battle of ginchy

Battalion: infantry Regiments were composed of battalions, active service units consisting of about 1000 men under the command of a Lieutenant-Colonel. It was often the case that a soldier’s first loyalty was to his battalion; when conditions allowed great efforts were made to ensure a sense of tradition and ‘esprit de corps’. During the First World War regiments raised large numbers of battalions.

Brigade: four infantry battalions would be grouped together to form an infantry brigade – under the command of a Brigadier General. In 1918 brigades were reduced to three battalions.

Division: three infantry brigades would be grouped together to form a division – under the command of a Major-General. The division was likely to have been the largest formation that a soldier would have identified with; they had distinctive insignia and familiar nicknames; some divisional commanders became well known to their men. The division was a self-contained fighting force possessing, in addition to its 12 infantry battalions and Pioneer Battalion, its own supporting specialists, Engineers, Artillery, Transport and Medical units. Its total complement was over 19,000 men.

Corps: divisions (any number from two to six) would be grouped to serve under corps – a directing administrative formation responsible for the effective deployment of its divisions in the field. An army corps was commanded by a Lieutenant-General. A corps would be provided with supporting troops – often known as ‘Lines of Communication’ or ‘Corps Troops’.

Army: corps would be grouped to serve under an army – another higher-level administrative formation responsible for the effective fulfilment of the overall strategic aims of the Commander-in-Chief. An army, commanded by a General, was provided with specialist supporting troops – often known as ‘Lines of Communication’ or ‘Army Troops’.

Commander-in-Chief: Armies came under the control and command of the Commander-in Chief (C-in-C) at General Headquarters (GHQ). Appointed C-in-C in December 1915, General Sir Douglas Haig was responsible for the overall conduct of the British Army during the Battle of the Somme (and indeed all British Army operations in France and Belgium); he was promoted Field Marshal on 3 January 1917.

BATTLE OF GINCHY

sources

KAYLYNN HARLAN

• www.google.com

Battle

• In terms of the Somme fighting, the attack was highly successful with the village being taken on the first attempt. The Irish took the well fortified village in an hour. A London newspaper headlined How the Irish took Ginchy - Splendid daring of the Irish troops For the Germans the loss of Ginchy deprived them of their strategic observation posts overlooking the entire battlefield.

French operations

The French Sixth Army attacked north of the Somme at noon on 3 September capturing most of Cléry, much of the German position along the Cléry–Le Forest road and all of the village of Le Forest. On the left I Corps occupied high ground south of Combles and entered Bois Douage. On 4 September the Germans counter-attacked at Combles ravine, stopping the French advance towards Rancourt. to the south VII Corps advanced on the left and maid gains around Cléry. When the British took Falfemont Farm on 5 September the French gained touch at Combles ravine and patrols captured Ferme de l'Hôpital 0.5 miles (800 m) east of Le Forest. VII Corps took all of Cléry and met XXXIII Corps on the right, which had taken Omniécourt south of the Somme. A I Corps attack on 6 September failed. South of the Sixth Army, the Tenth Army attacked on the south bank from Chilly to Barleux but after three days only Soyécourt was captured and Chilly enveloped; attacks on Barleux, Derniécourt and Vermandovillers had failed.

• The Battle of Ginchy took place on 9 September 1916 during the Battle of the Somme when the 16th Division captured the German-held village of Ginchy. The Irish Royal Munster Fusiliers suffered heavy casualties in the process. Indeed of the two attacking brigades, the 47th Brigade (8th Battalion) failed completely, encountering enemy defences unaffected by the British bombardment whose shelling kept falling short into no-mans land. The seven Irish battalions chiefly involved in the fighting lost eight officers and 220 men killed, six officers and sixty-one men in the 9th Battalion of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers

Army Structure

• Poor weather, bad going and unit reliefs caused a pause in operations until 12 September, when XXXIII Corps attacked towards Mont St. Quentin and VII Corps attacked Bouchavesnes, took the village and dug in facing Cléry and Feuillaucourt. I Corps took Bois d'Anderlu and broke through the German defences near Marrières Wood before attacking north towards Rancourt and Sailly-Saillisel. On 13 September I Corps closed on Le Priez Farm, while VII Corps defeated several big German counter-attacks. Next day the attacks of VII and XXXIII corps were stopped by mud and German defensive fire, while I Corps managed to take Le Priez Farm. Another pause became necessary, to bring up supplies and relieve tired troops but the big British attack was due on 15 September and Frégicourt remained uncaptured. Despite Foch wanting to keep pressure on the Germans south of the river, supply priority was given to the Sixth Army; the Tenth Army met frequent German counter-attacks near Berny, where some ground was lost and was not able to resume its attacks