Here is another photograph from the Somme sector, again of the area around Mametz, and again the product of 205 Sqn.
Vertical aerial view South of Mametz (Somme). Click for larger image. Credit: Greg’s War CollectionAerial view of the same location today (courtesy Google). Click for larger image, or here to go to the Google map view: https://goo.gl/maps/47z47Y7t6FG2
This is similar to but not quite the same as the field of the previous photograph taken on 30 June 1918:
Not a great deal has changed between the 30 June 1918 and 16 July 1918 photos. But in the 16 July photo, in the woods towards the bottom of the field of view as well as in the scoop out of the woods, there seem to be dark crosses, each on a light circular background. Red crosses indicating hospitals or field dressing stations, possibly?
As before, it isn’t clear how this photograph came to be in Greg’s collection.
Following on from yesterday’s post about an aerial photo taken south of Mametz-en-Picardie, today we have another vertical aerial view from the Somme sector. This one is complete with fireworks resulting from a direct bomb hit on an ammunition train.
Aerial Views Then and Now
Direct Bomb Hit on Ammunition Train, southwest of Bray-sur Somme. See dagger for direction of north. Greg’s War Collection. Click for larger image.
And the view today from Google maps:
The view today of where the ammunition train was hit. North is in the same direction. Click for larger image, or here to go to a zoomable view in Google maps.
Bray-sur-Somme
Bray is 19 miles (31 km) east of Amiens and 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Villers Bretonneux. The location of this photograph is nearly co-incident with that of an earlier one of a kite balloon, taken on 15 May 1918:
The ammunition train appears to be in sidings near what looks like a dump or supply depot, which has its own railway spur. The following map extract has been stitched together from adjoining 1:20,000 trench maps.
The approximate position of the ammunition train, southwest of Bray. Extract formed from two 1:20,000 maps, dated June and July 1918. North is vertically upwards. Map credit: IWM/TNA/GreatWarDigital.
There is no sign of the railway tracks on a 1915 1:40,000 map (Sheet 62D). Neither, unsurprisingly, is there any sign on a modern 1:25,000 map of the area, given that the Google aerial view shows no obvious traces.
205 Squadron RAF
The negative number in the titling strip is 205.v.1541. I’m grateful to Timothy Slater (who blogs here and tweets here) for the following information in reply to a tweet of yesterday’s post:
@GregsWar both this photograph and your previous kite balloon photo were taken by 205 Sqn RAF (previously 5 Sqn RNAS). At the time they were flying DH4s on bombing missions for V Bde RAF. I can’t identify any obvious links between 205 & 42 Sqns though.
So today we have evidence of 205 Squadron’s precision bombing. A good day’s work.
Among Greg’s collection of photos from 1918 is a vertical aerial view dated 30 June 1918 and entitled “S. Mametz”, presumably an abbreviation for South [of] Mametz. My first thought was that this referred to the village of that name a couple of miles west of Aire-sur-la-Lys and not much further north from Rely. But, despite the village being on the doorstep of 42 Squadron’s airfield, I couldn’t reconcile the photo with a present day aerial view on Google maps.
It was only when I purchased a set of digitised trench maps of the Western Front and learnt to read First World War map references that I realised the answer. The line in the photo’s titling strip that reads 62d.F.11.12.17.18 is a reference to four 1,000yd squares on map sheet 62d – which lie just south of another village of the same name, near the Somme and a couple of miles east of Albert. So the photo relates to Mametz-en-Picardie, which is 44 miles (71 km) southeast of Rely, not Mametz-en-Artois.
Aerial ViewsThen and Now
Here are Greg’s photo and the equivalent view today on Google maps:
Aerial view of South of Mametz-en-Picardie on 30 June 1918. Click for larger image.Aerial view of the same location today (courtesy Google). Click for larger image, or here to go to the Google map view: https://goo.gl/maps/svHie4f59N32.
The settlement visible in both photographs is Carnoy. Mametz itself is just off-camera, to the top left.
It isn’t clear how the photo from the Somme theatre came to be in Greg’s collection. It isn’t particularly clear even why it was taken, other than for general reconnaissance purposes. Possibly it was taken for the forthcoming Final Allied Offensive. Mametz had seen major action two years previously in the Battle of the Somme, and in fact the village was taken from the Germans in fierce fighting on 1 July 1916. For an account of its capture, see this article from The Long, Long Trail website:
Since late March 1918, Mametz had been back in German hands. This was as a result of Operation Michael – their major push westwards towards Amiens in the Spring Offensives. It was not to be under British control again until it was liberated in August 1918. The Final Allied Offensive began on the 8th of that month.
Mametz is about 4 miles (6½ km) north of Bray-sur-Somme, where a German kite balloon was photographed on 15 May 1918:
The negative number in the titling strip is 205.v.1521. I’m grateful to Timothy Slater (who blogs here and tweets here) for the following information in reply to a tweet of this post:
@GregsWar both this photograph and your previous kite balloon photo were taken by 205 Sqn RAF (previously 5 Sqn RNAS). At the time they were flying DH4s on bombing missions for V Bde RAF. I can’t identify any obvious links between 205 & 42 Sqns though.
Although Greg had not yet got to France, this photograph dated 15 May 1918 of a kite balloon in operation at Bray-sur-Somme somehow found its way into his collection.
But where is the balloon, you might ask? About half way down the full image, and about one third in from the left hand edge. Here is a magnified detail:
Kite balloon detail
Kite balloons are shaped to be more aerodynamically stable than near-spherical balloons, and so can withstand more windy conditions. Both sides made good use of balloons as observation platforms, for artillery support and general reconnaissance. The balloon shown here is probably a German copy of a French Caquot design, designated Typ Ae, standing for Achthundert english. The Achthundert is a reference to the ~800 m³ capacity of the balloon, which was based on a captured British model.
Here it is at closer quarters:
German Ae 800 kite balloon, copied from the French Caquot design. Image Credit: wwi.hut2.ru
The position of the balloon was, when the photograph was taken, some 4½ miles/7 km ESE of the closest point of the forward positions of the British front line between Morlancourt and Sailly-le-Sec, and so was presumably intended to gather information from that direction.
As a comparison of the following two images shows, the landscape hasn’t changed a great deal in the intervening 100 years. The settlement at the bottom right of the old photo is La Neuville-lès-Bray, which hasn’t expanded much. Neither has Etinehem in the top right. And the courses of the Somme and the Canal de la Somme that joins it from the bottom centre of the photo are much the same.
The Somme between Bray and Etinehem 100 years ago: Kite Balloon in Operation. Image credit: Greg’s War Collection. Tap or click for a larger image.The Somme between Bray and Etinehem today: the kite balloon and field tracks have gone, and the trees have grown, but not much else has changed. Image credit: Google. Tap or click for a larger, zoomable view.
