page_title: 38th (Welsh) Infantry Division
section_title: Initial actions and the Battle of the Somme
hierarchical_section_title: 38th (Welsh) Infantry Division / First World War / Initial actions and the Battle of the Somme
caption_attribution_description: English: View looking towards Mametz Wood: France, 7th July 1916, prior to the fighting that captured the Wood during the Battle of the Somme.
context_page_description: The 38th (Welsh) Division of the British Army was active during both the First and Second World Wars. In 1914, the division was raised as the 43rd Division of Herbert Kitchener's New Army, and was originally intended to form part of a 50,000-strong Welsh Army Corps that had been championed by David Lloyd George; the assignment of Welsh recruits to other formations meant that this concept was never realised. The 43rd was renamed the 38th (Welsh) Division on 29 April 1915, and shipped to France later that year. It arrived in France with a poor reputation, seen as a political formation that was ill-trained and poorly led. The division's baptism by fire came in the first days of the Battle of the Somme, where it captured Mametz Wood at the loss of nearly 4,000 men. This strongly held German position needed to be secured in order to facilitate the next phase of the Somme offensive, the Battle of Bazentin Ridge. Despite securing its objective, the division's reputation was adversely affected by miscommunication among senior officers.
  A year later the division made a successful attack in the Battle of Pilckem Ridge, the opening of the Third Battle of Ypres.
context_section_description: Once in France, the division joined XI Corps and was placed in reserve, relieving the 46th (North Midland) Division. The first casualties were soon suffered due to training accidents with grenades. The division was then temporarily split up and spent time attached to the Guards Division and 19th (Western) Division, to gain experience in trench warfare. It relieved the 19th (Western) Division and until the summer manned the front in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region. It was rotated along the XI Corps sector, and spent time in Festubert, Givenchy, La Gorgue, Laventie and Neuve Chapelle. Units of the division took turns on the front line, maintained positions, conducted trench raids and were subjected to German bombardments, all of which allowed the men to gain experience of active service conditions. During this period Captain Goronwy Owen of the 15th RWF carried out a trench raid into no man's land, where he located a party of German soldiers who had just finished laying barbed wire. Owen followed the Germans back to their trench and ambushed them. The divisional history comments that "the greater portion [of the German party] were killed" and the raid was considered by the Army to be "the third best ... carried out so far" in the war. For his actions, Owen was mentioned in dispatches.
  During 10–11 June 1916, the division was relieved by the 61st (2nd South Midland) Division and moved into reserve. It then moved south and joined XVII Corps of the Third Army to train for the Battle of the Somme. New trenches were dug and the division made practice attacks on them using novel tactics: attacking in waves in conjunction with artillery and machine gun fire. Towards the end of the month, the division moved further south to the Somme valley. They then joined II Corps and were placed in reserve. The division was allocated to the second wave, which was intended to exploit the expected success of both the Third and Fourth Armies. After the breach of the German lines, the Reserve Army cavalry divisions would capture Bapaume. The 38th (Welsh) Division would then move forward to relieve the cavalry and secure the town, to allow the cavalry to advance north towards Arras.
  1 July was the first day on the Somme and although it was behind the lines in reserve, the division suffered its first casualty of the battle due to German artillery fire. The 1 July attack was a disaster on the Fourth Army front, and total British losses amounted to 57,470 largely north of the Albert–Bapaume road. In particular, XV Corps attacked the villages of Fricourt and Mametz. Throughout the day, the 7th Division assaulted and captured Mametz. The 21st Division pushed into the German lines and flanked Fricourt to the north. Due to this move and the capture of Mametz, the Germans abandoned Fricourt; the two divisions advanced up to 2,500 yards (2,300 m) and suffered 7,500 casualties. Between these two villages were the entrenched German positions in Mametz Wood. These needed to be captured to allow XV Corps to advance further into German territory. More ground was gained in subsequent attacks, but German defences and rain hindered moves to clear Mametz Wood. Following casualties within the 7th Division, the 38th (Welsh) Division was attached to XV Corps to relieve the division and clear the wood.
  Mametz Wood was defended by elements of the German Lehr Infantry Regiment and 163rd Infantry Regiment. These units were entrenched within the wood; the German second line was only 300 yards (270 m) behind, allowing the position to be reinforced easily. From 6–9 July, the 38th Division conducted reconnaissance and probing attacks, to determine the strength of the German position.
  On 7 July, the division launched two battalions upon the wood after a brief preliminary bombardment. At 08:00, the 16th Welsh and 10th SWB attacked. As soon as the advance began it became obvious that the preliminary bombardment had failed to silence the German machine gun positions and German shells started to fall upon the attackers and the trenches they had left, resulting in a temporary communic
caption: Mametz Wood, 7 July, prior to the fight to capture it
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