Serre Road No. 2 Military Cemetery is the largest Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) cemetery in the Somme department. It was built on the former no man's land that was inaccessible until the German withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line in March 1917. Located along the road from Mailly-Maillet to Serre, hence the name Serre Road, it contains 7,139 bodies (of which 4,943 could not be identified): 5,971 British, 301 Canadian, 699 Australian, 116 New Zealander, 39 South African, and 13 German. The vast majority of the men buried here were killed during the Battle of the Somme, which took place from July 1 to November 18, 1916. Until March 1917, this site was no man's land between the British and German lines. On July 1, 1916, the 31st and 4th Divisions attacked north and south of this road without success. Then, on November 13 of the same year, the 3rd and 31st Divisions attempted a new attack, which also failed. Finally, on February 25, 1917, after the German withdrawal, during Operation Alberich, the 22nd Manchester captured the village of Serre, which had been abandoned the day before. Shortly after, in May, the cemetery was built by the Vth Corps at the same time as cemeteries No. 1 and 3. After the armistice, thousands of bodies from the nearby battlefield were gathered here and burials took place until 1934.
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