The British Military Cemetery at the Citadel in Fricourt is located near two hills named "Point 71 North" and "Point 71 South," which may explain the name "Citadel," and contains 378 graves of British soldiers.
Many of the graves in this cemetery are those of men who died in Field Ambulances before the Battle of the Somme. This area has, in fact, always been in the hands of French, and later British, troops, except between March and August 1918. In the autumn of 1916, the "Citadel" even became a large camp where troops returning from the front passed through and rested briefly. The area was even nicknamed "Happy Valley." After the armistice, 27 French graves were moved to the Albert necropolis and 6 German graves to the Fricourt necropolis.