Mill Road Cemetery near Thiepval
Located north of the D73, near the Ulster Tower Memorial and opposite ConnaughtCemetery, Mill Road Cemetery is along the Route du Moulin, which connects the villages of Hamel and Thiepval Memorial to the Missing.
This area, once part of the front line between Thiepval and Beaumont-Hamel, was the scene of significant fighting in the spring of 1916, notably during the attack on Schwaben Redoubt by the men of the 36th Ulster Division during the Battle of the Somme. Although the original trenches in Thiepval Wood are on private property, they have been meticulously preserved in their wartime condition and are open for guided tours from March to November.
Designed by Sir Herbert Baker, Mill Road Cemetery is a poignant reminder of the sacrifices made during the First World War. Established in the spring of 1917 as Mill Road Cemetery No. 2, it initially contained 260 graves.
The expansions of 1919 and 1920 allowed for the inclusion of the remains of soldiers buried in temporary graves on the battlefield, as well as those of soldiers who fell during the offensives at Beaumont-Hamel and Thiepval. Today, the cemetery contains the graves of 1,304 Commonwealth soldiers who died during the First World War, 815 of whom have tragically remained unidentified. Memorial plaques honour the memory of three soldiers presumed to be buried among them, while other monuments commemorate three other soldiers buried in Division Road Cemetery No. 1, whose graves were destroyed by bombing.
Mill Road Cemetery’s flat gravestones
The Mill Road Cemetery was created directly above Schwaben Redoubt, an elaborate German defensive system comprising a vast network of tunnels and underground shelters continually expanded and fortified throughout the war.
While much of the battlefield was filled in after the war, some areas still suffer from significant subsidence.
To minimise the risk of damage and collapse, headstones located above these unstable sections were laid flat, thus ensuring their stability.
How to get there?
Follow a farm track that begins on the D73, located almost opposite Connaught Cemetery and close to the Ulster Tower Memorial.
Department of Somme – Picardie region
Coordinates: Lat 50.061096 – Long 2.683255
Photos via Wikimedia Commons: Header and Cemetery entrance by Wernervc CC BY-SA 3.0 – Flat headstones by René Hourdry CC BY-SA 4.0
