Caterpillar Valley Cemetery is a

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 ...

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 mil ...

cemetery in Longueval, France. The cemetery is named after Caterpillar Valley which was the name given by the British army to the long valley which rises eastwards to the high ground at

Guillemont Guillemont () is a commune approximately east of Albert in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. It, like much of the surrounding area, is primarily an agricultural community, but is known for its large Commonwealth War ...

. The cemetery was established on 28 August 1918 following an advance by the

38th (Welsh) Division The 38th (Welsh) Division (initially the 43rd Division, later the 38th (Welsh) Infantry Division and then the 38th Infantry (Reserve) Division) of the British Army was active during both the First and Second World Wars. In 1914, the division w ...

and initially contained 25 graves. The cemetery was greatly expanded after the war after remains for a number of other battlefield cemeteries were concentrated here. Most dead are from autumn 1916; the remainder being August or September 1918. The cemetery contains 214

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

graves from the Battle of the Somme among the over 5000 graves, of which 3800 were unidentified. The cemetery and memorial were both designed by

Herbert Baker Sir Herbert Baker (9 June 1862 – 4 February 1946) was an English architect remembered as the dominant force in South African architecture for two decades, and a major designer of some of New Delhi's most notable government structures. He wa ...

New Zealand Unknown Warrior

On 6 November 2004, the remains of an unidentified New Zealand soldier were exhumed by staff of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission from Caterpillar Valley Cemetery Plot 14, Row A, Grave 27. The remains were later laid to rest within the

New Zealand Tomb of the Unknown Warrior The Tomb of the Unknown Warrior is part of the New Zealand National War Memorial on Buckle Street, Wellington. On 6 November 2004, the remains of an unknown New Zealand soldier were exhumed from the (CWGC) Caterpillar Valley Cemetery, and laid ...

at the National War Memorial, Wellington, New Zealand.

Caterpillar Valley New Zealand Memorial

Within the cemetery, there is a Memorial to the Missing from New Zealand, recording the names of 1205 New Zealand soldiers who were killed during the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...

and have no known final resting place. The Battle of the Somme was New Zealand's first major engagement on the Western Front. This is one of seven memorials in France and Belgium to New Zealand soldiers who died on the Western Front and whose graves are not known. No less than eight soldiers commemorated on the memorial have had their remains identified since the memorial was raised. This includes Bobby Black.

References

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External links

* https://www.ww1cemeteries.com/caterpillar-valley-cemetery.html - WW1cemeteries.com World War I cemeteries in France Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries in France Cemeteries in Somme (department)