Somme American Cemetery

Lille, Flanders & the Somme


In late September 1918, just six weeks before the end of WWI, American units – flanked by their British, Canadian and Australian allies – launched an assault on the Germans' heavily fortified Hindenburg Line. Some of the fiercest fighting took place near the village of Bony, 24km east of Péronne, on the sloping site now occupied by the 1844 Latin crosses and Stars of David of this serene cemetery. The small Visitors Building has information on the battle.

One regiment of the 27th Infantry Division, a National Guard unit from New York, suffered 337 dead and 658 wounded on a single day. The names of 333 men whose remains were never recovered are inscribed on the walls of the Memorial Chapel, reached through massive bronze doors.


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