Somme American Cemetery and Memorial

Somme American Cemetery and Memorial
United States
Somme American Cemetery
For United States military dead from World War I
Location	49°59′06″N 3°12′48″E
Designed by	George Howe Marcel Loyau

The Somme American Cemetery and Memorial in Picardie, France, is an American Battle Monuments Commission cemetery, situated ½ mile southwest of the commune of Bony, Aisne in northern France. It is located on a gentle slope typical of the open, rolling Picardy countryside.

Cemetery

1920s postcard of Somme American Cemetery

The 14.3-acre (58,000 m²) war cemetery was established in October 1918 on ground which saw heavy fighting just before and during the Battle of St Quentin Canal. It contains the graves of 1,844 of the United States' military dead from World War I. Most lost their lives in the assault on the Hindenburg Line while serving in American II Corps attached to the British Fourth Army. Others were killed in operations near Cantigny. The headstones, set in regular rows, are separated into four plots by paths that intersect at the flagpole near the top of the slope. The longer axis leads to the chapel at the eastern end of the cemetery.

A massive bronze door surmounted by an American eagle leads into the chapel, whose outer walls contain sculptured pieces of military equipment. Once inside, light from a cross-shaped crystal window above the marble altar bathes the subdued interior with light. The walls bear the names of 333 of the missing. Rosettes mark the names of those since recovered and identified.

Notable burials

Somme American Cemetery in 2008

Medal of Honor recipients

• Robert Lester Blackwell (1895–1918 †), for action near St. Souplet, France
• Thomas E. O'Shea (1895–1918 †), for action at Le Catelet, France
• William Bradford Turner (1892–1918 †), for action at Ronssoy, France

See also

• World War I memorials

Further reading

• Sledge, Michael (2005). Soldier Dead: How We Recover, Identify, Bury, and Honor Our Military Fallen. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0231509374. OCLC 60527603.

External links

• American Battle Monuments Commission – Somme American Cemetery and Memorial
• Somme American Cemetery and Memorial at Find a Grave
• Association Les Parrains de la Mémoire – France Remembrance Association (in French)

 This article incorporates public domain material from Somme American Cemetery and Memorial. American Battle Monuments Commission.