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updated: Jan 29, 2003
RANCOURT CEMETERY
It was partly recaptured by Allied troops on 25 September 1916; the troops then went on to attack Saint Pierre Vaast Woods, taken back by the British in March 1917 during the German withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line farther north.
Today Rancourt has the dubious privilege of hosting three military cemeteries-French, British, and German. It is also the key site for the commemoration of French participation in the Battle of the Somme.
The German cemetery, one of the largest of its kind, includes 11,422 tombs (individual graves or ossuaries for unidentified bodies). The French cemetery, extending over 28 hectares between Bouchavesnes and Rancourt, includes 8,566 tombs. The adjoining chapel was the result not of an official decision but of a private initiative. It was built in 1920 by a commemorative committee, in honour of Lieutenant Jean du Bos and his comrades, who were killed in the battle of 25 September 1916. Since 1937, the Souvenir Français organisation has been responsible for the upkeep of the building and memorial activities.