CWGC Cemetery: SERRE ROAD CEMETERY NO.2

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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, 1.3 kilometres further along the D919, Serre Road No.2 Cemetery can be found on the left 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 2 was begun in May 1917 with the burials in Plots I and II, but was greatly enlarged after the Armistice. British graves from the following cemeteries were brought to Serre Road Cemetery No.2:- BAIZIEUX COMMUNAL CEMETERY (Somme): one United Kingdom grave March, 1918. BOISMONT CHURCHYARD (Somme): one United Kingdom grave of October, 1914. BUCQUOY COMMUNAL CEMETERY (Pas-de-Calais): 25 United Kingdom graves of August, 1918. ERCHEU CHURCHYARD (Somme): one United Kingdom grave of March, 1918. FRETTECUISSE CHURCHYARD (Somme): one United Kingdom grave September, 1916. HERVILLY CHURCHYARD (Somme): one R.F.C. grave of September, 1916. HOLNON COMMUNAL CEMETERY (Aisne): five United Kingdom graves April, 1917. LABOISSIERE CHURCHYARD (Somme): one United Kingdom grave of April, 1917. LE SARS GERMAN CEMETERY (Pas-de-Calais): one United Kingdom grave. MADAME MILITARY CEMETERY, CLERY-SUR-SOMME (Somme): three United Kingdom graves of February, 1917. MEAULTE CHURCHYARD (Somme): one United Kingdom grave of April, 1916. POZIERES COMMUNAL CEMETERY (Somme): one Canadian grave of September, 1916. REMIENCOURT COMMUNAL CEMETERY (Somme): one United Kingdom grave of April, 1918. SOMME AMERICAN CEMETERY, BONY (Aisne): two United Kingdom graves of July and October, 1918, and one Australian of September, 1918. VOYENNES CHURCHYARD (Somme): seven United Kingdom graves of March, 1918. YTRES CHURCHYARD (Pas-de-Calais): 14 United Kingdom and four New Zealand graves of September, 1918, mainly from the 15th Field Ambulance. There are now 7,127 Commonwealth burials of the First World War in the cemetery, mostly dating from 1916. Of these, 4,944 are unidentified. The cemetery, which was not completed until 1934, was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.