Somme American Cemetery and Memorial

49°59′06″N 3°12′48″E / 49.98500°N 3.21333°E / 49.98500; 3.21333 (Somme American Cemetery)Designed byGeorge Howe^[1]
Marcel Loyau

The Somme American Cemetery and Memorial in Picardie, France, is an American Battle Monuments Commission cemetery, 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.^[2]

Cemetery

The 14.3-acre (58,000 m²) war 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

See also

• World War I memorials

References

Further reading

• Sledge, Michael (2005). Soldier Dead: How We Recover, Identify, Bury, and Honor Our Military Fallen. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0231509374. OCLC 60527603.

External links

Cemeteries and Memorials

Belgium	Ardennes American Cemetery and Memorial Flanders Field American Cemetery and Memorial Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery and Memorial
France	Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial Brittany American Cemetery and Memorial Epinal American Cemetery and Memorial Lafayette Escadrille Cemetery and Memorial Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial Oise-Aisne American Cemetery and Memorial Rhone American Cemetery and Memorial Somme American Cemetery and Memorial St. Mihiel American Cemetery and Memorial Suresnes American Cemetery and Memorial
Italy	Florence American Cemetery and Memorial Sicily–Rome American Cemetery and Memorial
Luxembourg	Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial
Mexico	Mexico City National Cemetery
Netherlands	Netherlands American Cemetery
Panama	Corozal American Cemetery and Memorial
Philippines	Clark Veterans Cemetery Manila American Cemetery
Tunisia	North Africa American Cemetery and Memorial
United Kingdom	Brookwood American Cemetery and Memorial Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial

Related organizationsPeople

General	David Urban
Principal Architects	Perry Dean Rogers Architects Paul Philippe Cret
Landscaping	Olmsted Brothers