Battle of Ginchy 1916
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate. Wikidata lists more than one location for this battle; the first is shown.
Key facts
| Date | 9 September 1916 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1916 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | World War I era (1914–1918) | derived from year |
| Location | France | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | World War I | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 50.0227, 2.8324 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Ginchy took place on 9 September 1916 during the Battle of the Somme, when the 16th (Irish) Division captured the German-held village. Ginchy is 0.93 mi (1.5 km) north-east of Guillemont, at the junction of six roads, on a rise overlooking Combles, 2.5 mi (4 km) to the south-east. After the conclusion of the Battle of Guillemont on 6 September, XIV Corps and XV Corps were required to complete the advance to positions which would give observation over the German third position. The advance was to make ready for a general attack in mid-September, for which the Anglo-French armies had been preparing since early August.
British attacks northwards from the boundary between the Fourth Army and the French Sixth Army, from Leuze Wood north to Ginchy, had begun on 3 September when the 7th Division captured the village, then was forced out by a German counter-attack. Attacks on Leuze Wood and attempts to re-take Ginchy on 4 and 5 September were also defeated by German counter-attacks. The 7th Division was relieved by the 16th (Irish) Division and 55th (West Lancashire) Division on the evening of 7 September and the 5th Division was replaced by the 56th (1/1st London) Division on the right at the boundary with the French.
On 9 September the British began a bombardment early in the morning but waited until late afternoon to advance, to deny the Germans time to counter-attack before dark.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Ginchy (revision 1370441624), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of Guillemont 1916 · 1 km
- Battle of Morval 1916 · 1 km
- Battle of Delville Wood 1916 · 2 km
- Second Battle of the Somme 1918 · 2 km
- Battle of Pozières 1916 · 2 km
- Capture of Combles 1916 · 3 km
Other battles of the World War I
- Landing at Anzac Cove 1915
- Second Battle of Krithia 1915
- Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes 1915
- Siege of Mbombwe 1915
- Third Battle of Krithia 1915
- Action of 19 August 1916 1916
- Actions of the Bluff, 1916 1916
- Battle of Asiago 1916
- Battle of Delville Wood 1916
- Battle of Dogger Bank (1916) 1916
All 138 battles of the World War I →
Browse more: battles in France · Europe · World War I era battles