Picardie
Picardy (; Picard and , , ) is a historical and cultural territory and a former administrative region located in northern France. The first mentions of this province date back to the Middle Ages: it gained its first official recognition in the ...
Somme __NOTOC__
Somme or The Somme may refer to: Places
*Somme (department), a department of France
* Somme, Queensland, Australia
* Canal de la Somme, a canal in France
*Somme (river), a river in France
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Somme'' (book), ...
Hauts-de-France
Hauts-de-France (; ; ), also referred to in English as Upper France, is the northernmost region of France, created by the territorial reform of French regions in 2014, from a merger of Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy. Its prefecture is Lille. ...
in northern
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. Its inhabitants are called ''Montalbanais'' in French.Somme habitants.fr
Geography
The commune is situated on the D64 road, some northeast of
Amiens
Amiens (English: or ; ; , or ) is a city and Communes of France, commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme (department), Somme Departments of France, department in the region ...
.
History
First World War
The village lies on the
First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
battlefield of the
Somme __NOTOC__
Somme or The Somme may refer to: Places
*Somme (department), a department of France
* Somme, Queensland, Australia
* Canal de la Somme, a canal in France
*Somme (river), a river in France
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Somme'' (book), ...
. Montauban lay close behind the German front-line and was turned into a fortified strongpoint. On 1 July 1916, the
first day on the Somme
The first day on the Somme (1 July 1916) was the beginning of the Battle of Albert the name given by the British to the first two weeks of the Battle of the Somme () in the First World War. Nine corps of the French Sixth Army and the Britis ...
, the village was seized by the British 30th Division in one of the few successful British advances of the day. In the village itself there is a monument to the Liverpool and Manchester 'Pals', who, as part of the 30th Division, were the first to reach the village.