BATTLE OF THE SOMME

BATTLE OF THE SOMME CEMETERY INFORMATION On 1 July 1916, the British and French armies attacked German forces around the River Somme. The fighting raged for 141 days, and by November there were over one million casualties on both sides. The Battle of the Somme and its notorious first day – the worst in British military history – were among the defining events of the First World War. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries and memorials tell the story. 4 3 2 5 1 4 1 THIEPVAL MEMORIAL & ANGLO-FRENCH CEMETERY Rue de L’Ancre, 80300 Thiepval, France Thiepval is the largest CWGC memorial to the missing in the world, with over 72,000 names of soldiers with no known grave commemorated here. The Thiepval Anglo-French Cemetery contains 600 Commonwealth and French graves. 2 DEVONSHIRE CEMETERY D938, 80300 Mametz, France There are just two rows of headstones in this intimate cemetery. All but two of the graves belong to soldiers of the Devonshire Regiment who were buried here, in the trench from which they attacked the village of Mametz, on 1 July 1916. At the entrance you will see a stone marker proudly proclaims that “the Devonshires held this trench, the Devonshires hold it still.” 3 WARLENCOURT BRITISH CEMETERY Route Nationale, 62450 Warlencourt-Eaucourt, France This cemetery is built on the site of some of the last brutal fighting of the Somme Offensive. Bodies were recovered and brought here from the surrounding area in 1919. 4 CATERPILLAR VALLEY CEMETERY D20, 80360 Longueval, France Begun in 1918, when 25 servicemen were buried here (now plot 1), this beautiful cemetery is now the final resting place of over 5,500 men, including many New Zealand soldiers. 5 SERRE ROAD CEMETERY NO.2 D919, 62116 Hébuterne, France The village of Serre saw some of the worst British losses and is now the site of many CWGC cemeteries. Today, Serre Road Cemetery No.2 is the largest CWGC cemetery on the Somme and the final resting place of over 7,000 servicemen. IWM Q1