Somme

Continue on the side road, 1.5km to the northwest, barely visible in the folds of the ground is Regina Trench Cemetery.  At the T-junction, turn right and pass through Courcelette.  At the edge of the village, turn right onto the D107 and, at the main Albert-Bapaume road (D929) take the right again.  In Pozières, turn right onto the D73 towards Thiepval.  After 2km the site of Mouquet Farm is reached.  2.5km to the northeast, still out of sight beyond the ridge, is Regina Trench Cemetery again. Thiepval is 1km further down the road.

Courcelette was captured on 15 September by the 2nd Canadian Division, supported by four tanks.  Almost a fortnight later Thiepval and the Schwaben Redoubt were taken.  These two positions were connected by a series of formidable redoubts and trenches including Stuff Redoubt and Zollern Redoubt.  Central to these defence works was Regina Trench.  Partially captured by the Canadians on 1 October, and attacked by them again a week later, Regina Trench was mostly taken on 21 October by the 4th Canadian Division and two British divisions, the 18th and 25th.  But fighting continued in the area until the following month.

One of the British battalions that attacked on 21 October was the 11th Battalion, the Lancashire Fusiliers.  During the attack John Tolkein , the Battalion’s Signalling Officer, passed messages back to headquarters from his position in Zollern Trench, about 600m south of Regina.  The cemetery today stands on top of part of Regina Trench, slightly to the northeast of his position.  Earlier in October, for a week, Tolkein had been based in dugouts close to Mouquet Farm.