Somme - Montabaun

On the 1^st July the 30^th Division was to attack to the right, 18^th Division left, with the 9^th Division in reserve. The three stage plan was supported by a creeping barrage. The 3oth Division was tasked with securing their first objective between the Maricourt Ridgeand Montauban by 8:28 am, and  the plan was to achieve this with two Brigades. Once the initial objecto9ves were secured, the remaining Brigade would pass through and seize Montauban

Montauban was another success for the British. Counter Battery fire had destroyed many of the German guns so there was little enemy artillery response to the British advance. The preliminary bombardment had been effective. Many of the German soldiers were suffering from exhaustion and shell shock. Consequently only small pockets of resistance existed. In Montauban it’s self the only thing found alive was a fox.

  In sharp contrast to the Pals memorial at Serre which signified the slaughter on the Somme, the Pals from Liverpool and Manchester who secured the village on 1^st July 1916 had achieved their objective, and advanced the furthest of any unit on the first day of the Somme