CWGC Cemetery: SERRE ROAD CEMETERY NO.1

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Local Information

The village of Serre is 11 kilometres north-north-east of Albert. Using the D919 from Arras to Amiens you will drive through the villages of Bucquoy, Puisieux then Serre-Les Puisieux (approximately 20 kilometres south of Arras). On leaving Serre Les Puisieux, 700 metres further along the D919, Serre Road No.1 Cemetery can be found on the right hand side.

Historical Information

In June 1916, the road out of Mailly-Maillet to Serre and Puisieux entered No Man's Land about 1,300 metres south-west of Serre. On 1 July 1916, the 31st and 4th Divisions attacked north and south of this road and although parties of the 31st Division reached Serre, the attack failed. The 3rd and 31st Divisions attacked once more on the 11 November, but again without success. Early in 1917, the Germans fell back to the Hindenburg Line and on 25 February, Serre was occupied by the 22nd Manchesters. The village changed hands once more in March 1918 and remained under German occupation until they withdrew in August. In the spring of 1917, the battlefields of the Somme and Ancre were cleared by V Corps and a number of new cemeteries were made, three of which are now named from the Serre Road. Serre Road Cemetery No 1 was begun in May 1917 when Plot I, Rows A to G, were filled, but it was greatly enlarged after the Armistice when further graves were brought in from the battlefields. There are now 2,426 casualties of the First World War buried or commemorated in this cemetery. 1,728 of the graves are unidentified but special memorials commemorate 22 casualties known or believed to be buried among them. Most of the graves date from 1916. The cemetery was designed by N A Rew.