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Introduction This brief survey of Auchonvillers during the 1914-18 war concentrates on the village itself, rather than on the front line. Our study is principally concerned with the manner in which Auchonvillers was integrated into the complex system that was the Western Front, the facilities and fortifications that were constructed in the village and what now remains of them. Thus we have concentrated research on the more routine aspects of trench warfare and on troops other than the infantry, such as the gunners, pioneer battalions, Royal Engineer Field Companies, Special Companies and Tunnelling Companies, Royal Army Medical Corps Field Ambulances, the trench mortar batteries and the Army Service Corps. Research encompasses official war diaries from Corps down to battalion, personal diaries and reminiscences, ground and aerial photographs, maps and cine film. The opportunity to link such a wealth of evidence to the interpretation of an archaeological site is a very exciting prospect. The attack on Beaumont-Hamel and Y Ravine on 1st July 1916 are fully described in the British Official History and to some extent in Martin Middlebrook's The first day on the Somme. Part of the Y Ravine area is within the Newfoundland Park, which still has a large area of open trenches, albeit grassed over but giving an indication of the landscape of the Great War. A visit to Newfoundland Park is a must for anyone with a serious interest in the Battles of the Somme, or indeed the war in general. Much attention has been focused on the terrible losses of 1st July. Over 5,000 men of the 29th Division were killed or wounded in a matter of hours. This has tended to shift attention from the successful, although hardly bloodless, capture of Beaumont-Hamel in November 1916 and the events of 1918. These are dealt with in Nigel Cave's Beaumont Hamel, Newfoundland Park in the excellent Battleground Europe series. It
is impossible in a few pages to do justice to all aspects of the war
in Auchonvillers and it is hoped to publish a much fuller account incorporating
the excavation report in due course. The natural starting point for
any detailed study of British operations during the 1914-18 war has
to be the Public Record Office in London. Crown Copyright material is
quoted with acknowledgment. The appropriate document reference is to
be found after quotations. We have not so far concentrated on the 1918
phase and much of what has been accumulated has not yet been fully examined.
German and French sources remain Thanks are due to all those who have provided Avril Williams with material, to Colonel Phillip Robinson for access to German aerial photographs and other material, to Judith Beresford for her work at the PRO and to Stuart Eastwood of the Border Regiment Museum and to Peter Scott for their help with maps. We are also grateful to Alisoun and Chris Roberts who, whilst on holiday in New Zealand, found time to look for material in the Auckland War Museum. Special thanks to the Ecckhout family of Auchonvillers who allowed us to survey their field, produced a pre-1914 painting of the village and showed us the grave of their relative Emilienne Joudois who was killed by a German shell in 1915. |