and 8 × 4.7-inch Gun, 40 × 60-pounder gun, 10 × 6-inch gun, 1 × 9.2-inch gun and 1 × 12-inch gun in Sausage Valley and around Fricourt. Eight tanks were allotted to III Corps.

The 45th Brigade was to attack on the right with two battalions, two in support and a battalion of the 23rd Division in reserve. The 46th Brigade on the left was to attack with three battalions, one in support and in reserve, an attached battalion of the 23rd Division. A section of an engineer Field Company was to accompany each brigade. The 44th Brigade was to be held in reserve and four tanks of D Company, Heavy Section, Machine Gun Corps were to assist the infantry. To maintain secrecy, aircraft were arranged to fly over the German lines, to drown the sound of the tank engines, as they moved into position. Artillery support was planned by Brigadier-General Fasson the divisional Commander Royal Artillery (CRA), who had the divisional artillery and brigades of the 1st and 23rd divisional artilleries to provide a creeping barrage, moving at 50 yd per minute, except for a "tank lane" 100 yd wide, to avoid hitting the tanks as they advanced. A preparatory bombardment was to begin on 12 September but on 15 September, no hurricane bombardment was to be fired at zero hour (6:20 a.m.), the tanks and the creeping barrage being relied on to keep the Germans under cover. Three objectives were set, with the last one along the southern fringe of Martinpuich but a late amendment on 14 September, required the leading battalions to probe forwards three hours after zero, if the initial attack succeeded.

German defensive preparations
In late June 1916, as the British preparatory bombardment for the Battle of the Somme fell on the north bank of the Somme, German regimental headquarters in villages were made uninhabitable and French civilians in Martinpuich and other villages were moved away. On 26 and 27 June a British chlorine gas discharge passed over the rearward villages and reached as far as Bapaume. In September 1916, Martinpuich was held by Bavarian Infantry Regiment 17 of the 3rd Bavarian Division. West and south of the village lay Hook Trench the Tangles trenches and Bottom Trench. Running west from the village was Factory Lane. In early September, Rupprecht found that frequent reliefs of troops opposite the British were essential and had to strip the other armies on the Western Front of fresh divisions and units, moving the 85th Reserve Brigade and the 45th Reserve Division from the 4th Army in Flanders into the area between Thiepval and Martinpuich. Afer the supercession of General Erich von Falkenhayn, the German General Staff chief of the Oberste Heeresleitung on 29 August, Generals Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff visited the Western Front and ordered an end to offensive operations at the Battle of Verdun and the reinforcement of the Somme front. Tactics were reviewed and a more "elastic" defence was advocated to replace the defence of tactically unimportant ground and the routine counter-attacking of any break into German positions.

15 September
At 6:20 a.m. the 15th Division advance began and on the right flank, the 45th Brigade made a rapid advance through the Cutting, Tangle South Trench and Tangle Trench, which fell easily and several prisoners were taken; the final objective was reached just after 7:00 a.m. The front of the II Bavarian Corps disappeared in black smoke and a staff officer of Reserve Infantry Regiment 231 received reports from Bavarian Infantry Regiment 17, that the British had broken through in the mist and then later that they were advancing through Martinpuich in large groups, before the telephone line was cut. The 46th Brigade on the left could not attack parallel to the objective, due to the angle of the creeping barrage, the first objective at the sunken road being about 45° from the start line. The left-hand battalion had to veer left from the beginning of its advance and the centre battalion advanced 500 yd, then the left half turned leftwards and the right half headed straight on to the objective. The centre battalion also had to capture Bottom Trench en route, while the right-hand battalion took part of Bottom Trench and Tangle Trench.

Observers of 34 Squadron watched the attack and by 9:30 a.m. reprted that the Scottish were on the southern edge of the village. Bavarian Infantry Regiment 17 managed to establish a weak defence along the Sunken Road and the southern edge of Martinpuich and isolated parties fought on but the defence collapsed, as soon as the Scottish troops pressed on to the second objective. The first objective was secured at 6:45 a.m. and the advance to the final objective began. Few casualties had been incurred but the number increased when some parties overran the creeping barrage, which was moving at 50 yd per minute and German artillery and machine-gun fire increased. The defenders appeared to have been surprised and many prisoners were taken, particularly on the 46th Brigade front. The new line ran from the junction with the 50th Division at Tangle South, along Tangle Trench, then the southern fringe of Martinpuich to the Factory Line, where touch was gained with the 2nd Canadian Division

After receiving reconnaissance reports that the south end of the village was empty, McCracken ordered the attacking brigades forward at noon to occupy Martinpuich and establish posts to the north, westwards of the Martinpuich–Eaucourt l'Abbaye road and down Push Alley to connect with the 2nd Canadian Division. The advance began at 3:00 p.m. and on the right, the 45th Brigade support battalion moved up on the right flank of the brigade, opposite and parallel to the objective, then pushed through the north-east of the village to a hill and after a bombing fight, forced 189 survivors to surrender. A line of strong points were dug from Gun Pit Trench, eastwards around the village to Prue Trench to the boundary with the 50th Division on the right, which was empty as the 50th Division troops had retired from the trench due to German artillery fire, leaving the 45th Brigade flank uncovered except by a machine-gun post, until the 50th Division reoccupied the trench later in the day. On the left flank, the 46th Brigade advance to Push Alley was barely opposed. During the night German stores captured in the village were used to consolidate the captured ground and a trench was dug, to connect the new line north of the village with Prue Trench. Barbed wire found in the village was laid in front of the new defences. Several battalions of the 50th Reserve Division counter-attacked at 5:30 p.m., between High Wood and Martinpuich but no attempt was made on the village.

16 September
Two small counter-attacks were made by German troops in the early hours of 16 September and repulsed. An artillery officer visiting the front line, reported that German trenches were unoccupied. Patrols from two battalions went forward to investigate and returned having suffered many losses, the trenches having been full of troops; it was alleged that the gunner officer misread his map. Later on, the 46th Brigade pushed the left flank up to the Albert–Bapaume road and in the afternoon, began to dig a line of advanced posts about 200 yd in front of the new position.

Analysis
In 1926, J. Stewart and J. Buchan, the 15th Division historians, called the attack on Martinpuich a well planned and executed operation, in which infantry, artillery and engineers had worked together and inflicted a serious blow on the defenders, for relatively few casualties. An officer of Bavarian Infantry Regiment 17 wrote that the defensive barrage had been "a complete failure" and that close co-operation of the opposing infantry and artillery, was a result of the "remarkable achievements of their aviators", who watched the progress of the attack. Artillery observers had advanced with the infantry and established posts with telephones in a few hours. A huge amount of engineer stores were found in the village and 13 machine-guns, three heavy howitzers, thee field guns and a trench mortar were captured.

One of the two tanks which operated on the 15th Division front, reached Bottom Trench and engaged German troops there and at Tangle Trench, then engaged machine-gunners in the village before returning to refuel, after which it hauled small-arms ammunition forward; the second tank was knocked out before it reached the departure point. A tank allotted to the 50th Division on the right, knocked out three machine-guns on the east side of Martinpuich. From 16–17 September, the division completed the consolidation and dug communication trenches from the old front line, built bomb and ammunition stores and began work on dug outs: on 18 September the 23rd Division began to relieve the 15th Division. As Bavarian prisoners saw the accumulation of material behind the British front, they doubted that Germany could prevail against the plenty of the Allies but also felt sure that with similar resources, they would have been able to persist with the offensive and win the war.

Casualties
Losses in the 15th Division from 15–16 September were 1,854 men. About 600–700 German prisoners were taken from Reserve Infantry Regiment 133 of the 24th Reserve Division, Reserve Infantry Regiment 111, Bavarian Infantry regiments 17, 18 and 23 of the 3rd Bavarian Division, plus several artillerymen and machine-gunners of the 45th Reserve Division.

Subsequent operations
An advanced dressing station was built in the village and late in 1916, a light Decauville railway was repaired and sidings installed, to run from Peake Woods near La Boisselle to the village. A regular service was started by petrol locomotive up Gun Pit Road and a walkway was built alongside. On 2 November, Crown Prince Rupprecht the German army group commander on the Somme, wrote in his diary that the British were digging in west of Delville Wood to Martinpuich and Courcelette, which suggested that winter quarters were being built and that only minor operations were contemplated. Infantry attacks diminished but British artillery fire was constant, against which the large number of German guns in the area could only make a limited reply, due to a chronic shortage of ammunition. German counter-attacks were cancelled because of troop shortages. Martinpuich was lost on 25 March 1918 during Operation Michael, the German spring offensive. The village was recaptured for the last time by the 17th Division on 25 August, during the Second Battle of Bapaume.