_1 km. 500 beyond Guillemont is =Trônes Wood=, to reach which, take the Montauban road (G.C. 64) on the left at the fork of the village._
[Illustration: GUILLEMONT. SITE OF THE DESTROYED VILLAGE.]
[Illustration: MONUMENT TO THE DEAD OF THE BRITISH 18TH DIVISION.]
=Trônes Wood= was the scene of much desperate fighting between the British and the Germans during the first fortnight of July, 1916.
The struggle was almost incessant from July 8 to July 14, the wood changing hands seven times (the Germans say they lost and retook it eighteen times running). On both sides the greatest bravery was displayed, despite terrible losses. British progress was long stayed by a concrete blockhouse (still existent) in the middle of the wood, from which, through slits in the walls, enemy machine-guns rained death unceasingly on the assaulting columns.
A battalion of the Royal West Kents remained forty-eight hours cut off in a corner of the wood to the north-east, and repulsed many furious assaults without loss of ground.
The trees were hacked to pieces by the shells. Among the stumps may be seen trenches, shelters, blockhouses and small forts. In the middle, to the right of the road, is a =pyramid= erected to the memory of the officers and men of the British 18th Division, killed in 1916-1918 in the Battle of the Somme _(photo above)_.
_At the end of the wood, near a rail track on the right, and fifty yards from the road, is a concrete blockhouse (photo below)._
[Illustration: TRÔNES WOOD. MACHINE-GUN BLOCKHOUSE.]
_Return by the same road to the fork at Guillemont, and take the road on the left (leaving that going to Combles on the right). 50 yards farther on, take the road to =Ginchy= on the right_. This little village _(1 km. from Guillemont)_ lies on the western slope of the high "Ancien Télégraphe," plateau formerly chosen by Chappe as a telegraph post.
Situated at the crossing of six roads, Ginchy defended Combles (4 km. to the south-east) on the north-west. Partly conquered on September 3, 1916, Ginchy was only completely occupied by the British on September 9, after a terrible struggle lasting three days, in the ruins of the village (entirely destroyed). The Irish troops (Connaught, Leinster and Munster Regiments) particularly distinguished themselves.