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SERRE
Sheffield Park and Serre
The cemeteries of Serre Road No.1 and Serre Road No.2 lie on
the D919 southwest of Serre. 750m beyond the village a poor
road leads to Serre Road No.3 Cemetery. Beyond it a track, not
recommended for cars, leads to the Sheffield Memorial Park.
The park is a copse in which there are trenches and a number
of memorials. In front of the Accrington Pals’ memorial is a
section of the British front line trench that has been cleared
of undergrowth. 1km beyond the eastern horizon, is Serre
village. The German front line was about halfway between the
copse and the village. Serre Road No.3 Cemetery is
approximately on the front line from which the Leeds Pals
attacked.
The fortified village of Serre was on the northern flank of
the main Somme attack. The 31st Division, composed of Pals
battalions mainly from Yorkshire, was to take the village and
turn northwards providing a solid defence for the battle. A
mile further north was a diversionary attack at Gommecourt.
Because of the gap between this and Serre the German artillery
could also fire from northeast onto the 31st Division’s front
line.
On 1 July, the German artillery opened an intensive barrage
from 04.00. The Accrington Pals’ jumping off trenches were
destroyed and their leading wave was pulled back to the next
line. The Sheffield City battalion and the Leeds Pals moved
their first waves out into no man’s land ahead of the front
lines just before Zero Hour. At 07.30 the soldiers tried to
advance up the gentle slope towards Serre village. A
combination of German artillery and machine guns broke up the
attack almost before it had begun.
On 13 November 1916, another frontal assault was made by 3rd
Division but Serre was never captured. In February 1917, the
Germans withdrew to the Hindenburg Line and left the ruined
village to the Allies. Soldiers from V Corps cleared the
battlefield, recovering and burying many bodies, and most of
the cemeteries between Serre and Beaumont-Hamel were
established at this time.
Serre No.2 Cemetery, on the main road, is the largest on the
Somme containing 7,139 graves, many of which were only brought
here in 1934.
"Copyright
Les Parkin © 2007. All rights reserved."
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