Regina Trench - Regina Trench Cemetery

Regina Trench Cemetery

Regina Trench Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery situated astride the location of the infamous trench and contains 2,279 burials and commemorations of men killed at or near the trenchline during the First World War. 1,680 of the men are identified as British, 564 Canadian, 35 Australian, one American airman and 1,077 burials of unknown soldiers, with special memorials to 14 casualties believed to be buried among them. Most of the men buried at Regina Trench fell in battle between October 1916 and February 1917 and the original portion of the cemetery (now Plot II, Rows A to D) was established during the winter of 1916–1917. After the armistice in 1918 the Regina Trench location was selected as a "concentration cemetery" with mortal remains brought in from scattered graves and small battlefield cemeteries surrounding the nearby villages of Courcelette, Grandcourt and Miraumont. Unlike many CWGC cemeteries where men are laid one-to-a-grave, many of the graves contain more than one burial and where two names are shown on the one headstone, it is necessary to count the individual names in order to find the correct grave location. The CWGC's website states Regina Trench Cemetery is located in Grandcourt but this is somewhat misleading because while it is located between Grandcourt and Courcelette it is most easily reached by a rough road that runs approximately 1.5 knots (0.00048 mi) northwest of Courcelette village.