Friends of the Somme - Mid Ulster Branch
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Thiepval Memorial
France
Location
Region : Thiepval, Somme, France
Latitude : 50.050612
Lontitude : 2.685553
CWGC Link : 80800
The Thiepval Memorial will be found on the D73, next to the village of Thiepval, off the main Bapaume to Albert road (D929). Each year a major ceremony is held at the memorial on 1 July.

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Magherafelt Casualties
No     Rank Name Service No Regiment / Service Date Of Death Grave Ref
1 Pte. Bradley, Charles Joseph 27409 Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers 22/11/1916 Face 4D-5B
2 Pte. Brown, Robert 22345 Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers 01/07/1916 Face 4D-5B
3 Pte. Bruce, Robert 24049 Kings Liverpool Regiment 16/08/1916 Face 1D 8B and 8C
4 Portrait Pte. Caskey, Marshall 11319 Royal Scots Fusiliers 23/07/1916 Face 3C
5 Pte. Convery, Thomas 21063 Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers 01/07/1916 Face 4D-5B
6 Pte. Crilly, Bernard 22779 Machine Gun Corps 08/09/1916 Face 5C + 12C
7 Pte. Dawson, Samuel 14860 Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers 01/07/1916 Face 4D-5B
8 R/man Diamond, Patrick 5602 Royal Irish Rifles 30/06/1916 Face 15A-15B
9 Pte. Donnelly, James 43262 Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers 09/09/1916 Face 4D-5B
10 Portrait L/Corp Ellis, Samuel 19472 Royal Irish Fusiliers 01/07/1916 Face 15A-15B
11 Pte. Galway, Charles 25508 Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers 01/07/1916 Face 4D-5B
12 Portrait Portrait Corp Glendinning, David 1290 Royal Irish Rifles 01/07/1916 Panel 15A-15B
13 Pte. Gribbon, George 27776 Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers 31/01/1917 Face 4D-5B
14 Portrait Portrait Pte. Hammond, John 23431 Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers 01/07/1916 Face 4D-5B
15 Gnr Hunter, Joseph 92947 Royal Field Artillery 23/07/1916 Face 1A + 8A
16 Pte. Hutchison, Alexander 18720 Machine Gun Corps 01/07/1916 Face 5C + 12C
17 R/man Hutchison, Robert 1031 Royal Irish Regiment 02/07/1916 Face 15A-15B
18 Pte. Jamison, Robert 4723 Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers 27/01/1917 Face 4D-5B
19 Pte. Lee, James 19060 Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers 01/07/1916 Face 4D-5B
20 Portrait Pte. Lee, William 27306 Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers 01/07/1916 Face 4D-5B
21 Portrait L/Corp Lennox, Francis John 18090 Royal Irish Rifles 01/07/1916 Addenda Panel, Face 5D
22 L/Corp Love, Daniel 27099 Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers 01/07/1916 Face 4D-5B
23 Pte. Mackrell, John George 15870 Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers 01/07/1916 Face 4D-5B
24 Portrait Sgt. Maitland, Marcus 942 Royal Irish Rifles 01/07/1916 Face 15A-15B
25 Gnr McCusker, Patrick 57690 Royal Field Artillery 24/07/1916 Face 1A + 8A
26 Portrait Pte. McDonald, Robert Alexander 19155 Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers 01/07/1916 Face 4D-5B
27 Pte. McDonald, Alexander 3586 Royal Irish Regiment 03/09/1916 Face 3A
28 Portrait Pte. McElfatrick, Samuel 13042 Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers 01/07/1916 Face 4D-5B
29 Pte. McErleane, John 24820 Royal Dublin Fusiliers 09/09/1916 Face 16C
30 Pte. McLaughlan, James 24/235 Northumberland Fusiliers 01/07/1916 Face 10B, 11B + 12B
31 Portrait Pte. McMullan, John 22400 Royal Dublin Fusiliers 01/07/1916 Face 16C
32 Pte. McQuillan, Thomas 23895 Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers 01/07/1916 Face 4D-5B
33 Portrait L/Corp Murphy, Albert 15781 Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers 01/07/1916 Face 4D-5B
34 Pte. O'Hare, Hugh 19713 Royal Dublin Fusiliers 01/07/1916 Face 16C
35 Pte. O'Neill, Luke 22128 Royal Irish Fusiliers 12/10/1916 Face 15A
36 Petty Off. Purcell, William Clyde Z/3738 Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve 04/02/1917 Face 1A
37 R/man Robinson, Edward 3745 Royal Irish Rifles 01/07/1916 Face 15A-15B
38 Pte. Rowe, Robert John 19572 Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers 01/07/1916 Face 4D-5B
39 Portrait Pte. Teaney, William 16559 Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers 06/02/1917 Face 4D-5B
40 Portrait Pte. Watterson, George 12291 Highland Light Infantry 12/08/1916 Face 15C
41 R/man Wilson, John 19327 Royal Irish Rifles 01/07/1916 Face 15A-15B
Cemetery History
On 1 July 1916, supported by a French attack to the south, thirteen divisions of Commonwealth forces launched an offensive on a line from north of Gommecourt to Maricourt. Despite a preliminary bombardment lasting seven days, the German defences were barely touched and the attack met unexpectedly fierce resistance.
Losses were catastrophic and with only minimal advances on the southern flank, the initial attack was a failure. In the following weeks, huge resources of manpower and equipment were deployed in an attempt to exploit the modest successes of the first day. However, the German Army resisted tenaciously and repeated attacks and counter attacks meant a major battle for every village, copse and farmhouse gained.
At the end of September, Thiepval was finally captured. The village had been an original objective of 1 July. Attacks north and east continued throughout October and into November in increasingly difficult weather conditions. The Battle of the Somme finally ended on 18 November with the onset of winter.
In the spring of 1917, the German forces fell back to their newly prepared defences, the Hindenburg Line, and there were no further significant engagements in the Somme sector until the Germans mounted their major offensive in March 1918.
The Thiepval Memorial, the Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, bears the names of more than 72,000 officers and men of the United Kingdom and South African forces who died in the Somme sector before 20 March 1918 and have no known grave. Over 90% of those commemorated died between July and November 1916.
The memorial also serves as an Anglo-French Battle Memorial in recognition of the joint nature of the 1916 offensive and a small cemetery containing equal numbers of Commonwealth and French graves lies at the foot of the memorial.
The memorial, designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, was built between 1928 and 1932 and unveiled by the Prince of Wales, in the presence of the President of France, on 1 August 1932 (originally scheduled for 16 May but due to the death of French President Doumer the ceremony was postponed until August). The dead of other Commonwealth countries, who died on the Somme and have no known graves, are commemorated on national memorials elsewhere.