BAZENTIN-LE-PETIT COMMUNAL CEMETERY EXTENSION
Somme
France
GPS Coordinates - Latitude: 50.0318, Longitude: 2.76718
Location Information
Bazentin is a village in the Department of the Somme, to the north-east of Albert, containing the villages of Bazentin-le-Grand and Bazentin-le-Petit.
Take the D929 (Albert-Bapaume road) from Albert and travel 8 Kms. In the village of Pozieres, turn south onto the D73 to Bazentin and the village of Bazentin-le-Petit is 3 Kms further on.
The Communal Cemetery is on the east side of the village and is joined on the north by the extension.
Visiting Information
Wheelchair access is possible with some difficulty.
Historical Information
Bazentin was in German hands until 14 July 1916 when the 3rd and 7th Divisions captured the two villages (and the communal cemetery) and held them against counter-attacks, and the 21st Division captured Bazentin-le-Petit Wood. The ground was lost in April 1918 during the great German advance but recaptured on the following 25 August by the 38th (Welsh) Division.
The COMMUNAL CEMETERY contains two Commonwealth burials dating from August 1916.
The COMMUNAL CEMETERY EXTENSION was begun immediately after the capture of the village and used until December 1916 as a front-line cemetery. It was enlarged after the Armistice when 50 graves were brought in from the battlefields of Bazentin and Contalmaison. It now contains 185 burials and commemorations of the First World War. 53 of the burials are unidentified and 59 (mainly of the 1st Northamptons) destroyed by shell fire are now represented by special memorials.
One British soldier was reburied in this cemetery from Sailly-Laurette German Cemetery (near the West side of the road from Sailly-Laurette to Morlancourt), which contained 556 German burials.
Total Burials: 185.
Identified Casualties: United Kingdom 130, Canada 2. Total 132.
Captain
Horace Arthur Clark
24th Bn. London Regiment
14th September 1916, aged 32.
Row F. 5.
Son of Mrs. Chirston Clark, of Fairfield, Wormley, Herts.
Horace Arthur Clark
24th Bn. London Regiment
14th September 1916, aged 32.
Row F. 5.
Son of Mrs. Chirston Clark, of Fairfield, Wormley, Herts.
Images in this gallery © Werner Van Caneghem
446450 Lance Sergeant
Thomas Jesse Ebden
2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles Battalion
30th September 1916
Row H. 17.
Thomas Jesse Ebden
2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles Battalion
30th September 1916
Row H. 17.
Second Lieutenant
William Robert McCann
7th Bn. Durham Light Infantry
11th October 1916, aged 19.
Row B. 30.
Son of Mr. and Mrs. James McCann, "Fernagh," Whiteabbey, Belfast.
William Robert McCann
7th Bn. Durham Light Infantry
11th October 1916, aged 19.
Row B. 30.
Son of Mr. and Mrs. James McCann, "Fernagh," Whiteabbey, Belfast.
A portrait of a smiling group of Gordon Highlanders in a reserve trench, Bazentin-le-Petit, November 1916. © IWM Q 4475
Battle of Bazentin Ridge 14 -17 July. A row of exhausted soldiers lying stretched on the ground after a tour of duty in the trenches. © IWM Q 172
Royal Engineers resting by the roadside near Bazentin, February 1917. © IWM Q 4709
Battle of the Ancre. Officers of the Royal Artillery at the entrance to their dug-out. Near Bazentin, November 1916. © IWM Q 4604
