Longueval
South African Memorial
and Devil's Wood
Longueval South African Memorial
- 1stSouth African Infantry Brigade
- 15july 1916
- 3143soldiers
Longueval
National symbol of courage
3143– the number of South African soldiers present at Delville Wood on July 15, 1916. A baptism of fire for many, they became the national symbol of courage and sacrifice in one of the greatest feats of arms of the First World War.
On July 15, the order was given to take and hold the wood “at all costs”. As part of the Battle of Bazentin Ridge launched on July 14, 1916, the British set out against the Prussian IIIrd Guards Division. On a 5.5-kilometer front, 4 Commonwealth divisions launched at 3:25 am. The South Africans took charge of the Longueval sector, but were stopped by a German strongpoint: Waterlot Farm.
The fighting rages on. At relief on July 20, only 142 of the 3,143 men launched came out of the woods.
Delville Wood,
the devil’s wood
Nicknamed Delville Wood from the English Devil’s Wood, it stands alone as a symbol of the South African nation’s sacrifice in the conflict. The soldiers responded to the mission to hold the wood “at all costs”. For five nights and six days, they fought against various units of the German4th Army Corps. Outnumbered, attacked on three sides and practically decimated, they managed to hold on to part of the wood after bitter, hand-to-hand fighting. Ravaged by the fighting, the wood was replanted and redeveloped in the 1920s to house the South African National Memorial. It was decided that the wood would remain forever the burial place of the soldiers who lay there. Even today, shell holes and the remains of trenches are still visible, with hundreds of soldiers buried in the middle.
Since 2016, the museum and a new wall of remembrance have paid tribute to all South African soldiers who died in the Great War without distinction of race, skin color or religion.
The Longueval Museum
20th century conflicts
Today, the site is dedicated to all South Africans who fell in the various conflicts of the 20th century, in Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Public subscriptions were raised to build the monument. Its design was entrusted to Sir Herbert Baker, one of the principal architects of the Imperial War Graves Commission.
Inaugurated on October 10, 1926, a wide avenue lined with a double row of oak trees leads to the monument’s Great Arch. The monument’s dedications are in English and Afrikaner. The dome is surmounted by a bronze statue, the work ofAlfred Turner, depicting Castor and Pollux leading a warhorse and embracing hands in friendship. They represent the union of all the peoples of South Africa in their determination to defend their common ideals. A museum at the rear commemorates the 25,000 South African volunteers, men and women of all races and religions, who fell in the three wars.
The Last Tree
The last tree
It is estimated that 400 German shells fell on the wood every minute. All that remained were trenches and the dead, and by the end of the fighting, the wood was only a wood in name. But in the midst of this chaos, this devil’s work, one tree survived. The last witness to the horrors of the past, this common charm has a special place in the memorial. The Last Tree. If only trees could talk…
