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.
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.
Greg’s first day out of bed (just) after the flu was a bad day for the squadron, with a crash at Rely aerodrome.
Diary
Sunday 23rd. Got up, & walked round a bit feeling groggy. Macdonald [sic, should be McDonald] & Marsh spun into the ground & caught fire, both rescued & taken to hospital.
McDonald & Marsh Crash at Rely
Lt Hugh McDonald (as his name was spelt in the official report) was the pilot.
And 2nd Lt Cuthbert Alban Marsh was the observer, and was also Greg’s observer on his near-disastrous first day on the Front, when they crashed in crops at Trézennes. On that occasion, Marsh was thrown clear:
There were two hospital facilities at Aire-sur-la-Lys at the time. User mhifle of The Great War Forum says that the 54th Casualty Clearing Station came to Aire on 16 April 1918. This CCS was also known as the ‘1/2nd London CCS’. He gives its previous locations with the BEF in France as:
Hazebrouck 1 April 1915 to 31 July 1915
Merville 1 Aug 1915 to 28 March 1918
Haverskerque 29 March 1918 to 15 April 1918
At Aire, the 54th CCS joined No 39 Stationary Hospital, which was there from May 1917 to July 1918 according to The Long, Long Trail. So McDonald and Marsh may have been taken to one of these hospital facilities.
“British Casualty Clearing Station”
The Greg’s War collection includes the following aerial photograph captioned “British Casualty Clearing Station”, which is otherwise unidentified.
High-angle oblique aerial photograph from the Greg’s War Collection entitled “British Casualty Clearing Station”. Click for larger image.
It is possible that this was the 54th CCS at Aire (maybe with No 39 Stationary Hospital also in shot). The landscape looks similar to that just west of Aire, upstream along the Lys valley, near the village of Mametz – Mametz (Pas de Calais) that is, not Mametz (Somme).
A high-angle oblique view created in Google maps. (It’s not entirely successful, as Google has not 3D-imaged the area.) The aspect is looking northeast from just south of the Route de Mametz. Click to go to Google maps to see the location.
But I’m not entirely sure that this is the same place. In this instance, it’s hard to tell how much the landscape has changed over the years. Without any hard evidence of where the photo was taken, and without even knowing just where in or around Aire the 54th CCS was located, I can only identify it provisionally.
