Gueudecourt village lies on the Le Sars–Le Transloy road, north-east of Flers and north-west of Lesbœufs. Behind Gueudecourt lay open country which had hardly been shelled with Le Barque in the middle distance and then Bapaume beyond. German troops passed through the village in late September 1914 during the First Battle of Albert, part of a series of reciprocal operations by the German and Franco-British armies, to advance round the northern flank of their opponent during the operations known as the Race to the Sea. The village became a backwater until 1916 when a third line of defence was dug behind the Somme front, as part of the German preparations to receive the British-French offensive being prepared on the Somme.