From Ovillers, go to the Albert-Bapaume road (D929), turn right and drive back towards Albert.  Go round the roundabout and return to la Boisselle.  Take the right fork into the village.  Passing the Glory Hole on the right, turn right then fork right to the Lochnagar Crater, signed as ‘la Grande Mine’.

On 1 July, la Boisselle was to be assaulted by the 34th Division as a first step to Contalmaison and the German second line beyond.  The front lines in the village were very close and the ferocity of the 1915-1916 fighting, including many small mines, can still be seen in the cratered ground known as the Glory Hole among the houses.

The cratered ground of the heavily disputed No Man's Land in front of la Boisselle known as the Glory Hole.

The 102nd (Tyneside Scottish) Brigade aimed to capture la Boisselle by flanking attacks supported by large mines.  The Y Sap crater, north of the main road, was filled in during the 1970s but its outline can still be seen from Ovillers.  Southeast of the village, opposite a British trench called Lochnagar Street, a second mine using 60,000lbs (27 tonnes) of explosive created one of the largest craters on the Western Front.  The Lochnagar Crater has been preserved since the 1980s and is the focal point for regular services of remembrance.

Although small gains were made around Lochnagar, the Division’s attack was unsuccessful.  The German defenders of la Boisselle and Ovillers had deadly fields of fire covering the British advance.  This fact can be clearly seen today from the main road just before the village.  The result was some of the heaviest British casualties of the day.  It was four days before the village was taken.  On 7 July
Kitty Morter’s husband Percy was killed in an attack pushing northeast out of la Boisselle in support of an attempt to capture Ovillers.

Composite picture of the vast Lochnagar Crater ('La Grande Mine') at la Boisselle.