The Bazentin-le-Petit Communal Cemetery Extension is a

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

located in the

Somme __NOTOC__ Somme or The Somme may refer to: Places *Somme (department), a department of France * Somme, Queensland, Australia * Canal de la Somme, a canal in France *Somme (river), a river in France Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Somme'' (book), ...

region of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

commemorating

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

and

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

soldiers who fought in the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme (; ), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and the French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 Nove ...

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. The cemetery contains mostly those who died from 14 July 1916 to December 1916 near Bazentin-le-Petit and those who died on battlefields near the villages of Bazentin and

Contalmaison Contalmaison () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography Contalmaison is situated on the D147 and D20 crossroads, some northeast of Amiens. History As with many towns in this part of France, Conta ...

Location

The cemetery is located on the east side of the village of Bazentin-le-Petit, a subvillage of Bazentin, which is located approximately 8 kilometers northeast of the town of

Albert Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert Computers, Inc., a computer manufacturer in the 1980s * Albert Czech Republic, a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street mar ...

and 3 kilometers southeast of the village of Pozieres.

Fighting near Bazentin-le-Petit

Bazentin was held by the

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

until 14 July 1916, when the British 3rd and 7th Divisions captured it and the British 21st Division captured Bazentin-le-Petit Wood. The village was temporarily lost in the German spring offensive of 1918, but was recaptured by the 38th Welsh Division on 25 August of the same year.

Establishment of the Cemetery

History

The cemetery extension was begun immediately after the capture of the village of Bazentin-le-Petit in July 1916 and was used until December 1916 by units operating in the area. After the end of World War I, 50 casualties from other battlefields around the villages of Bazentin and

were reburied in the extension, including one British soldier who was previously buried in the Sailly-Laurette German Cemetery. One of the few distinguishable rows in the cemetery is Row B, which contains approximately 30 graves.

Statistics

The extension now contains 185 burials, of which 53 are unidentified and 132 are identified. 59 graves were destroyed by shellfire, and have since been replaced with special memorials. According to

Mount Allison University Mount Allison University (also Mount A or MtA) is a Canadian primarily undergraduate liberal arts university located in Sackville, New Brunswick, founded in 1839. Mount Allison was the first university in the British Empire to award a baccal ...

, one Australian is also buried in the cemetery. {, class="wikitable" , +Number of Burials by Unit{{Cite web, title=Bazentin-Le-Petit Communal Cemetery Extension, url=http://silentwitness.freeservers.com/cemeteryb/bazlepetitcom.htm, access-date=2021-03-20, website=silentwitness.freeservers.com , Northamptonshire Regiment , 47 , East Yorkshire Regiment , 22 , - , Northumberland Fusiliers , 14 , Highland Light Infantry , 11 , - , Durham Light Infantry , 7 , Royal Field Artillery , 5 , - , Black Watch , 3 , Cameronians - Scottish Rifles , 3 , - , Machine Gun Corps , 3 , Canadian burials , 2 , - , Gordon Highlanders , 2 , King's Royal Rifle Corps , 2 , - , Royal Engineers , 2 , Cameron Highlanders , 1 , - , Dorsetshire Regiment , 1 , Green Howards - Yorkshire Regiment , 1 , - , London Regiment - 24th Bn. The Queen's , 1 , Loyal North Lancashire Regiment , 1 , - , Manchester Regiment , 1 , Royal Army Medical Corps , 1 , - , Royal Fusiliers - City of London Regiment , 1 , Seaforth Highlanders , 1

References

Cemeteries in Somme (department)