Montauban & Bazentin, 31st May 2013

A very welcome beer and a sandwich in Bapaume - allied objective of the Battle of the Somme, but never reached - then back to the centre of the battlefield. Montauban, in the southern part of the British sector, fell to the well trained and imaginatively led 18th and 30th Divisions on July 1st. Quarry CWGC Cemetery lies in a hollow on the lane leading from the village to Bazentin. It is surrounded by walls of soft red bricks and knapped flint, the latter gathered, like those who reside within it, from the surrounding fields, and thereby bears some familiar reference to the English churchyard. It is beautifully kept, the flower beds freshly planted, the newly mown grass thick and rich, and bouncy beneath your feet. The sun has broken through, and the afternoon has become soft and warm. It feels peaceful, and oddly cosseting. I notice that there is a group of German graves, as carefully tended as those of their former enemies around them. One of them bears a familiar name, but I have never established if there is a connection.

The lane leads to the Bazentin crossroads, an intersection of five lanes that lies amongst the German second line. Taken in the nightime attack of 14th July, the valley in front of it became a concentration point for troops attacking the infamous High Wood in the ensuing two, horrendous, months. Despite being in the lee of the Bazentin ridge, it was not a place of refuge, thoroughly ranged by German artillery, and subjected to random barrages night and day. The Calvary facing the Montauban road is a survivor of the battle, the figure of Christ pierced and ruptured by shrapnel balls and shell fragments.