Delville wood cemetery | |
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Commonwealth War Graves Commission | |
Used for those deceased Sep 1914 – Oct 1918 | |
Established | Concentration cemetery. 1920 onwards |
Location | 50°1′31″N2°48′46″E / 50.02528°N 2.81278°E near |
Total burials | 5,523 |
Unknowns | 3,593 |
Commemorated | 27 |
Burials by nation | |
Allied Powers:
| |
Burials by war | |
World War I: 5,523 | |
Official name | Funerary and memory sites of the First World War (Western Front) |
Type | Cultural |
Criteria | i, ii, vi |
Designated | 2023 (45th session) |
Reference no. | 1567-SE05 |
Delville Wood Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery located near Longueval, France and the third largest in the Somme battlefield area.
Sited opposite the Delville Wood South African Memorial and designed by Sir Herbert Baker, Delville Wood cemetery is located just off the D20 that runs between Longueval and Guillemont (11 km east of Albert), France and contains 5,523 burials of which two-thirds are unknown.
The cemetery was constructed after the Armistice and mainly contains bodies recovered from the battlefields. A smaller number of graves were moved in from nearby French and German cemeteries.
Almost all of the casualties date from July-September 1916 and are from the various Battles of Delville Wood. The high proportion of unknown graves probably reflects lengthy period which elapsed before many of the bodies were removed from the battlefield and buried. [1]
The German cemeteries from which remains were moved were:
Allied cemeteries from which remains were moved were:
The cemetery contains special memorials to the 27 casualties believed to be buried amongst the 3,593 unidentified burials.
Sergeant Albert Gill, of the 1st Battalion King's Royal Rifle Corps, is buried in the cemetery. He was killed on 27 July 1916 during the fighting in Delville Wood whilst standing up under fire to direct his troops, an act for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross.
Three bodies found during the building of the Delville Wood South African Memorial opposite the cemetery were interred in it in 1984.
The Battle of Delville Wood(15 July – 3 September 1916) was a series of engagements in the 1916 Battle of the Somme in the First World War, between the armies of the German Empire and the British Empire. Delville Wood (Bois d'Elville), was a thick tangle of trees, chiefly beech and hornbeam, with dense hazel thickets, intersected by grassy rides, to the east of Longueval. As part of a general offensive starting on 14 July, which became known as the Battle of Bazentin Ridge (14–17 July), General Douglas Haig, Commander of the British Expeditionary Force, intended to capture the German second position between Delville Wood and Bazentin le Petit.
The Battle of Ginchy took place on 9 September 1916 during the Battle of the Somme, when the 16th (Irish) Division captured the German-held village. Ginchy is 0.93 mi (1.5 km) north-east of Guillemont, at the junction of six roads, on a rise overlooking Combles, 2.5 mi (4 km) to the south-east. After the conclusion of the Battle of Guillemont on 6 September, XIV Corps and XV Corps were required to complete the advance to positions which would give observation over the German third position. The advance was to make ready for a general attack in mid-September, for which the Anglo-French armies had been preparing since early August.
Twelve Tree Copse Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery containing the remains of Allied troops who died during the Gallipoli campaign. It is located about one kilometre (0.62 mi) south-west of Krithia on the Gallipoli Peninsula.
Longueval is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France.
The Pozières Memorial is a World War I memorial, located near the commune of Pozières, in the Somme department of France, and unveiled in August 1930. It lists the names of 14,657 British and South African soldiers of the Fifth and Fourth Armies with no known grave who were killed between 21 March 1918 and 7 August 1918, during the German advance known as the Spring Offensive, and the period of Allied consolidation and recovery that followed. The final date is determined by the start of the period known as the Advance to Victory on 8 August.
The Delville Wood South African National Memorial is a World War I memorial, located in Delville Wood, near the commune of Longueval, in the Somme department of France. It is opposite the Delville Wood Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery, on the other side of the Longueval–Ginchy road.
The Buttes New British Cemetery Memorial is a World War I memorial, located in Buttes New British Cemetery, near the town of Zonnebeke, Belgium. It commemorates 378 officers and men of the New Zealand Division who were killed in the vicinity and have no known grave.
Blighty Valley Cemetery is a World War I cemetery located about 4 kilometres north-east of the town of Albert, Somme in northern France. It contains 1,027 burials and commemorations of Commonwealth soldiers who died in 1916 during the Battle of the Somme. Most of the burials are of soldiers who died on 1 July 1916, which was the first day of the Battle of Albert.
Quéant Road Cemetery is a World War I cemetery located between the villages of Buissy and Quéant in the Nord-Pas de Calais region of France. Situated on the north side of the D14 road, about three kilometres from Buissy, it contains 2,377 burials and commemorations of Commonwealth soldiers who died in the era of 1917 and 1918. The first burials were of soldiers who died in the period from September to November 1918. Following the Armistice the cemetery was enlarged to accommodate over 2,200 burials moved from surrounding battlefields and cemeteries.
Buttes New British Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission burial ground for the dead of the First World War located in the Ypres Salient in Belgium on the Western Front.
Caterpillar Valley Cemetery is a World War I Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery in Longueval, France.
Dantzig Alley British Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission burial ground for the dead of the First World War. It is located near the village of Mametz, eight kilometres from Albert in the Somme department of France.
The Assevillers New 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 soldiers who died on a variety of dates in several battles near the village of Assevillers.
The Aveluy Wood 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 honors mainly those who died on the front near Aveluy Wood and the village of Aveluy from June 1916 to February 1917 and from April to September 1918.
The Bernafay Wood 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 and against the German 1918 spring offensive in World War I. The cemetery contains mostly those who died between July 1916 and April 1917 and March–August 1918.
The Bulls Road Cemetery is a military 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 mostly those who died manning the front line near the village of Flers between September 1916 and March 1917 and between March 1918 and September 1918. The cemetery is managed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
The Cerisy-Gailly Military Cemetery is a military cemetery located in the Somme region of France commemorating British and Commonwealth soldiers who fought in World War I. The cemetery contains mainly those who died on the front line near the village of Cerisy between February 1917 and March 1918 and during the Allied recapture of the village in August 1918.
The Combles Communal Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery Extension is a military 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 near the village of Combles between October 1916 and March 1917 and between May and September 1918.
https://www.ww1cemeteries.com/delville-wood-cemetery.html*