Owl Trench Cemetery, Hebuterne

• Country France
• Total identified casualties 43 Find these casualties
• Region Pas de Calais
• Identified casualties from First World War
• GPS Coordinates Latitude: 50.12863, Longitude: 2.66938

Location information

Hebuterne is a village in the department of the Pas de Calais situated 15 kilometres north of Albert (Somme) and 20 kilometres south-west of Arras. The Cemetery is situated 2 kilometres to the east of the village on the road between Foncquevillers and Puisieux.

Visiting information

ARRIVAL

The cemetery is signposted.

PARKING

There is a layby area at the front of the cemetery where it is possible to park up to 4 vehicles.

The closest parking space to the main entrance is within 1 metre of the main gate.

The ground is firm and flat with a red gravel surface.

ACCESS LAYOUT AND MAIN ENTRANCE

The cemetery is a small square shaped site surrounded by a stone wall.

The main entrance is a one metre wide, mid-level, (thigh height), black metal gate with a twist and turn ring handle on the top left-hand corner. The handle is twisted clockwise to open the latch and the gate opens into the cemetery. There is paving under the gate and a semi-circular step inside the entrance, level with the gravel. There is a metal gate stop on the right side of the upper step viewed from the entrance.

An additional semi-circular step leads down into the burial area. There is a recessed dirt strip 75 mm wide between the grass and the bottom step.

The Cross of Sacrifice is opposite the entrance gate on a raised platform. Four steps lead up to platform in front of the Cross.

The internal cemetery paths are grass, the ground is flat and firm.

ALTERNATIVE ACCESS

There is no alternative access into the cemetery.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The cemetery is permanently open.

History information

The village of Hebuterne was in Allied hands from 1915 until the German advance of March 1918 when part of it had to be given up. The eastern part of the commune remained in German hands until February 1917, and was theirs again in the summer of 1918.

"Owl Trench" was a German cross-trench before Rossignol Wood, raided by the 4th New Zealand Rifle Brigade on 15 July 1918, and cleared by the 1st Auckland Regiment five days later. The cemetery, however, contains the graves of men who died on 27 February 1917, in an attack on German rearguards by the 31st Division.

The cemetery contains 53 First World War burials. Row A is a mass grave for 46 soldiers, 43 of whom belonged to the 16th West Yorkshires. Ten of the burials in the cemetery are unidentified.

The cemetery was designed by N A Rew.