CWGC Cemetery: CAUDRY BRITISH CEMETERY

Visiting Information

Wheelchair access to this cemetery is possible via the main entrance. For further information regarding wheelchair access, please contact our Enquiries Section on 01628 507200.

Local Information

Caudry is a town some 13 kilometres east of Cambrai on the south side of the main road (N43) to Le Cateau. Caudry British Cemetery is on the eastern outskirts of the town among the 'Nouveaux Cimetieres', which include the German Military Cemetery and the New Communal Cemetery. Visitors should not enter the town, but take the eastern by-pass road (a dual carriageway). At the first set of traffic lights on this road turn left: the British Cemetery is located down the second turning on the right.

Historical Information

Caudry town was the scene of part of the Battle of Le Cateau on the 26th August 1914, and from that date it remained in German hands until the 10th October 1918, when it was captured by the 37th Division. It had been a German centre for medical units, and during October 1918 and the following five months the 21st, 3rd, 19th and 49th Casualty Clearing Stations passed through it. The British Cemetery (originally called the German Cemetery Extension) was begun in October 1918 by the New Zealand Division and carried on by the Casualty Clearing Stations. It was completed after the Armistice by the concentration of graves from the German Cemetery and from AUDENCOURT BRITISH CEMETERY. At the same time the bodies of two French soldiers and one Italian were removed to other burial grounds. There are now over 700, 1914-18 war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these, over 50 are unidentified and special memorials are erected to four soldiers and one airman from the United Kingdom known to be buried among them. Another special memorial records the name of a soldier from the United Kingdom, buried in Fontaine-au-Pire Communal Cemetery, whose grave could not be found. The cemetery covers an area of 2,770 square metres and is enclosed partly by a rubble wall.