|
|
|
Memorial:
|
THIEPVAL
MEMORIAL, Somme, France |
|
Grave
Reference/ |
Pier
and Face 3 A and 3 D |
|
Location:
|
The Thiepval Memorial will be found on the D73, off the
main Bapaume to Albert road (D929). |
|
Historical
Information: |
On 1
July 1916, supported by a French attack to the south, thirteen divisions of
Commonwealth forces launched an offensive on a line from north of Gommecourt
to Maricourt. Despite a preliminary bombardment lasting seven days, the
German defences were barely touched and the attack met unexpectedly fierce
resistance. Losses were catastrophic and with only minimal advances on the
southern flank, the initial attack was a failure. In the following weeks,
huge resources of manpower and equipment were deployed in an attempt to
exploit the modest successes of the first day. However, the German Army resisted
tenaciously and repeated attacks and counter attacks meant a major battle for
every village, copse and farmhouse gained. At the end of September, Thiepval
was finally captured. The village had been an original objective of 1 July.
Attacks north and east continued throughout October and into November in
increasingly difficult weather conditions. The Battle of the Somme finally
ended on 18 November with the onset of winter. In the spring of 1917, the
German forces fell back to their newly prepared defences, the Hindenburg
Line, and there were no further significant engagements in the Somme sector
until the Germans mounted their major offensive in March 1918. The Thiepval
Memorial, the Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, bears the names of more
than 72,000 officers and men of the United Kingdom and South African forces
who died in the Somme sector before 20 March 1918 and have no known grave.
Over 90% of those commemorated died between July and November 1916. The
memorial also serves as an Anglo-French Battle Memorial in recognition of the
joint nature of the 1916 offensive and a small cemetery containing equal
numbers of Commonwealth and French graves lies at the foot of the memorial.
The memorial, designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, was built between 1928 and 1932
and unveiled by the Prince of Wales, in the presence of the President of
France, on 31 July 1932. The dead of other Commonwealth countries who died on
the Somme and have no known graves are commemorated on national memorials
elsewhere. |