Delville Wood South African National Memorial

About

The South African Wood Memorial Delville is a World War I memorial located on the territory of the commune of Longuval, in the Somme department. It commemorates the engagement of South African troops during the Great War. A memorial museum traces the history of South Africa's participation in the First, Second World War and various cold war conflicts.

The British military cemetery of Delville Wood is located opposite the memorial. The Delville Wood represents, for South Africans, the place where South African Union soldiers were first recruited on the Western front. On 14 July 1916, the South African Brigade, consisting of four battalions, approximately 3,150 men, had been ordered to hold its positions "at all costs".

Under the constant fire of enemy artillery, they had resisted and knew a true hell (Delville wood was renamed Devil's Wood). When they were raised on 20 July, they left 1,080 of theirs dead or missing and 1,735 wounded.