The Bazentin-le-Petit Communal Cemetery Extension is a

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

located in the Somme region of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

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. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

and Commonwealth soldiers who fought in the Battle of the Somme in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. 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.

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 (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia * Albert Productions, a record label * Alber ...

and 3 kilometers southeast of the village of Pozieres.

Fighting near Bazentin-le-Petit

Bazentin was held by the

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

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 Contalmaison 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, 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)