Editing Hawthorn Ridge Redoubt (section)

===1915–1916===
On New Year's Eve 1915, a small mine was sprung under Redan Ridge north of [[Beaumont-Hamel]], followed by German mine explosions on {{nowrap|2, 8 and 9}} January. British mines were blown on {{nowrap|16, 17 and 18}} January 1916 and both sides sprung mines in February; the Germans then dug a defensive gallery parallel to the front line to prevent surprises.{{sfn|Sheldon|2006|pp=62, 98}} On the night of {{nowrap|6/7 April}} a German raid by II Battalion, Reserve Infantry Regiment 119 (RIR 119) took place near Y Ravine, against the 2nd South Wales Borderers of the [[29th Division (United Kingdom)|29th Division]] and caused 112 casualties, for a loss of three killed and one man wounded. A big raid by the British on 30 April was seen by alert defenders and repulsed by small-arms fire and artillery as soon as it began. A report by the local German commander, showed that the preparations for the raid had been noticed a week before the attempt.{{sfn|Sheldon|2006|pp=108–109}}

After the [[Second Battle of Champagne]] in 1915, construction of a third line another {{cvt|3000|yd|m}} back from the {{lang|de|Stützpunktlinie}} had been begun in February 1916 and was nearly complete on the Somme front by 1 July.{{sfn|Wynne|1976|pp=100–101}} Divisional sectors north of the Albert–Bapaume road were about {{cvt|3.75|mi}} wide.{{sfn|Duffy|2007|p=122}} German artillery was organised in a series of {{lang|de|Sperrfeuerstreifen}} (barrage sectors). A telephone system was built with lines buried {{cvt|6|ft}} deep, for {{cvt|5|mi}} behind the front line, to connect the front line to the artillery. The Somme defences had two inherent weaknesses which the rebuilding had not remedied: The first was that the front trenches were on a forward slope, lined by white chalk from the [[subsoil]] and easily seen by ground observers. The second was that the defences were crowded towards the front trench, with a regiment having two battalions near the front-trench system and the reserve battalion divided between the {{lang|de|Stützpunktlinie}} and the second line, all within {{cvt|2200|yd}} of the front line, accommodated in the new deep dugouts.{{sfn|Wynne|1976|pp=100–103}}