The Battle of Morval, 25–28 September 1916, was an attack during the Battle of the Somme by the British Fourth Army on the villages of Morval, Gueudecourt and Lesboeufs held by the German 1st Army, which had been the final objectives of the Battle of Flers-Courcelette (15–22 September).
Deviock civil parish was created as recently as April 1997 from part of the former St Germans Parish; it also includes parts of St Martin-by-Looe and part of Morval.
Three days later, while on his first combat sortie, he shot down his first aircraft: an FE.2b on patrol over Morval.
The main British attack was postponed to combine with attacks by the French Sixth Army on the village of Combles, south of Morval, which were intended to bring the Sixth Army closer to the German defences between Moislains and Le Transloy, near the Péronne–Bapaume road (N 17).
To the north, the parish is bordered by Morval parish, to the east by Deviock parish, to the west by Looe parish and to the south by the sea.