First Day On The Somme - Diversion at Gommecourt

Diversion At Gommecourt

The British Third Army of General Sir Edmund Allenby occupied the front-line to the north of Rawlinson's Fourth Army. The two armies met just south of the villages of Foncquevillers (British-held) and Gommecourt (German-held). At Gommecourt the German trenches curved around a chateau and its parkland, creating a salient that marked the most westerly point of German territory. General Haig instructed Allenby to mount a diversion to pin German forces to their trenches and attract artillery fire away from the main attack. The Third Army was also to capture Gommecourt thereby reducing the inconvenient salient.

The task fell to the VII Corps of Lieutenant General Sir T. d'Oyly Snow. A gap of one mile (1.6 km) existed between the Gommecourt diversion and the northern edge of the main attack and preparations were made as obvious as possible in an effort to distract German attention away from the Fourth Army but this only made the task of VII Corps all the more difficult. The plan called for a pincer movement, pinching out the base of the salient and capturing the garrison in a pocket. The northern pincer was the 46th (North Midland) Division and the southern pincer was the 56th (1/1st London) Division, both Territorial Force units.

The 56th Division had prepared jumping-off trenches in no man's land and when the attack commenced at 7.30am, progress was initially good. The first three German trenches were captured and a party pushed on towards the expected link-up point with the 46th Division, east of the village. Once a heavy German barrage descended on no man's land, it proved impossible for reinforcements to reach the captured positions or for a trench to be dug to form a defensive flank to the south. Finally the survivors were forced to withdraw.

In contrast the 46th Division's attack started badly and got worse. The German wire was uncut (the ground was littered with dud mortar shells) and the smoke that was meant to aid the British only managed to hinder them. Furthermore the ground on this sector was particularly wet and muddy, making movement difficult. A few groups made it to the German trenches but not in sufficient numbers to hold them. The division's commander, Major General E.J. Montagu-Stuart-Wortley, was sacked for the failure.