Battle of Gavrelle Windmill
Battle of Gavrelle Windmill
Unit/ Formation: Royal Marines Location: France Period/ Conflict: World War I Year: 1917 Date/s: 28th to 29th April 1917
(1RM: 169 killed & 29 POW; 2RM 166 killed & 176 POW)
The battle of Gavrelle saw the highest number of Royal Marine causalities in a single day in the history of the corps, with 846 recorded as killed, missing or wounded.
B Company of the 1st RM Battalion reconnoitred the previous night and found extensive barbed wire fences in front of a defensive position, they were scheduled to attack the following day, was still intact. This proved to be a major contributing factor to the very high losses.
The 1st Battalion Royal Marine Light Infantry was effectively wiped out when it charged a German Strongpoint, north of the village, with the barbed wire still intact.
The 2nd Battalion suffered just as badly, particularly in the fighting around the windmill that formed part of the German Line, north east of the village.
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