CWGC Cemetery: KNIGHTSBRIDGE CEMETERY, MESNIL-MARTINSART

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Local Information

The village of Mesnil is about 8 kilometres north of the town of Albert on the D129 road. The cemetery is about 2 kilometres north-east of Mesnil (signposted in the centre of Mesnil). Access is by a farm track of which 1 kilometre is tarmac and 1 kilometre is dirt track (unsuitable for cars). The cemetery is 200 metres from the track and no permanent grass pathway exists.

Historical Information

The cemetery, which is named from a communication trench, was begun at the outset of the Battle of the Somme in 1916. It was used by units fighting on that front until the German withdrawal in February 1917 and was used again by fighting units from the end of March to July 1918, when the German advance brought the front line back to the Ancre. After the Armistice, burials in Rows G, H and J were added when graves were brought in from isolated positions on the battlefields of 1916 and 1918 round Mesnil. Knightsbridge Cemetery contains 548 First World War burials, 141 of them unidentified. The cemetery was designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield.