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The Battle of Delville Wood/Longueval 15th July - 19th July 1916 The sacrifice made by the S.A.Brigade. The task of capturing the wood was handed to the South African Brigade of some 3,153 men attached to the 9th Scottish Division part of XIII Corps. The Brigade Battle Order. General Officer Commanding Brigade. Brigadier Henry Timson Lukin. 1st S.A. Regiment ( Cape of Good Hope ) Commanded by Lieutenant Colonel F.S.Dawson. 2nd S.A. Regiment ( Natal and Orange Free State ) Commanded by Lieutenant Colonel W.E.C.Tanner. 3rd S.A. Regiment ( Transvaal and Rhodesia ) Commanded by Lieutenant Colonel E.F.Thackeray. 4th S.A. Regiment ( South African Scottish ) Commanded by Lieutenant Colonel F.A.Jones. 28th Brigade MG company composed of men of the H.L.I. reinforced by South Africans. S.A. Trench Mortar Battery. 64th Field Coy Royal Engineers ( attached ). 1st S.A. Field Ambulance S.A. Medical Corps. At dawn on the 15th July they went in following a heavy Artilliery battle, they managed to clear the southern edge of the wood the remainder of the wood remained in German hands. Hand to Hand fighting ensued, throughout bad weather ( it rained often ) and enemy artilliery fire which reached a crescendo of 400 shells a minute. the surrounding landscape was transformed into a mess of broken trees and massive shell holes. Mud and rainwater covered bodies of both South African and German Forces. The remnants of the Brigade were relieved on the night of the 19th July, out of 121 Officers and 3,032 other ranks who formed the Brigade on the 14 July only 29 Officers and 750 other ranks were present at roll call when the unit gathered some days later. and out of these only 147 men were fit to bear arms, the dead outnumbered the wounded by four to one. Many bodies remain in the woods today ( which is now in private hands ), the Germans lost 9,500 men, Delville Wood remained the most costly action the S.A. Brigade fought on the Western Front. Today the wood and near by Memorial are looked after by the South African Government, the Cemetery contains 5,493 burials almost two thirds of these are unknown. Over 146.000 White Africans volunteered for service in WW1, there were also 83,000 Black and 2,000 Coloured Africans who served in a non-combatant capacity. Below are a few photo's.