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(Redirected from Thiepval Memorial)
:''This article is about the Thiepval village and memorial, for other uses see Thiepval (disambiguation)''
'Thiepval' is a village and commune in the Somme ''département'', Picardy ''région'' of Northern France. Population (1999): 98.
Thiepval is located 4.5 miles (7 km) north of Albert at the crossroads of the D73 and D151.
The original village was totally destroyed during World War I. The present Thiepval occupies a location a short distance to the southwest of the former settlement.
Thiepval is the location of the major war memorial to British and South African men who died in the World War I Battle of the Somme and who have no known grave. The Memorial was built approximately 200 metres to the south-east of the former Thiepval Chateau, which was located on lower ground, by the side of Thiepval Wood. The grounds of the original chateau having been unsuitable as it would have required the relocation of gravesites located around the numerous medical aid stations dug during the war.
The memorial, which dominates the rural scene, has sixteen piers of red brick, faced with Portland stone. It is 150 feet (46 m) high, with foundations 19 feet (6 m) thick; required due to extensive wartime tunneling beneath the structure. Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, the memorial was built between 1928 and 1932 and is the biggest British battle memorial in the world. It was inaugurated by the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII) in the presence of Albert Lebrun, President of France, on 31 July 1932.
The memorial is reserved for those missing, or unidentified, soldiers who have no known grave. On the Portland Stone piers are engraved the names of over 72,000 men who were lost in the Somme battles between July 1916 and March 1918, most of whom died in the first Battle of the Somme between 1 July and 4 November 1916. Consequently, when the remains of a soldier listed on the memorial are found and identified, he is given a funeral with full military honours and his remains buried in the closest cemetery to his location; his name is then removed from the memorial. This has resulted in numerous gaps in the lists of names.
The Thiepval Memorial also serves as an Anglo-French battle memorial to commemorate the joint nature of the 1916 offensive. In further recognition of this, a cemetery containing 300 British Commonwealth and 300 French graves lies at the foot of the memorial. Many of the soldiers buried here are unknown. The British Commonwealth graves are rectangular and made of white stone, while the French graves have grey stone crosses.
Each year on 1 July a major ceremony is held at the memorial.
A visitors' centre opened in 2004. The Royal British Legion have a representative at the centre. His name is Lawrence Brown and he can be contacted at lbrownrblthiepval@hotmail.fr
★ Somme 90th Anniversary Pictures from Thiepval
 The Thiepval Memorial |
 A few of the names of the missing |
:''This article is about the Thiepval village and memorial, for other uses see Thiepval (disambiguation)''
'Thiepval' is a village and commune in the Somme ''département'', Picardy ''région'' of Northern France. Population (1999): 98.
| Contents |
| Geography |
| History |
| Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme |
| External links |
Geography
Thiepval is located 4.5 miles (7 km) north of Albert at the crossroads of the D73 and D151.
History
The original village was totally destroyed during World War I. The present Thiepval occupies a location a short distance to the southwest of the former settlement.
Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme
Thiepval is the location of the major war memorial to British and South African men who died in the World War I Battle of the Somme and who have no known grave. The Memorial was built approximately 200 metres to the south-east of the former Thiepval Chateau, which was located on lower ground, by the side of Thiepval Wood. The grounds of the original chateau having been unsuitable as it would have required the relocation of gravesites located around the numerous medical aid stations dug during the war.
The memorial, which dominates the rural scene, has sixteen piers of red brick, faced with Portland stone. It is 150 feet (46 m) high, with foundations 19 feet (6 m) thick; required due to extensive wartime tunneling beneath the structure. Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, the memorial was built between 1928 and 1932 and is the biggest British battle memorial in the world. It was inaugurated by the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII) in the presence of Albert Lebrun, President of France, on 31 July 1932.
The memorial is reserved for those missing, or unidentified, soldiers who have no known grave. On the Portland Stone piers are engraved the names of over 72,000 men who were lost in the Somme battles between July 1916 and March 1918, most of whom died in the first Battle of the Somme between 1 July and 4 November 1916. Consequently, when the remains of a soldier listed on the memorial are found and identified, he is given a funeral with full military honours and his remains buried in the closest cemetery to his location; his name is then removed from the memorial. This has resulted in numerous gaps in the lists of names.
The Thiepval Memorial also serves as an Anglo-French battle memorial to commemorate the joint nature of the 1916 offensive. In further recognition of this, a cemetery containing 300 British Commonwealth and 300 French graves lies at the foot of the memorial. Many of the soldiers buried here are unknown. The British Commonwealth graves are rectangular and made of white stone, while the French graves have grey stone crosses.
Each year on 1 July a major ceremony is held at the memorial.
A visitors' centre opened in 2004. The Royal British Legion have a representative at the centre. His name is Lawrence Brown and he can be contacted at lbrownrblthiepval@hotmail.fr
External links
★ Somme 90th Anniversary Pictures from Thiepval
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