British soldiers eating hot rations in the Ancre Valley during the Battle of the Somme, October 1916. The battle of the Ancre Heights of 1 October-11 November 1916 was part of the wider first battle of the Somme. It was fought on the left of the British line of the Somme, with the aim of pinching out a German salient on the Ancre River created by the limited British advances further along the line.