Connaught Cemetery, Thiepval

Written by Mike
Connaught Cemetery was begun during autumn 1916.  It was considerably expanded after the Armistice by the concentration of graves from small cemeteries and battlefields in the area.  The majority of those buried in the cemetery were killed during the summer and autumn of 1916 Connaught Cemetery was begun during autumn 1916. It was considerably expanded after the Armistice by the concentration of graves from small cemeteries and battlefields in the area. The majority of those buried in the cemetery were killed during the summer and autumn of 1916

Connaught Cemetery near Thiepval was begun during the early autumn of 1916 and at the Armistice it contained 228 burials.

Connaught Cemetery was then very greatly increased when graves were brought in from battlefields in the immediate area and the following small cemeteries:

  • THIEPVAL VILLAGE CEMETERY, on the summit of the ridge, west of the road to Grandcourt. It contained the graves of 215 British soldiers who fell in 1916 (or in a few cases in 1918).
  • THIEPVAL VALLEY CEMETERY, on the south-east side of Thiepval Wood, contained 11 British graves.
  • QUARRY PALACE CEMETERY, THIEPVAL, close to the river and a little north-east of the hamlet of St. Pierre-Divion, contained 23 British graves of the autumn of 1916-17.
  • ST. PIERRE-DIVION CEMETERY No.1, THIEPVAL, a little south-east of that hamlet contained 10 British graves of November, 1916.
  • DIVION ROAD CEMETERY No.2, THIEPVAL, almost adjoining St. Pierre-Divion Cemetery No.1 contained 60 British graves of July, August and September, 1916.
  • SMALL CONNAUGHT CEMETERY, THIEPVAL, opposite Connaught Cemetery, across the road. It was made by the 11th Division in November, 1916, and contained the graves of 41 British soldiers who fell for the most part on the 1st July.
  • BATTERY VALLEY CEMETERY, GRANDCOURT, 800 metres south-west of that village, contained 56 British graves of November and December, 1916, and one of July, 1917.
  • PAISLEY HILLSIDE CEMETERY, AUTHUILE, on the south side of Thiepval Wood, alongside Paisley Avenue Cemetery, and named from the same trench. It contained 32 British graves of July and August, 1916, mainly of the 49th (West Riding) Division.
  • GORDON CASTLE CEMETERY, AUTHUILE, just inside the south border of Thiepval Wood. It contained 33 British graves (26 belonging to the 49th Division) of July-September, 1916 and the grave of one French soldier who fell in October, 1914.
  • BLUFF CEMETERY, AUTHUILE, 800 metres north of Authuile village, contained 43 British graves of July and September, 1916.

The vast majority of the burials in Connaught Cemetery are those of officers and men who died in the summer and autumn of 1916.

There are now 1,268 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated in the cemetery.

Just over half of the burials are unidentified, but special memorials commemorate two casualties believed to be buried among them and five buried in Divion Wood Cemetery No.2, whose graves could not be found on concentration.  Of the 643 unknown graves, 482 could not even be identified to their unit.

Connaught Cemetery was designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield and covers an area of 5,538 square yards. 

Connaught Cemetery is located immediately south of the Ulster Memorial, on the north side of Thiepval Wood

Mike

Mike

Mike McCormac has been a photographer since about ten years old.  He's a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society, and lives in a village in the hills near Paphos in Cyprus.

Read his full Bio

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