Tuesday 15th
August 1916 From our Correspondent in the
Field
The adjutant
of the 6th Battalion, beds Regiment, tells us that they are now in Bécourt Wood
and have suffered one death and two men wounded today from shell fire.
The 8th
Battalion, newly arrived on the Somme, have moved into front-line trenches
opposite the fortress-village of Beaumont-Hamel. This village saw some of the
bloodiest fighting on the first day of this Battle of the Somme and, despite
the explosion of a massive mine(1) held out against all attacks.
Last night
the Australians attacked Mouquet Farm, north of Pozières but failed to take it.
They were overwhelmed by strong counter-attacks and forced to fall back to
trenches they had taken a short while earlier.
Sources: X550/7/1; X550/9/1
(1) This mine
was filmed by Geoffrey Malins and appears in the film which was shown in
cinemas around the country. It is still much-used as stock footage in
documentaries on aspects of World War One.
