Courcelette Memorial

Courcelette (French pronunciation: [kuʁsəlɛt]) is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France.

Martinpuich is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France.

Adanac Military Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission burial ground for the dead of World War I located near the French villages of Miraumont, Pys and Courcelette and contains 3,187 interments, 1483 of whom are identified. The cemetery was formed after the war ended from the consolidation of existing burial sites into a 'concentration cemetery' by consolidating several smaller cemeteries onto the site. The name 'Adanac' is a reversal of word Canada, the home of over five hundred of the men interred there. The name was necessary because a cemetery near Cambrai that had been established during the war in October 1918 had already received the name "Canada Cemetery".

The Bazentin-le-Petit Military Cemetery is a military cemetery located in the Somme region of France commemorating British and Commonwealth soldiers who fought in the Battle of the Somme in World War I. The cemetery is managed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, and honors those who died on the front line near Bazentin from late July 1916 to May 1917.

Bazentin (French pronunciation: [bazɑ̃tɛ̃]) is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France.

The Bazentin-le-Petit Communal Cemetery Extension is a cemetery located in the Somme region of France commemorating British and Commonwealth soldiers who fought in the Battle of the Somme in World War I. 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.

Pozières ([pɔz.jɛːʁ]; Picard: Pozière) is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France.

The London Cemetery and Extension is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery at High Wood near Longueval, France. It is the third largest of the Somme battlefield cemeteries, containing 3,872 World War I burials. The cemetery stands directly opposite High Wood as it exists today. This area was the centre of fierce fighting in 1916 and the first interments at what would become the London Cemetery were 47 soldiers of the 47th (London) Division killed in the Battle of Flers-Courcelette on 15 September. These soldiers, barely a handful of those who had lost their lives in the attack, were buried in a large shell hole in the days following the battle. By the time of the Armistice, further burials had taken place, bringing the number of graves to 101. The Extension of the cemetery came in the years following the war when graves from the surrounding battlefields were transferred to the land around the London Cemetery, greatly increasing its size. Like a number of other cemeteries and memorials in the area, the London Cemetery and Extension was designed by architect Sir Herbert Baker. The original battlefield cemetery was left intact within The London Cemetery and Extension following its redesign. Although the cemetery primarily contains World War I graves, 165 soldiers were reburied there after World War II. These graves are together in one section at the far end of the cemetery.

Pys is a commune in the Somme département in Hauts-de-France in northern France.

The Capture of Le Sars was a tactical incident during the Battle of the Somme. Le Sars is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France. The village lies along the Albert–Bapaume road. The village is situated 16 mi (26 km) south of Arras, at the junction of the D 11 and the D 929 roads. Courcelette lies to the south, Pys and Miraumont to the north-west, Eaucourt l'Abbaye to the south-east, the Butte de Warlencourt is to the north-east and Destremont Farm is south-west. Military operations began in the area in September 1914 during the Race to the Sea, when the divisions of the II Bavarian Corps advanced westwards on the north bank of the Somme, passing through Le Sars towards Albert and Amiens. The village became a backwater until 1916, when the British and French began the Battle of the Somme (1 July – 13 November) and was the site of several air operations by the Royal Flying Corps, which attacked German supply dumps in the vicinity. During the Battle of Flers–Courcelette (15–22 September), the British Fourth Army advanced close to the village and operations to capture it began on 1 October. The village was overrun by the 23rd Division on 7 October, during the Battle of Le Transloy (1 October – 5 November), several hundred prisoners being taken from the [[4th Ersatz Division (German Empire)|4th Ersatz Division]]. After the village was captured, the crest of the rise to the east became the limit of the British advance. In the winter of 1916–1917, which was the worst for fifty years, the area was considered by the troops of the I Anzac Corps to be the foulest sector of the Somme front. The village was lost in March 1918 and recaptured for the last time in August by the 21st Division.

Le Sars is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France.

The Attacks on High Wood, near Bazentin le Petit in the Somme département of northern France, took place between the British Fourth Army and the German 1st Army during the Battle of the Somme. After the Battle of Bazentin Ridge on 14 July 1916, High Wood lay undefended for most of the day but delays in communication and confusion caused by orders and counter-orders from British corps headquarters, which had overlapping responsibilities, led to the occupation of High Wood being forestalled by German reserves, which had moved forward to counter-attack British troops in the villages of Bazentin-le-Grand and Bazentin-le-Petit. Men from the 7th Division managed to occupy the southern half of the wood and two cavalry squadrons advanced on the east side to Wood Lane, which connected the wood to Longueval. On 15 July, the wood was evacuated by the survivors and the cavalry retired. The British and the Germans fought for control of the wood from 14 July to 15 September. Both sides had many casualties and chronic communication problems; inclement weather grounded aircraft, obscured the view and slowed movement on the roads, which had been severely bombarded and turned to mud as soon as it rained. Trenches and shell holes filled with water, which made infantry movement exceedingly difficult and exhausted trench garrisons. The British and French found it impossible to arrange co-ordinated attacks and fought many small piecemeal actions, rather than general attacks until 15 September. British-French co-operation broke down again and the French did not attack on 15 September, when the British captured the wood during the Battle of Flers–Courcelette (15–22 September). The German defenders had great difficulty finding fresh troops for the Somme front, despite ending the Battle of Verdun (21 February – 20 December) and had to send divisions to the Eastern Front and to Romania after it declared war on 27 August. Turnover of German divisions was high and many had to be withdrawn and replaced after fourteen days in the front line. The Germans lacked the resources to make many big organised counter-attacks and those at High Wood and the vicinity were often as costly and ineffective as corresponding British attacks.