Footsteps of the fallen

Bernafay Wood

October 03, 2021 Season 2 Episode 25
Footsteps of the fallen
Bernafay Wood
Show Notes

In our 50th podcast, we return to the Somme battlefield and look at one of the lesser-known areas of the fighting, Bernafay Wood.

While there were no major battles per se, the wood itself turned into a mincing machine for the Allied infantry.  While successfully captured on the 3rd July, the wood was no prize for the Allies.  Shelled constantly by the Germans, as well as being subjected to gas attacks the wood was a dismal place to be a soldier. 

The weather, which proved to be almost a dangerous an enemy as the Germans took a heavy toll on the battlefield which soon turned into a sea of liquid mud.  What happened in the fighting, why was the wood so strategically important and what was it like to fight there?

Find out all in this final episode of Season 2.

Recommended reading:

We band of Brothers - GW Warwick
Field Guns in France - Major Neil Fraser-Tytler
Turning Point - HP Robinson
Triple Challenge - Hugh Wansey Bayley
Other ranks - W V Tilsley

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