Etinehem Military Cemetery, France holds the remains of 1,004 soldiers, primarily French — including colonial troops — and some British, victims of the Battles of the Somme. © 2013 John M. Shea
"At 13:05 on 12 September [1916], Colonel Adolphe Messimy received a message at his command post, a makeshift shelter hollowed out of the shell-scoured plateau south of Combles. The news was excellent. His chasseurs alpins had seized the trenches of the German third position west of the Bapaume-Péronne road. As sector commander, he requested reinforcements. Two fresh battalions from 44 and 133 RIs were ordered forward. At 18:39 they advanced from the third position, over the road where today Foch's statue stands staring defiantly eastwards, across the final line of trenches protecting Bouchavesnes village. Three companies of chasseurs followed them across, without orders, but determined to press their advantage."
The British and French renewed the Battle of the Somme at the beginning of September with separate but coordinated attacks. That of the French on September 12 was a predecessor to one by the British planned for the 15th. The German defenders were increasingly stretched by the Franco-British assault. Our quotation, from William Philpott's Three Armies on the Somme, describes the entry into a chiefly intact village poorly held by a largely drunken garrison. The advance could have been the beginnings of a French breakthrough, but the gap was too narrow, allowing enfilade fire on the flanks, and reinforcements could not be brought in quickly enough to exploit the breach in the German line.
Three Armies on the Somme by William Philpott, page 316, copyright © 2009 by William Philpott, publisher: Alfred A. Knopf, publication date: 2009
1916-09-12, 1916, September, Battle of the Somme, Somme, Etinehem Cemetery
