Bapaume Communal Cemetery

Bapaume was occupied by German forces on the 26th September, 1914, and by the British on the 17th March, 1917; it was retaken by the Germans on the 24th March, 1918, and by the New Zealand Division on the following 29th August. It has given its name to the battles of the 24th-25th March, 1918, and the 31st August-3rd September, 1918. It was severely damaged by both sides during the War. The 1939-45 War found Bapaume in the path of the Germans when, in May, 1940, they swept through the gap between Rethel and Hirson on the French Army's front, and across country to occupy Amiens and Abbeville as the British Expeditionary Force fought its way to the coast. Bapaume was later "adopted" by the City of Sheffield. There are now over 20, 1914-18 and a small number of 1939-45 war casualties commemorated in this site. The British graves are in small Plots scattered in different parts of the cemetery.