Northumbrian Gunner: Op La Boisselle

Thursday, 11 September 2025

Op La Boisselle - Devonshire Cemetery

The Devonshire Cemetery is situated 800 metres south of Mametz. It contains the resting place of 163 casualties, of which 150 are from the Devonshire Regiment killed on 1st July 1916. A further 10 Devonshire's are unknown, and one Devonshire Officer was killed on 28th June 1916. The only burials who are not Devonshire's are 2 Gunners.

Devonshire Cemetery

On the opening day of the Battles of the Somme, 1st July 1916, the 7th Division was tasked with the capture Mametz. The men of the 8th and 9th Service Battalions of the Devonshire Regiment assembled in trenches in the vicinity of Mansel Copse prior to the assault.

The attack was a success, the 7th Division capturing Mametz, though it sustained 3,380 casualties. The 8th and 9th Battalions of the Devonshire Regiment sustained over 200 casualties.

On the 4th July the Devonshire's returned to trenches near Mansel Copse and established a cemetery burying 153 of their dead comrades in a section of their old front line trench. They left an inscription at the cemetery;

“THE DEVONSHIRES HELD THIS TRENCH THE DEVONSHIRES HOLD IT STILL”