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| My Altered reality photo. "Delvelle Wood - Then and Now" with the artwork of the South African soldiers coming out of the Wood |
The South African memorial at Delville Wood is a "Must see" place for anyone interested in South African military history.
The battle of Delville Wood was one of the many battles which took place during the ill fated Battle of the Somme. The 1st South African Infantry Brigade, which formed part of the 9th Scottish Division, received orders to clear the wood of Germans. This they did, and also managed to hold onto the wood from 15 July to 19 July 1916 until they were relieved. Of the 3153 men who went into Delville Wood, only 123 men marched out, and later, a total of 780 survived the battle and rejoined the Brigade at the assembly point. At the height of the battle, it was estimated that 400 artillery shells per minute landed on the wood. It has also been estimated that every square inch of the wood was shelled at least three
times. So fierce was the shelling, that only 173 of the 2373 soldiers of
the South African Brigade who fell at Delville Wood have known graves.
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| Spent shell cases along the road. |
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| Grave of an unknown soldier. 75% of the graves at Delville Wood are for unknown soldiers |
The others are listed as missing or are buried in the vast number of graves of unknown soldiers which can be found in the Delveille Wood cemetery. and military cemeteries all over the front. The remains of hundreds of thousands ( no - millions) of young men, on both sides remain in unknown, unmarked graves where they fell all along the battlefields of the First World War. Some of the battlefields have been preserved as they were, as reminders of that terrible war. These memorials to the tragic battles of the First World War are all, in fact, massive grave yards. The total number of "missing in action" from the First World War, on both sides is a staggering. 7 750 919! The Australians are the leaders in being able to identify any remains which might be found. They have a collection of DNA from relatives of almost 98% of the Australians who were listed as missing in any conflict. Of course, in the First World War, the main involvement of the Australian and New Zealanders was at Gallipoli in Turkey. I have also been there, but that will be another post after a few more cheerful travel post after this set of very somber posts.
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| The name of a soldier who has been "found" has been removed from the list of the missing at Thripvel memorial. |
It is an ongoing process to identify fallen soldiers. Just about every time there is any form of construction in the area all along the Western Front, remains of fallen soldiers are discovered. These remains are then buried, with full military honours, in the already overcrowded military cemeteries which scatter the landscape around the many hundreds of miles of front lines. If the remains can be identified, now through modern DNA technology, the dead solider will get his name on a grave stone over his remains. In such cases, he is no longer missing, and his name is neatly removed from the memorial where his name has been listed, like at Thripvel. You could see that some of the names had been removed. This means that he has been found and now has a grave.
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| South African memorial at Delville Wood |
Back to Delville Wood. The South African government bought Delville Wood in 1920 and constructed a beautiful memorial there. Only very recently have the names of some 1100 non-white casualties of the Great War been added to the role of honour at Delville Wood. These were non-combatants and were trench diggers and stretcher bearers. They too took part in and died, not only at Delville Wood, but in various battlefields of the Great War. It is a sad disgrace that it has taken almost 100 years to honour them along with their white comrades in arms.
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| The only living survivor of the Battle of Delville Wood! The only tree which survived the bombardment |
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| Walking along the trench line. Not possible in July 1916! |
In the Garden of Remembrance in Pietermaritzburg, there is a cross made from wood taken from Delville Wood after the battle. Around the anniversary of the battle in July, the cross starts to weep sap. This has gone for many years after the battle. This has been studied by many and there is no explanation for the weeping of the cross. The cross stopped weeping for a few years, but on the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Delville Wood, the cross started to weep! (
https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Weeping-cross-still-a-mystery-20040709 or just search on Delville wood weeping cross and you will get numerous hits).
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| The trenches at Delville Wood |
Walking through the beautiful forest which is Delville Wood today, one cannot even begin to imagine the terror, suffering and extreme bravery which played out there. However, when looking among the trees, the trench lines can still clearly be seen. Even at the height of the battle, the trenches were not very deep because of the roots of the trees. The one tree which survived the massive bombardment is still alive today and is standing proud. The uneven ground all around in the wood bears sad testament to the millions of shells which fell in the area. The shell holes are a common feature in all of the preserved battle fields. At this stage, there are no survivors of the great war still alive. There are also very few survivors from the second world war let. We now have a generation which does not know and does not care!
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| Delville Wood Cemetery |
WE MUST REMEMBER THEM!
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