Il Devonshire Cemetery segna la posizione di una trincea britannica che trascurava le posizioni tedesche durante la prima guerra mondiale il primo giorno della battaglia della somme
6000 x 4500 px | 50,8 x 38,1 cm | 20 x 15 inches | 300dpi
Data acquisizione:
9 giugno 2023
Ubicazione:
Mametz, Somme, France
Altre informazioni:
The cemetery marks the position of a WWI front line British trench that overlooked German positions that led to the First World War telling tragedy of the Devonshire Regiment and their epitaph " The Devonshires hold this trench, the Devonshires hold it still" The men buried here are the Devonshires 8 & 9th Battalions. On the 1 July 1916 [first day of the battle of the Somme] they were to advance in full view of the enemy over difficult shell-holed terrain towards the village of Memetz. A Devon's officer Captain Duncan Lenox Martin, constructed a plasticine model of the ground to be crossed which was used by Brigade HQ in preparation. Cast Martin realised that a German machine gun position in Memetz would massage his me if not silenced in the preliminary bombardment. His warning were not heeded at higher level and he and 162 men were subsequently mowed down by the machine gun firing from the Shrine in Memetz village cemetery.. The battalion Chaplain buried all that he could collect in our front line trench. The cemetery holds 163 British burials of the Devons that fell that day.
