The Battle of Thiepval Ridge was the first large offensive mounted by the Reserve Army of Lieutenant General Hubert Gough during the Battle of the Somme and was intended to benefit from the Fourth Army attack at Morval by starting 24 hours afterwards. The battle was fought on a front from Courcelette in the east, near the Albert–Bapaume road to Thiepval and the Schwaben Redoubt () in the west, which overlooked the German defences further north in the Ancre valley and the rising ground towards Beaumont Hamel and Serre beyond. Thiepval Ridge was well fortified and the German defenders fought with great determination, while the British coordination of infantry and artillery declined after the first day, due to the confused nature of the fighting in the mazes of trenches, dug-outs and shell-cr