Somme American Cemetery and Memorial

Somme American Cemetery and Memorial in France is 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

The 14.3-acre (58,000 m²) 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

• 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

Gallery

• 
  Somme American Cemetery

See also

• World War I memorials

References

• Sledge, Michael (2005). Soldier Dead: How We Recover, Identify, Bury, and Honor Our Military Fallen. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 204. ISBN 9780231509374. OCLC 60527603.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Somme American Cemetery and Memorial.

• 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 the United States Government document "Somme American Cemetery and Memorial, American Battle Monuments Commission".