Above, ' Thiepval ' by Sir Willam Orpen 1917
"I was firing on some Germans when there was a loud explosion near me and part of the torso of a man, clothed in aKhaki jacket landed just in front of my Lewis Gun "
(Pte R. Irwin, Tyrone Volunteers )
(Pte R. Irwin, Tyrone Volunteers )
the german positions at thiepval
Whilst the German position was already a strong one, it was made almost impregnable following the arrival of Major Von Fabeck on April 15th 1916. Von Fabeck was a meticulous soldier who had previously commanded the Guard Jager Battalion in the Vosges mountains. He was the nephew of Field Marshall Paul Von Hindenburg. On the day of his arrival Von Fabeck inspected the entirety of his new regimental sector and issued immediate orders for the improvement of defences. Each dugout, were it not already done, should be deepened to 7 metres with three exits. These dugouts were to be clustered into groups of three, each connected by tunnels. Complexes capable of housing large bodies of men were to be built, each sunk 8-10 metres deep and with multiple exits. The largest at St Pierre Divion, was capable of housing 1000 men. It was constructed near the south bank of the Ancre under the shelter of the of the clay embankment south-west of the hamlet of St Pierre Divion.
The trench map below gives a good idea of just how extensive the German Lines were ( Red ) in front of Thiepval Wood and village. The British Front line is marked in blue and runs from Authuille along the edge of Thiepval Wood and down to the River Ancre where it then heads towards the Village of Beaumont Hamel.
The trench map below gives a good idea of just how extensive the German Lines were ( Red ) in front of Thiepval Wood and village. The British Front line is marked in blue and runs from Authuille along the edge of Thiepval Wood and down to the River Ancre where it then heads towards the Village of Beaumont Hamel.
In the embankment there were four main entrances running back towards the main shelters. Stairways connected the shelters with the trenches above and further exits were available from the tunnels sunk eastwards towards Schwaben Redoubt and the German front lines north and east of Thiepval Wood. There were a number of ventilation shafts . The area beneath Shcwaben contained hospital accomodation as well as officers quarters and numerous shelters capable of housing sections of troops. ( I have noticed on several websites that some people have placed the Schwaben redoubt on pictures as being underneath the present day Mill Road Cemetary, near the Ulster Memorial Tower, when infact it was situated much further back from the German front line which can be clearly seen marked on the map below )
page bing constructed
page bing constructed
St Pierre Divion Village
River Ancre
Approx position of the Schwaben Redoubt
Ulster Memorial Tower
The sunken road in
No Man's Land
British Front Line curves around Thiepval Wood and acroos the river Ancre
German front line and trenches are shown in red.
Schwaben Redoubt
Mill Road Cemetary
Connaught Cemetary
A smaller shelter, at Mouquet Farm house 300 men. Mouquet Farm was the site of 99RIR battle headquarters and the new shelter there provided accomodation for the headquarters staff, a telephone exchange, water supply and pumping equipment as well as medical and rest fascilities. The pumping fascilities at Mouquet Farm carried water forward from the water station at Courcelette which had been constructed on the site of the sugar refinery. Both the St. Pierre Division and Mouquet Farm complexes were comppleted on June 23rd 1916.
Von Fabeck's thoroughness also extended to the above ground defences and communication systems. The two machine-gun company commanders were instructed to find premier positions for each of their guns giving the best fields of fire. They were also entrusted with the task of identifying alternative sites for each weapon in case those were needed if forward positions were located by the British artillery and made unusable. The forward trenches west of the village in front of Thiepval Chateau, known as Fort Thiepval, were organised to provide the machine gun teams with interlocking fields of fire. These guns could sweep the upper parts of Thiepval spur, in front of Thiepval Wood, as well as providing enfilade fire to the South down the Authille Road and across No Man's Land on the west of the Leipzig Salient.
Additional lamp and flag signalling stations were constructed and further telephone cables were buried 2 metres below the floor of each trench. The complexity of the defences was aided by the addition of new communication trenches and the deepening and strengthening of the already existent trenches. All along the Thiepval sector the German front lines were to a depth of three sequential fire trenches. At the rear of the third fire trench the German reserve line, lay the two important flank fortifications which protected Thiepval these being the Schwaben Redoubt on the higher ground north of the village and the Wundt-Werk ( Wonder Work )
to the south and above Leipzig Redoubt.
Von Fabeck's thoroughness also extended to the above ground defences and communication systems. The two machine-gun company commanders were instructed to find premier positions for each of their guns giving the best fields of fire. They were also entrusted with the task of identifying alternative sites for each weapon in case those were needed if forward positions were located by the British artillery and made unusable. The forward trenches west of the village in front of Thiepval Chateau, known as Fort Thiepval, were organised to provide the machine gun teams with interlocking fields of fire. These guns could sweep the upper parts of Thiepval spur, in front of Thiepval Wood, as well as providing enfilade fire to the South down the Authille Road and across No Man's Land on the west of the Leipzig Salient.
Additional lamp and flag signalling stations were constructed and further telephone cables were buried 2 metres below the floor of each trench. The complexity of the defences was aided by the addition of new communication trenches and the deepening and strengthening of the already existent trenches. All along the Thiepval sector the German front lines were to a depth of three sequential fire trenches. At the rear of the third fire trench the German reserve line, lay the two important flank fortifications which protected Thiepval these being the Schwaben Redoubt on the higher ground north of the village and the Wundt-Werk ( Wonder Work )
to the south and above Leipzig Redoubt.
