MAILLY WOOD CEMETERY
Mailly-Maillet
Somme
France
General Directions: Mailly Wood Cemetery is 9 kilometres north of Albert on the D919. The Cemetery is situated on the outskirts of the village of Mailly-Maillet on the left hand side of the road to Amiens, where it is signposted from the main road onto a 500 metre mud track.
Mailly-Maillet was within the line taken over from the French in the summer of 1915, and several Commonwealth cemeteries were made in the commune. Mailly Wood Cemetery was begun with the burial of thirteen men of the 2nd Seaforth Highlanders who died on 25 June 1916, and in November 1916, the 51st (Highland) Division buried in it following the capture of Beaumont Hamel. Thereafter, the cemetery was little used until April-August 1918, when the German attack on Amiens brought the front line very close, and further burials were made by the 12th Division (in May) and the 21st (in August), among others. After the Armistice graves from the battlefields immediately north-east of the village were brought into the cemetery, and 30 graves from Mailly Maillet Military Cemetery in the village itself.
Victoria Cross: Serjeant, Harold John, Colley, VC, MM of the 10th Bn. Lancashire Fusiliers is buried within this cemetery in plot II.Q.4. he died of wounds on 25/08/1918.
Further Information: It is advisable to leave your vehicle at the entrance to the track leading to the cemetery, as the track is poor and there is little scope for turning once on it. The walk of 500m should take approx 5 minutes.
Casualty Details: UK 671, New Zealand 28, South Africa 3, Total Burials: 702
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