The Cross of Sacrifice and the Memorial to The Missing of the Somme 1916 Battlefield, Thiepval, France.
The Thiepval Memorial & Cemetery is located in the centre of the Somme Battlefield close to Thiepval Wood, Caterpillar Wood close to the village of Thiepval. 'The structure is both a battle memorial and a memorial. As the former it commemorates the 1916 Anglo-French offensive on the Somme and as the latter it carries the names of over 73,000 British and South African men who have no known grave and who fell on the Somme between July 1916 and 20 March 1918.' (Quote: Major & Mrs Holt's guide to the Somme.) The memorial is over 150ft high and being on a slight hill, dominates the surrounding area. It was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and has 16 piers on which the names of the Missing are inscribed. It was built on top of the German second line. It was unveiled on 31st July 1932 and is the largest British war memorial in the world. Behind the memorial is a small Anglo-French cemetery, the final resting place for 300 of each nationality. The Cross of Sacrifice in the cemetery has the inscription,'That the world may remember the common sacrifice of two and a half million dead there have been laid side by side soldiers of France and the British Empire in eternal comradeship.'
Size: 2415px × 3624px
Location: Anglo-France cemetery & Thiepval Memorial, Thiepval, France.
Photo credit: © Maurice Savage / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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