On the day of attack, the fighting was none the less desperate in the neighbourhood, and afterwards inside the village. The French advance was several times held by furious counter-attacks, and it was only on September 18 that the whole position could be surrounded and carried, after several days of bitter fighting. Of Deniécourt village, château and park, not a stone or a tree remained. _Return to the car and take the road already followed (G.C. 164) back to the fork (300 yards north of the village), then the road to =Soyécourt= (G.C. 79), on the left._ At the entrance to Soyécourt the ruins of a château--of which only the base of one tower remains--will be seen on the left. [Illustration: SOYÉCOURT CHURCH IN 1916.] For nearly two years the French first lines ran close to the western outskirts of this village, which lies at the bottom of a ravine. On several occasions the communiqués mentioned sharp fighting around here, which was, however, merely of local importance. It was only on September 4, 1916, that decisive fighting took place here, when the French, after a long and terrific bombardment, carried the village in a single rush, and progressed beyond it in the direction of Deniécourt. _Leaving Soyécourt, keep along G.C. 79 to =Vermandovillers= (2 km.)._ On September 4, 1916, the village was attacked from the east and north. Progress was slow, and marked by fierce fighting from house to house. Vermandovillers was only captured in its entirety on September 17. _At the fork in the village, take the left-hand road (G.C. 143) to =Chaulnes=._ [Illustration: VERMANDOVILLERS.] [Illustration: CHAULNES WOOD. GERMAN BLOCKHOUSE.] Chaulnes =Chaulnes Wood= is crossed 1 km. this side of Chaulnes. Violent attacks were delivered by the French in the vicinity of this wood. The large number of soldiers' graves along both sides of the road form an impressive sight. _Several hundred yards beyond the fork formed in the road by the junction with G.C. 206 coming from Lihons, turn to the left, and enter =Chaulnes=_ in front of the ruins of the large eighteenth century church. A few fragments of crumbling walls are all that remain _(photos, p. 130)_. Chaulnes, the chief town of one of the "cantons" in the "Département" of the Somme, was situated at the junction of several railroads. In 1914, the Germans turned the place into a fortress, and made it the chief strong-point of their system of defence-works south of the Somme. Traces of the powerful fortifications--the first lines of which were only carried in 1916--may still be seen along and near G.C. 206, amidst the churned-up ground. [Illustration: CHAULNES WOOD. FRENCH MILITARY GRAVES.] [Illustration: CHAULNES CHURCH.] The village was flanked on the north and north-west by dense woods, which were entirely destroyed by the bombardments. These woods were full of fortified works, trenches and posts for machine-guns, protected by wire entanglements.