British soldiers digging a communication trench through Delville Wood, John Warwick Brooke, July 1916. Image courtesy Imperial War Museum ©IWM (Q 4417).
- 3,000 soldiers of the 1st South African Brigade occupy Delville Wood, a key Allied military objective at the southern end of the British line on the Western Front. They are met by fierce German machine gun and artillery fire and a series of brutal counter-attacks. The South African Brigade maintains their position amid atrocious weather conditions; just 143 men are left standing when they are relieved five days later. Delville Wood later became known as “Devil’s Wood”.
- Allied troops continue to gain territory on the Western Front, advancing to Bois des Foureaux and the outskirts of Pozieres
- German troops re-enter Biaches and La Maisonette south of Somme, they are again driven out by the French
