La Boisselle is a village about 5 kilometres north-east of the town of Albert on the D 929 road to Bapaume.
Turn right into the village and onto the road to Contalmaison.
La Boisselle war memorial is just before the church
Immediately in front of the church you will see the memorial cross.
GPS | N | E | OSM |
---|---|---|---|
Decimal | 50.02070 | 2.69545 | Map |
The monument commemorates the part that the 19th Division had in the heavy fighting in and around the area of La Boisselle in July 1916.
Having been in reserve throughout the 1st July 1916 the Division took over the line that evening from the 34th Division who had made some gains but failed to take La Boisselle village.
The 19th Division would finally take the village on the 4th July before spending the rest of the year on various parts of the battlefield.
The 19th (Western) Division Memorial
Raised in the 1920s the memorial to the 19th Division takes the form of a simple cross upon which.if you look closely you will see the Divisional emblem — a butterfly — marked on the upper section.
The Division has a similar memorial in Belgium commemorating their part in the Battle of Messines in June 1917.
Butterfly
To the Glorious memory
Of the soldiers of the 19th Western Division
Who fell in action in the battle of the Somme
Between July 2nd and November 20th 1916
La Boisselle — Bazentin le Petit — Grandcourt