Y Ravine Cemetery - Beaumont-Hamel, France
Posted by: elyob
N 50° 04.565 E 002° 39.128
31U E 475108 N 5547148
Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial
Waymark Code: WM19FBD
Location: Hauts-de-France, France
Date Posted: 02/17/2024
Views: 1
The cemetery is part of the
Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial site. There are three cemeteries on site. Even if the Visitor Centre is not open, waymarkers should still have access to the trails leading to the cemetery. The hike to the cemetery entrance is about 1 km from the parking lot for the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial. Follow the signs and explore the park.
The following text was taken from an information panel on site.
For much of 1916 this area was in no-man's land. Nearby lies a natural fissure in the landscape known to the British as 'Y Ravine'. Transformed into a fortress of trenches, dugouts and tunnels by German troops, this ravine guarded the southern approach to the village of Beaumont-Hamel. The village was unsuccessfully attacked by the British Army on 1 July 1916, and captured on 13 November 1916.
In spring 1917, the German Army withdrew from the Somme, retreating to a new defensive line to the east. This cemetery was begun in May, when the dead from the surrounding battlefields were brought for reburial.
Designed by Wilfred Clement von Berg, who served with the London Rifle Brigade during the war, and Sir Reginald Blomfield, this cemetery is now the final resting place of more than 400 servicemen of the First World War. Over 150 remain unidentified.
Cette nécropole contient 428 corps (383 Britanniques et 45 Canadiens de Terre-Neuve). Le « ravin Y » (Y ravine) est une dépression d'une quarantaine de mètres de profondeur, en forme de Y, dont la base mesure un kilomètre et demi jusqu'à la vallée de l'Ancre. Les deux branches mesurent cinq cents mètres. L'une, se trouve aux abords du parc terre-neuvien, tandis que l'autre se trouve à proximité du village de Beaumont-Hamel.
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