Somme __NOTOC__
Somme or The Somme may refer to: Places
*Somme (department), a department of France
*Somme, Queensland, Australia
*Canal de la Somme, a canal in France
*Somme (river), a river in France
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Somme'' (book), a ...
department
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
*Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
in
Hauts-de-France
Hauts-de-France (; pcd, Heuts-d'Franche; , also ''Upper France'') is the northernmost Regions of France, region of France, created by the territorial reform of French regions in 2014, from a merger of Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy. Its Prefectu ...
in northern
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
.
Geography
Vermandovillers is situated east of Amiens, on the D143 and D79 roads.
History
World War I – Battles at Vermandovillers
The first attack occurred on September 24, 1914, it was partially blocked by the 75th Infantry Regiment at Etoilé woods near to Herleville. The front was stabilized for two years until September 1916.
The spearhead attack of September 4, 1916 at edge of Vermandovillers' Etoilé woods, was assigned to the 132nd Division(10th Army), against heavily concreted machine guns bunkers, organized by the Germans for nearly 2 years (Report No.: 6288/3 of September 26, 1916 of the 132nd Division). The position was defended by the
11th Division (German Empire)
The 11th Division (''11. Division'') was a unit of the Prussian/German Army. It was formed in Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland) in November 1816 as a brigade, and became the 11th Division on September 5, 1818. The division was subordinated in peacet ...
, specifically the 21. Infanterie-Brigade and Infanterie-Regiment 51. On 6 September 1916, many (the 13th, the 43rd, the 51st and 120th) Infantry Regiments were involved in the so-called battle of Vermandovillers. It ended on September 9, 1916 for lack of troops. The 158th, the 366th Infantry Regiment and the 1st Battalion Chasseurs showed exemplary conduct and suffered heavy losses.
For the record, between September 4–9, 1916, the 86th Brigade lost 1,071 men, 264th Brigade lost 1,513 and 108th Brigade 1,580. These figures explain the fact that in a radius around Vermandovillers, there are, buried in military cemeteries, including 1,261 French soldiers. 22,632 German soldiers lie in the
Vermandovillers German war cemetery
Vermandovillers German war cemetery contains remains of 22,632 soldiers who died in World War I. It is located in Somme Département, France and is cared for by the German War Graves Commission.
History
The cemetery was created in 1920 by the Fre ...
, including the writers
Reinhard Johannes Sorge
Reinhard Sorge (29 January 1892, Berlin, German Empire – 20 July 1916, Ablaincourt, France) was a German dramatist and poet. He is best known for writing the Expressionist play '' The Beggar'' (''Der Bettler''), which won the Kleist Priz ...
and
Alfred Lichtenstein (writer)
Alfred Lichtenstein (23 August 1889 – 25 September 1914) was a German expressionist writer.
From a Jewish family,Vivian Liska, "Messianic Endgames in German-Jewish Expressionist Literature" in ''Europa! Europa?: The Avant-Garde, Modernism an ...
. The British are not counted because although killed in the fighting, they are buried mainly at the
Villers–Bretonneux Australian National Memorial
The Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux is the main memorial to Australian military personnel killed on the Western Front during World War I. It is located on the Route Villiers-Bretonneux (D 23), between the towns of Fouillo ...