The commune and the village were the scene of very severe fighting in September, 1916. On the 15th (the Battle of Flers-Courcelette), the village was included in the extreme left of the British attack, and it was taken by the 2nd Canadian Division and Tanks; the 4th and 6th Brigades stormed the outer trenches and Sugar Factory, and the 5th Brigade seized the village. It remained very close to the front line until the German retreat in the following Spring, and it was destroyed by German Artillery after its capture.

The Cemetery was begun in November, 1916 (as Mouquet Road or Sunken Road Cemetery), and used until March, 1917. These original burials, 74 in number, are now parts of Plot I, Rows A to F.

On the 25th March, Courcelette passed into German hands, but it was recaptured on the 24th August.

The Cemetery was greatly enlarged after the Armistice by the concentration to it of 1,882 graves, chielfy those of men who fell in 1916 round Courcelette and Pozières. It now contains the graves of 780 soldiers from Canada, 657 from the United Kingdom, 514 from Australia, one from New Zealand, and four whose unit in our forces could not be identified. The unnamed graves number 1,177; and special memorials (one of which is at the end of Plot I, Row A) are erected to five soldiers from the United Kingdom and four from Canada who are beleived to be buried among them.

The only considerable burial grounds concentrated into this cemetery were the following:-

Mouquet Farm Cemetery, Grandcourt, immediately North of the Farm, begun by the 111th Brigade R.F.A., in October, 1916, and containing the graves of 36 soldiers. The Farm was captured by the 2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles on the night of 16th-17th Spetember, 1916, and again by the 17th Division on the 24th August, 1918.

Red Chateau Cemetery, Courcelette, within the village, containing the graves of 15 soldiers from Canada and two from the United kingdom. It was "at the entrance to a ruined dug-out" and it was used in October-December, 1916.

Number of Burials by Unit