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Battle of Morval 1916

Battle of Morval: Map of the Battle of the Somme, 1916
Image: SVG version, and changes: Grandiose Original map:Worldwari map13 largerview.jpg, US Military Inset map: Giro720, File:France blank1.svg, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.

Key facts

Date25 September 1916 – 28 September 1916Wikidata
Year1916Wikidata P580 (start time)
EraWorld War I era (1914–1918)derived from year
LocationFranceNatural Earth (modern borders)
ContinentEuropeNatural Earth
War / conflictBattle of the Somme, World War IWikidata P361
ParticipantsUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and IrelandWikidata P710
Coordinates50.0316, 2.8424Wikidata P625

About the battle

The Battle of Morval, 25–28 September 1916, was an attack during the Battle of the Somme by the British Fourth Army on the villages of Morval, Gueudecourt and Lesbœufs held by the German 1st Army, which had been the final objectives of the Battle of Flers–Courcelette (15–22 September). The main British attack was postponed to combine with attacks by the French Sixth Army on the village of Combles south of Morval.

The attack was to close up to the German defences between Moislains and Le Transloy, near the Péronne–Bapaume road (N 17). The combined attack from the Somme river northwards to Martinpuich on the Albert–Bapaume road, was also intended to deprive the German defenders further west near Thiepval of reinforcements, before an attack by the Reserve Army, due on 26 September. The postponement was extended from 21 to 25 September because of rain, which affected operations more frequently during September.

Combles, Morval, Lesbœufs and Gueudecourt were captured and many casualties inflicted on the Germans. The French made slower progress near the inter-army boundary, due to the obstruction of St Pierre Vaast Wood to the French attack north towards Sailly and Sailly-Saillisel.

Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Morval (revision 1371577547), 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.

Location

50.0316, 2.8424 · France

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Nearby battles

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Further reading