Douchy-lès-Ayette British Cemetery

Douchy-les-Ayette was in German occupation from October, 1914 to the 21st March, 1917. In March, 1918, the enemy advanced as far as the Communal Cemetery, and held it for a few days. The village was never completely evacuated by the inhabitants. It contained a German Cemetery of 380 graves, now removed.

The British Cemetery was begun in August and September, 1918, by the 3rd Division Burial Officer; and the 81 graves then made are scattered among eight Rows in what are now Plots II and IV. It was enlarged after the Armistice by the concentration of graves from the battlefields of Arras and the Ancre and from other burial grounds.

There are now over 700, 1914-18 war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these, nearly one-third are unidentified and a special memorial is erected to an officer of the Lincolns believed to be buried among them.
Certain graves in Plot I, Row A and B, identified collectively but not individually, are marked by headstones bearing the additional words: "Buried near this spot..."
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The Cemetery covers an area of 2,418 square metres and is enclosed by a rubble wall.

The pictures shown here were taken on 14 July 2024 using a Sony A7R IV camera body and Sony FE16-35mm GM and Laowa 10mm F2.8 Zero-D FF lenses.

The music is Anton Bruckner’s Os Justi as performed by Tenebrae.

The trench map is courtesy of the National Library of Scotland.

#Douchy-lès-Ayette #GreatWar