The Bazentin-le-Petit Military Cemetery is a

military cemetery A war grave is a burial place for members of the armed forces or civilians who died during military campaigns or operations. Definition The term "war grave" does not only apply to graves: ships sunk during wartime are often considered to b ...

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 is managed by the

Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations m ...

, and honors those who died on the front line near Bazentin from late July 1916 to May 1917.

Location

The cemetery is located on the west 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

The cemetery was established in late July 1916 and was used by units operating on the front line until May 1917. It was originally called the Singer Circus Cemetery.

Statistics

The cemetery contains 182 burials, of which 15 are unidentified. The 33 German graves in the cemetery were moved to another location in 1922. Overall, the Bazentin-le-Petit cemeteries cover an area of 1824 square yards. Bazentin-le-Petit Military Cemetery Plan

Bazentin-le-Petit Military Cemetery Plan

References

{{reflist World War I cemeteries in France Cemeteries in Somme (department)