Ancre British Cemetery

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Ancre British Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery
Beaumont-Hamel, cimetiere militaire britannique de l'Ancre 5-2-2.jpg
Ancre British Cemetery
Ancre British Cemetery
Details
Established1916
Location
Somme, France
CountryUnited Kingdom
Coordinates 50°04′05″N2°40′01″E / 50.0681°N 2.6670°E / 50.0681; 2.6670
TypeMilitary
No. of graves2540 total, 1335 unidentifiable
Website Official website
Find a Grave Ancre British Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery
FootnotesDesigned by Sir Reginald Blomfield

The Ancre British Cemetery is a cemetery located in the Somme region of France commemorating British and Commonwealth soldiers who fought in the Battle of the Somme in World War I. The cemetery contains mainly those who died on 1 July 1916 during the first Allied attack on the village of Beaumont-Hamel, on 3 September 1916 during the second Allied attack on the village, and on 13 November 1916 during the capture of the village and the nearby towns of Beaucourt-sur-Ancre and St. Pierre-Divion. [1] [2]

Contents

Location

The Ancre British Cemetery is located about 2 kilometers south of Beaumont-Hamel, on the stretch of the D50 road between the villages of Albert and Achiet-le-Grand. [1] It is located close to the Ancre River, 4.5 miles away from the town of Albert and 0.75 miles away from Beaucourt Hamel Station. [3] [4]

Attacks on Beaumont-Hamel

First attack

The first attack on Beaumont-Hamel occurred on 1 July 1916. It was carried out by the British 29th Division, with the 4th Division holding up the left and the 36th (Ulster) holding the right. [1] The attack failed miserably, with the British suffering over 20,000 killed and 37,000 wounded in three failed waves. In one of the regiments buried in the Ancre Cemetery, the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, only 68 men were fit to fight after the attack, with 324 killed or MIA and 368 wounded. [5]

Second attack

The second attack on Beaumont-Hamel occurred on 3 September and was also unsuccessful. [1]

Third attack and capture

On 13–14 November 1916 the 51st Highland, 63rd Royal Naval, 39th Western, and 19th Western Divisions finally succeeded in capturing the town. [1]

Establishment

History

The cemetery originally housed 517 men. [4] Following the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line in spring 1917, the British V Corps cleared the battlefield and buried the dead in a number of burial sites, which were later consolidated into the Ancre British Cemetery after the end of World War I. [6] Special memorials at the cemetery commemorate 16 soldiers whose graves were destroyed by artillery fire and 43 known casualties assumed to be buried among the unknown. [4]

Former burial sites moved into Ancre

Former burial sites of soldiers now buried in Ancre British Cemetery include: [3]

Statistics

Of the 2,540 men currently buried at Ancre, 1,335 were unable to be identified and 1,179 were able to be identified.

Distribution of identifiable bodies:

Identified Burials by Nationality [6]
NationalityNumber of Burials
United Kingdom1184
Canada24
New Zealand2
Germany1
Total1211
Identified Burials by Unit [3]
Unit NameNumber buriedUnit NameNumber buried
Royal Naval Division410Royal Fusiliers – City of London Regiment115
Honourable Artillery Company63Bedfordshire Regiment58
Rifle Brigade56King's Royal Rifle Corps43
Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers40Royal Irish Fusiliers39
Sherwood Foresters – Notts. & Derbys Regiment36Royal Dublin Fusiliers34
Hampshire Regiment28Royal Sussex Regiment24
Royal Irish Rifles22Royal Newfoundland Regiment22
Gordon Highlanders21King's Own Scottish Borderers19
Border Regiment16Royal Welsh Fusiliers16
Northumberland Fusiliers9Manchester Regiment7
Royal Field Artillery6South Staffordshire Regiment6
South Wales Borderers6West Yorkshire Regiment6
King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry5Royal Engineers5
Dorsetshire Regiment4Royal Berkshire Regiment4
Somerset Light Infantry4Black Watch – Royal Highlanders3
Devonshire Regiment3East Yorkshire Regiment3
Essex Regiment3Lancashire Fusiliers3
Royal Warwickshire Regiment3Cheshire Regiment2
East Lancashire Regiment2Gloucestershire Regiment2
King's Liverpool Regiment2Lincolnshire Regiment2
Loyal North Lancashire Regiment2Middlesex Regiment2
New Zealand units2North Irish Horse2
Seaforth Highlanders2Worcestershire Regiment2
York & Lancaster Regiment2Duke of Wellington – West Riding Regiment1
Highland Light Infantry1Labour Corps1
Leicestershire Regiment117th Bn. London Regiment – Poplar & Stepney Rifles1
18th Bn. London Regiment – London Irish Rifles1Machine Gun Corps – Infantry1
North Staffordshire Regiment1Royal Army Medical Corps1
Royal West Kent Regiment – Queen's Own1Welch Regiment1

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Cemetery Details | CWGC". www.cwgc.org. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  2. "Ancre British Cemetery in France | Rutland Remembers". www.rutlandremembers.org. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 "Ancre British Cemetery, Beuamont-Hamel". silentwitness.freeservers.com. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 "North Irish Horse – Ancre British Cemetery". www.northirishhorse.com.au. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  5. Higgins, Jenny (April 2015). "Beaumont Hamel: July 1, 1916". Newfoundland & Labrador in the First World War. Archived from the original on 23 May 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  6. 1 2 "Ancre British Cemetery, Somme, France (CWGC)". WW1 Cemeteries.com – A photographic guide to over 4000 military cemeteries and memorials. Retrieved 12 February 2021.