Thiepval Memorial and Anglo-French Cemetery | Richard Cartwright

Rich In History

The Thiepval Memorial commemorates by name 72338 men who fell in the Somme sector up to 20 March 1918 and who have no known grave. The majority of whom died during the Somme offensive of 1916.

The memorial was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and unveiled by The Prince of Wales on 1 August 1932. It is the largest of the Commonwealth’s memorials, standing on the site of one of the most heavily defended positions to be attacked on the first day of the battle when Commonwealth casualties – killed, wounded and missing – numbered more than 60,000.

The memorial is the largest Commonwealth Memorial to the missing in the world. It comprises a series of intersecting arches which increase in height and proportionate width. Construction started in 1928. The foundations were dug to a depth of 30 feet, and during construction wartime tunnels and unexploded ordanance were discovered

The Thiepval Anglo-French Cemetery, symbolising the Allied effort in the war, contains the graves of 300 Commonwealth and 300 French soldiers, the majority of whom are unidentified. The cemetery stands behind the Thiepval Memorial. It was decided in the winter of 1931-32 that a small mixed cemetery should be constructed at the foot of the Thiepval Memorial to represent the loss of both the French and Commonwealth nations. The bodies were found in December 1931 and January - March 1932, some as far north as Loos and as far sputh as Le Questnel, but the majority came from the Somme battlefields of July - November 2016.

The Thiepval Anglo-French Cemetery, symbolising the Allied effort in the war, contains the graves of 300 Commonwealth and 300 French soldiers, the majority of whom are unidentified.

Commonwealth Burials: 300 Commonwealt Unidentified: 239 French Burials: 300 French Unidentified: 253

GPS Location: Latitude: 50.05115 Latitude 2.68793