The Ypres Times.
95
Immediately north-east of the village and almost overshadowing it lay Delville Wood,
chiefly oak and birch with a dense undergrowth. It occupied the entire area between the
Flers and Ginchy roads for some 700 yards from the village, with an irregular eastern face
of about 1,200 yards facing the open ground between Ginchy and Flers. It was, as already
stated, the 27th and 26th Brigades of the 9th Division which captured the enemy's position
on the right and gained a footing in Longueval village on the morning of the 14th
Julv. In the village itself a determined resistance was encountered from the 16th Bavarian
Regiment, and the attack was definitely held up during the morning about the market
place and along the roads to Bazentin Le Grand and Ginchy.
SOUTH AFRICAN SCOTTISH TROOPS AMUSING THEMSELVES WITH PART OF AN
OLD PIANO.
[Imperial War Museum photograph. Crown copyright.
The South African Brigade, which was then in reserve at Montauban, was called upon
to send a battalion to assist in clearing the village of Longueval, while the remainder of
the Brigade was to be ready to move forward and capture Delville Wood. The attack
was to be launched at 5 p.m., but this was ultimately postponed until 5 a.m. on the 15th
owing to the conflicting reports that were received of the situation in Longueval village
and to the belief that the capture of the whole village was an essential preliminary to the
attack on Delville Wood.
