CWGC Cemetery: GOMMECOURT BRITISH CEMETERY NO.2, HEBUTERNE

Visiting Information

Wheelchair access to this cemetery with some difficulty. For further information regarding wheelchair access, please contact our Enquiries Section on 01628 507200.

Local Information

Gommecourt is a village 19 kilometres south-west of Arras. The Cemetery lies just off the road between Gommecourt and Puisieux (D6). A CWGC signpost indicating the directions to the site is situated at the junction 2 kilometres along this road. Access can also be made from the village of Hebuterne where a CWGC signpost indicates the way from the main square.

Historical Information

Hebuterne village remained in Allied hands from March 1915 to the Armistice, although during the German advances of the summer of 1918, it was practically on the front line. Gommecourt and Gommecourt Wood were attacked by the 56th (London) and 46th (North Midland) Divisions on 1 July 1916 with only temporary success, but the village was occupied by the 31st and 46th Divisions on the night of 27-28 February 1917, remaining in Allied hands until the Armistice. Gommecourt British Cemeteries No.1, No.2, No.3 and No.4 were made in 1917 when the battlefields were cleared. No.2 cemetery originally contained 101 graves of 1 July 1916, almost all of the 56th Division, which form Plot I of the cemetery as it is today. The burials in No.1, No.3 and No.4 were moved into No.2 after the Armistice, along with other graves from the neighbouring battlefields. Gommecourt British Cemetery No.2 now contains 1,357 First World War burials and commemorations. 682 of the burials are unidentified but there are special memorials to 33 casualties known or believed to be buried among them. The cemetery was designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield.