heir objective, the cavalry proceeded to
intrench, in order to protect the British infantry that was advancing
from High Wood.

Throughout the day's fighting the British airmen had been constantly
active despite the haze which hampered observation. In twenty-four
hours they had destroyed four Fokkers, three biplanes, and a
double-engined plane without the loss of a single British machine.

On July 15, 1916, the British consolidated the new ground they had
won, while their left advancing to the outskirts of Pozieres attacked
the Leipzig Redoubt, and renewed the struggle for Ovillers which had
been fought over with scarcely any pause since July 7, 1916. Strong
counterattacks by the German Seventh Division forced the British out
of High Wood, or the greater portion of it, but the loss was not
serious, the place having served its purpose as a screen for the
British while consolidating their line.

Perhaps the fiercest struggle in this area was waged around Longueval
and Delville Wood, which became popularly known by the soldiers as
"Devil Wood." The struggle started there on the morning of July 14,
1916, and continued almost without pause for thirteen days. The losses
on both sides reached a formidable figure.

A better situation for defense could not have been selected. Delville
Wood presented a frightful jungle of shattered tree trunks and ragged
bushes interspersed with shell holes. There were cuttings through it
along which ranged the German trenches. Some seventy yards from the
trees on the north and east sides the Germans had a strong trench that
was crowded with machine guns, and the whole interior of the wood was
incessantly bombarded. Longueval, a straggling village to the
southwest of the wood, was a less troublesome problem.

Brigadier General Lukin's South African Brigade, which had been
ordered to clear the wood, succeeded in carrying it completely about
midday.

Those brigades which had been assigned the task of capturing Longueval
only gained a portion of it, and the Germans launching a counterattack
from the north end of the village, succeeded in forcing the British
back. Lukin's South Africans tried again on the 16th and 17th, but
failed with heavy losses, hanging on stubbornly to the southern
corner, where they were not relieved until the 20th.

It was during the four days' fighting in and around Delville Wood that
Lieutenant Colonel Thackera from the Transvaal, of the Third
Battalion, with Scots