New Zealand Memorial - map of the battleground at the time of the Somme
The Memorial stands on the ridge between High Wood and Delville Wood, ground taken in the first ever tank attack on 15 September.
There were 49 tanks in France, and 32 reached the start line for the attack. Some made good progress: one correspondent reported that one was walking up the high street of Flers with the British Army cheering behind it. Shocked Germans described tanks as 'the Devil's Chariots.'
This attack, officially the battle of Flers-Courcelette, made good progress, but ran out of momentum in the German third position with autumn at hand and a blighted battlefield standing between the attackers and their reinforcements.
