SHEFFIELD MEMORIAL PARK
Hébuterne
Pas De Calais
France
Location Information
Hébuterne is a village in the Department of the Pas-de-Calais.
Using the D919 from Arras to Amiens you will drive through the villages of Bucquoy and Puisieux and then Serre-lès-Puisieux (approximately 20 kilometres south of Arras). On leaving Serre-lès-Puisieux, 600 metres further along the D919 there is a right hand turn onto a small lane which will take you directly to Sheffield Memorial Park. It must, however, be emphasised that this lane is not suitable for cars and buses.
Important Information from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission for visitors 2018
We have been informed that some visitors have experienced intimidating behaviour from a local resident when visiting this site. Please do not park on verges or cut across the fields which are private land or block any of the tracks. Should you encounter any problems, we recommend you leave at once and file a formal complaint: contact the local police (Gendarmerie) at Beaumetz-lès-Loges, tel +33 3 21 55 22 17, e-mail the town hall of Serre-les-Puisieux at ville.puisieux@wanadoo.fr, or make a statement at your local police station and send a copy to the British Embassy, 35 rue du Faubourg St-Honoré, 75383 Paris Cedex 08 or via email bds.commemorations@fco.gov.uk who will then forward it to the local authorities.
Historical Information
This is a wooded area where the original frontline trenches and the shell-holes in the ground have been preserved. It was first opened as a memorial park in 1936. There is an information tablet placed by Sheffield City Council near the front of the park. This has a coloured map, showing the positions of the various battalions here on July the 1st 1916, along with the German trenches and machine-gun positions they advanced against.
The memorial park slopes downhill, and the land still bears the scars of battle, with shell-holes and vague outlines of other trenches still visible today. Within the park are a number of memorials to the various “Pals” battalions that fought here or near here that day. The largest is a brick built structure commemorating the Accrington Pals, shown below.
Right next to the Accrington Pals memorial are two smaller stone memorials with bronze plaques set on their fronts (picture below). These commemorate the Y (Chorley) and Z (Burnley and district) Companies of the 11th East Lancashire Regiment. The inscriptions are in both English and French. At the base of the Chorley Pals plaque are the words ‘Where larks sing and poppies grow they sleep in peace for evermore‘.
Another brick built structure, a shelter, is in memory of the Sheffield City Battalion (picture below). This battalion suffered tremendous losses, with just under 500 casualties, which included 246 killed, plus a further 12 who later died of their wounds. Only four of the officers who attacked here survived.
There is also a memorial to the Barnsley Pals, in the form of a black granite stone (photo below). The funds for this were raised by businesses, the council and individuals from Barnsley, and it was unveiled in 1998, seven years after the last veteran of the Barnsley Pals had died.
There are also various smaller commemorations, often in the form of wooden notices nailed to trees, throughout the park.
Hébuterne is a village in the Department of the Pas-de-Calais.
Using the D919 from Arras to Amiens you will drive through the villages of Bucquoy and Puisieux and then Serre-lès-Puisieux (approximately 20 kilometres south of Arras). On leaving Serre-lès-Puisieux, 600 metres further along the D919 there is a right hand turn onto a small lane which will take you directly to Sheffield Memorial Park. It must, however, be emphasised that this lane is not suitable for cars and buses.
Important Information from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission for visitors 2018
We have been informed that some visitors have experienced intimidating behaviour from a local resident when visiting this site. Please do not park on verges or cut across the fields which are private land or block any of the tracks. Should you encounter any problems, we recommend you leave at once and file a formal complaint: contact the local police (Gendarmerie) at Beaumetz-lès-Loges, tel +33 3 21 55 22 17, e-mail the town hall of Serre-les-Puisieux at ville.puisieux@wanadoo.fr, or make a statement at your local police station and send a copy to the British Embassy, 35 rue du Faubourg St-Honoré, 75383 Paris Cedex 08 or via email bds.commemorations@fco.gov.uk who will then forward it to the local authorities.
Historical Information
This is a wooded area where the original frontline trenches and the shell-holes in the ground have been preserved. It was first opened as a memorial park in 1936. There is an information tablet placed by Sheffield City Council near the front of the park. This has a coloured map, showing the positions of the various battalions here on July the 1st 1916, along with the German trenches and machine-gun positions they advanced against.
The memorial park slopes downhill, and the land still bears the scars of battle, with shell-holes and vague outlines of other trenches still visible today. Within the park are a number of memorials to the various “Pals” battalions that fought here or near here that day. The largest is a brick built structure commemorating the Accrington Pals, shown below.
Right next to the Accrington Pals memorial are two smaller stone memorials with bronze plaques set on their fronts (picture below). These commemorate the Y (Chorley) and Z (Burnley and district) Companies of the 11th East Lancashire Regiment. The inscriptions are in both English and French. At the base of the Chorley Pals plaque are the words ‘Where larks sing and poppies grow they sleep in peace for evermore‘.
Another brick built structure, a shelter, is in memory of the Sheffield City Battalion (picture below). This battalion suffered tremendous losses, with just under 500 casualties, which included 246 killed, plus a further 12 who later died of their wounds. Only four of the officers who attacked here survived.
There is also a memorial to the Barnsley Pals, in the form of a black granite stone (photo below). The funds for this were raised by businesses, the council and individuals from Barnsley, and it was unveiled in 1998, seven years after the last veteran of the Barnsley Pals had died.
There are also various smaller commemorations, often in the form of wooden notices nailed to trees, throughout the park.
Pictures in gallery below © Johan Pauwels
