Serre Road Cemetery No. 1, built in May 1917, contains 2,426 graves, 1,727 of which could not be identified: 574 British, 64 Australian, 35 Canadian, 23 New Zealand, and 3 South African.
It is located on the former no man's land of the Battle of the Somme, between the British and German lines on July 1, 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme. The assault by the 4th and 31st British Divisions, although the latter managed to reach Serre, was a failure resulting in the loss of thousands of men. Although a new assault was attempted on November 13, this sector remained in German hands until February 25, 1917, when the latter began a vast withdrawal eastward, behind the Hindenburg Line (Operation Alberich).
From the spring of 1917, other corps were regrouped here, notably those from the former no man's land in this sector as far south as the Ancre River.