The Aveluy Wood Cemetery (also known as the Lancashire Dump) 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 honors mainly those who died on the front near Aveluy Wood and the village of Aveluy from June 1916 to February 1917 and from April to September 1918.
Location The cemetery is located in Mesnil-Martinsart, near the D50 road and the village of Aveluy, which is approximately 5 km north of the town of Albert, France.
Fighting around Aveluy Wood
The British 32nd and 36th divisions held the area near Aveluy Wood (which they called "Lancashire Dump") from the beginning of the Battle of the Somme on 1 July 1916 to the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line in February 1917. The Germans returned to the wood on the night of 26 March 1918 as part of the final major German offensive in Western Europe, and had taken the area from the 12th Eastern, 47th London, and 63rd Royal Naval divisions by 5 April. The wood was then repeatedly attacked by Allied forces until it was recaptured in August 1918.
Establishment of the Cemetery
History The cemetery was begun in June 1916, a few days before the beginning of the First Battle of the Somme. It was used by units and field ambulances until the German withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line in February 1917. The cemetery remained mostly unused until the spring 1918 German offensive, when more graves were added to Row H of Plot I. After the end of the war, Plots II and III were created and filled with graves moved in from Aveluy Wood. In 1923, 124 more graves (Rows I to M of Plot I) were brought in from a wider area. The cemetery was designed by Sir Richard Blomfield.
Layout The cemetery is flanked on both sides by low hedges, and is located several steps under ground level. It is fan shaped, with a Cross of Sacrifice located in the middle and a stone bench with the names of the missing inscribed on the sides located in the back.
Statistics The cemetery contains a total of around 380 burials, of which 209 are identified and 171 are unidentified. There are special memorials dedicated to 20 soldiers known to be buried among the unknown. +Identified Burials by NationalityNationNumber of BurialsUnited Kingdom192Australia17 +Number of Burials by UnitWest Yorkshire Regiment23Sherwood Foresters - Notts. & Derbys. Regiment20Royal Naval Division18Australian units17Royal Fusiliers - City of London Regiment13Bedfordshire Regiment11Duke of Wellington's - West Riding Regiment7Royal Welsh Fusiliers7King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry6Lancashire Fusiliers6Royal Irish Rifles6Royal Army Medical Corps5Royal Engineers5Royal Sussex Regiment5Hampshire Regiment45th Bn. London Regiment - London Rifle Brigade4Monmouthshire Regiment3Northumberland Fusiliers3Rifle Brigade3York & Lancaster Regiment3Cheshire Regiment2Dorsetshire Regiment2Highland Light Infantry2King's Royal Rifle Corps224th Bn. London Regiment - The Queen's2Manchester Regiment2Royal Field Artillery2Royal Garrison Artillery2Royal Horse Artillery2Buffs - East Kent Regiment1Durham Light Infantry1East Yorkshire Regiment1Essex Regiment1King's Own Scottish Borderers1Leicestershire Regiment117th Bn. London Regiment - Poplar & Stepney Rifles122nd Bn. London Regiment - The Queen's1Middlesex Regiment1Royal Dublin Fusiliers1Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers1Royal Scots1Royal West Kent Regiment - Queen's Own1Somerset Light Infantry1South Staffordshire Regiment1South Wales Borderers1Suffolk Regiment1Welch Regiment1
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