Capture of Fricourt

Capture of Fricourt
Part of The Battle of the Somme, First World War
Battle of the Somme 1 July – 18 November 1916
Date 1–2 July 1916 Location Fricourt, Picardy, France 49°59′56″N 02°42′57″E / 49.99889°N 2.71583°E / 49.99889; 2.71583 Result British victory
Belligerents
British Empire  Bermuda  United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland	German Empire  Baden  Prussia  Württemberg
Commanders and leaders
Douglas Haig Henry Rawlinson Henry Horne	Fritz von Below Hermann von Stein
Strength
3 brigades from 3 divisions	2 regiments, 1 battalion
Casualties and losses
8,791	2,104 (1,625 prisoners) from one regiment
A contingent of the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps was attached to a 21st Division battalion.
Fricourt class=notpageimage| Fricourt, a commune in the department Somme in Picardy, northern France

Fricourt is a village that was fought over in July 1916, during the Battle of the Somme, which took place in France during the First World War. Fricourt is 3 mi (4.8 km) from Albert, north of Bray and west of Mametz, near the D 938 road and at the junction of the D 147 with the D 64. The village is 20 mi (32 km) north-east of Amiens and on the route of the Albert–Péronne light railway. Fricourt Wood was north-east of the village, with a château on the edge of the village and a number of craters, known as the Tambour (Kniewerk to the Germans) on the west side. Fricourt formed a salient in the German front-line and was the principal German fortified village between the River Somme and the Ancre.

The ground sloped south-west from Bazentin ridge, divided by Willow Stream, which rose in Trônes Wood and flowed past the ends of the Mametz and Fricourt spurs. The stream was the inner boundary of the 7th Division on the right and the 21st Division on the left, of the XV Corps. German fortification of the area around Mametz and Fricourt had created a web of trenches 1,200 yd (1,100 m) deep behind the front-line trench, which was irregular making many angles from which an attacker could be engaged.

On 24 June 1916, the artillery preparation began for the Anglo-French offensive; the Fricourt area was subjected to several British gas attacks during the bombardment. Several mines were detonated just before 7:30 a.m. on 1 July, when British infantry attack on the German defences either side of the village began. By the end of 1 July, the village had been enveloped on three sides and during the night, the German garrison withdrew towards the second position. British patrols reported the retirement overnight and at noon on 2 July, troops of the 17th Division occupied the village and captured Fricourt Wood in the mid-afternoon.

The 28th (Baden) Reserve Division, which held the front from Montauban to Fricourt and Ovillers, was saved from destruction by reinforcements from the 10th Bavarian Division. The 3rd Guard Division was hurried forward from Valenciennes, to hold the ground in front of the second position and British attacks began on Shelter and Bottom woods up the slope towards Contalmaison. XV Corps had more than 8,000 casualties on 1 July, of which the 10th Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment suffered 733 losses, the worst of the battalions engaged on the first day; XV Corps took c. 1,600 prisoners.