Mémorial de Thiepval de la CWGC

The Memorial at Thiepval, maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC), is the largest Commonwealth war memorial in the world. Standing 45 metres high, this monument bears the names of the more than 72,000 British and South African soldiers, killed on Somme battlefields before March 1918, who have no known grave. The memorial was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and inaugurated on 1st August 1932 in the presence of the Prince of Wales (future King Edward 8th) and the French President, Albert Lebrun. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission honours the 1,700,000 men and women of Commonwealth forces who died in two World Wars, taking care of their graves and the memorials dedicated to them in 23,000 different places in more than 150 countries. In the Somme department over 150,000 Commonwealth soldiers are buried in 250 military cemeteries and 150 civilian cemeteries. For more information see our website: www.cwgc.org.