Mametz Wood 1916 — 38th (Welsh) Division, Battle & Battlefield Guide
Campaign guides, political context, personalities, remembrance and the ground itself — organised as a working military-history archive.
Mametz Wood — 38th (Welsh) Division, July 1916
Mametz Wood is one of the defining Welsh battles of the First World War. This hub brings together the battlefield, the 38th (Welsh) Division, the failed attack of 7 July, the main assault of 10 July, the fighting inside the wood, German defence, casualties, command controversy and the way Mametz entered Welsh memory.
Start here: Battle of Mametz Wood 1916 — Complete Field Guide →
What this hub covers
- Where is Mametz Wood? The ground between Mametz, Contalmaison and Bazentin on the Somme.
- When was the battle? The key Welsh Division fighting ran from 7 to 12 July 1916, with the decisive assault beginning on 10 July.
- Who fought there? The 38th (Welsh) Division attacked a German defensive system held by several formations and regiments as the battle developed.
- Why did it matter? The fighting became a test of divisional command, infantry control, artillery preparation and woodland tactics after the opening of the Somme.
- Why is it remembered in Wales? The casualties, the controversy surrounding the division and later literature and commemoration gave Mametz a lasting place in Welsh memory.
Research route
Our Mametz work uses British divisional, brigade and battalion war diaries alongside German regimental histories, survivor material, modern scholarship and battlefield mapping. Where sources disagree on times, unit boundaries or the exact moment the wood was fully cleared, the disagreement is shown rather than silently flattened.
