|
The capture of Delville Wood was essential to any further
advance eastwards. It was assigned to the South Africans,
who underwent their baptism of fire on the Western Front on
15 July 1916 ; under ferocious artillery fire - up to 400
rounds a minute - and barely protected by hastily dug trenches,
their experience there was an unimaginable nightmare. When
they were relieved after six days, of the 4,000 men who launched
the attack on 15 July only 143 came out of the wood unscathed.
Delville Wood, the 63-hectares site of the South African
infantry division engagement in July 1916, was bought by the
South African government in 1920 to build the national memorial.
| The memorial, inaugurated
in 1926, stands at the end of an oak-lined avenue grown
from acorns from South Africa. The arch of the monument
bears a bronze statue representing Castor and Pollux with
a single steed between them, symbol of all the nations
of South Africa. |
|
Standing behind the memorial, designed round the Cross of Sacrifice
and opened in 1986, the museum is a replica of the Cape
Fort. It commemorates the South African contribution to the
First World War (on the Western Front and in Germany's African
colonies), the Second World War, the Berlin Air-Lift (1948-1949)
and the Korean War (1950-1953).
Practical info
The site is permanently open, admission free.
Car park, picnic area, toilets, shop.
Opening times
Museum and visitor centre open every day except
Monday and public holidays, from 01/02 to 10/11 from 10am
to 3:45pm (10am to 5:45pm from 01/04 to 14/10).
National Memorial and South African
Museum
Delville Wood
80360 Longueval
Tel : +33 (0)3 22 85 02 17
Fax : +33 (0)3 22 85 79 99
Also at Longueval is the memorial to the New Zealand division.
|
