Launched in September 1916, the Battle of Flers-Courcelette was a major offensive within the larger Somme Campaign. It is perhaps most famous for marking the first time tanks were used on a battlefield. The objective was to punch a decisive hole in the German defensive lines using this new armored technology alongside infantry assaults.
Despite the initial shock value of the tanks and some tactical gains—including the capture of the villages of Flers and Courcelette—the offensive eventually bogged down in the mud and fierce German counter-attacks. The infantry endured horrific conditions, advancing over heavily cratered ground under relentless artillery and machine-gun fire. ► Read more...
The brutal reality of this renewed push on the Somme exacted a heavy toll on the men from South Wales. Specialist technical troops like Pioneer Edmund Rowlands of the Royal Engineers and front-line infantrymen like Private Earnest Prosser of the 2nd Welsh Regiment fought and ultimately fell during this devastating phase of the campaign, their sacrifices forever linked to one of the most intense and technologically transformative battles of the First World War.