| Ancre British Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery | |
| Established: | 1916 |
| Type: | Military |
| Graves: | 2540 total, 1335 unidentifiable |
| Location: | Somme, France |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Findagraveid: | 2161665 |
| Coordinates: | 50.0681°N 2.667°W |
| Footnotes: | Designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield |
The Ancre British Cemetery is a cemetery located in the Somme region of France commemorating British and Commonwealth soldiers who fought in the Battle of the Somme in World War I. The cemetery contains mainly those who died on 1 July 1916 during the first Allied attack on the village of Beaumont-Hamel, on 3 September 1916 during the second Allied attack on the village, and on 13 November 1916 during the capture of the village and the nearby towns of Beaucourt-sur-Ancre and St. Pierre-Divion.[1] [2]
The Ancre British Cemetery is located about 2 kilometers south of Beaumont-Hamel, on the stretch of the D50 road between the villages of Albert and Achiet-le-Grand. It is located close to the Ancre River, 4.5 miles away from the town of Albert and 0.75 miles away from Beaucourt Hamel Station.[3] [4]
See main article: Battle of the Somme.
See also: Capture of Beaumont-Hamel and First day on the Somme.
The first attack on Beaumont-Hamel occurred on 1 July 1916. It was carried out by the British 29th Division, with the 4th Division holding up the left and the 36th (Ulster) holding the right. The attack failed miserably, with the British suffering over 20,000 killed and 37,000 wounded in three failed waves. In one of the regiments buried in the Ancre Cemetery, the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, only 68 men were fit to fight after the attack, with 324 killed or MIA and 368 wounded.[5]
The second attack on Beaumont-Hamel occurred on 3 September and was also unsuccessful.
On 13–14 November 1916 the 51st Highland, 63rd Royal Naval, 39th Western, and 19th Western Divisions finally succeeded in capturing the town.
The cemetery originally housed 517 men. Following the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line in spring 1917, the British V Corps cleared the battlefield and buried the dead in a number of burial sites, which were later consolidated into the Ancre British Cemetery after the end of World War I.[6] Special memorials at the cemetery commemorate 16 soldiers whose graves were destroyed by artillery fire and 43 known casualties assumed to be buried among the unknown.
Former burial sites of soldiers now buried in Ancre British Cemetery include:
Of the 2,540 men currently buried at Ancre, 1,335 were unable to be identified and 1,179 were able to be identified.
Distribution of identifiable bodies:
| United Kingdom | 1184 | |
| Canada | 24 | |
| New Zealand | 2 | |
| Germany | 1 | |
| Total | 1211 |
| Number buried | Unit Name | Number buried | ||
| Royal Naval Division | 410 | Royal Fusiliers – City of London Regiment | 115 | |
| Honourable Artillery Company | 63 | Bedfordshire Regiment | 58 | |
| Rifle Brigade | 56 | King's Royal Rifle Corps | 43 | |
| Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers | 40 | Royal Irish Fusiliers | 39 | |
| Sherwood Foresters – Notts. & Derbys Regiment | 36 | Royal Dublin Fusiliers | 34 | |
| Hampshire Regiment | 28 | Royal Sussex Regiment | 24 | |
| Royal Irish Rifles | 22 | Royal Newfoundland Regiment | 22 | |
| Gordon Highlanders | 21 | King's Own Scottish Borderers | 19 | |
| Border Regiment | 16 | Royal Welsh Fusiliers | 16 | |
| Northumberland Fusiliers | 9 | Manchester Regiment | 7 | |
| Royal Field Artillery | 6 | South Staffordshire Regiment | 6 | |
| South Wales Borderers | 6 | West Yorkshire Regiment | 6 | |
| King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry | 5 | Royal Engineers | 5 | |
| Dorsetshire Regiment | 4 | Royal Berkshire Regiment | 4 | |
| Somerset Light Infantry | 4 | Black Watch – Royal Highlanders | 3 | |
| Devonshire Regiment | 3 | East Yorkshire Regiment | 3 | |
| Essex Regiment | 3 | Lancashire Fusiliers | 3 | |
| Royal Warwickshire Regiment | 3 | Cheshire Regiment | 2 | |
| East Lancashire Regiment | 2 | Gloucestershire Regiment | 2 | |
| King's Liverpool Regiment | 2 | Lincolnshire Regiment | 2 | |
| Loyal North Lancashire Regiment | 2 | Middlesex Regiment | 2 | |
| New Zealand units | 2 | North Irish Horse | 2 | |
| Seaforth Highlanders | 2 | Worcestershire Regiment | 2 | |
| York & Lancaster Regiment | 2 | Duke of Wellington – West Riding Regiment | 1 | |
| Highland Light Infantry | 1 | Labour Corps | 1 | |
| Leicestershire Regiment | 1 | 17th Bn. London Regiment – Poplar & Stepney Rifles | 1 | |
| 18th Bn. London Regiment – London Irish Rifles | 1 | Machine Gun Corps – Infantry | 1 | |
| North Staffordshire Regiment | 1 | Royal Army Medical Corps | 1 | |
| Royal West Kent Regiment – Queen's Own | 1 | Welch Regiment | 1 |