A century ago on this day in 1916 the men of the South African Brigade entered Delville Wood, on the Somme. The South African Brigade had been formed from South African units which had fought in South-West Africa and had come to France in 1916 where they joined the 9th (Scottish) Division. Commanded by Brigadier-General Lukin, on 14th July 1916 they formed up close to the wood
South African Infantry 1916
while the fighting for Longeuval village was still on-going and then entered the wood with orders to hold it against German attacks. After six days of fighting from tree to tree, shell hole to shell hole, with on occasions more than 500 shells a minute dropping on the wood, the wood was still in South African hands as they were relieved by British units. On 14th July 1916 some 121 officers and 3,032 men had marched into battle; now only 29 officers and 751 other ranks remained. It was the greatest place of South African sacrifice on the Great War battlefields so the wood was purchased as a permanent memorial after the war. Today it is one of the most impressive sites on the Somme battlefields.
All that remained of Delville Wood 1916
Somme Battlefields 