Driving back from Delville Wood, rejoin the D20 and pass through Longueval.  Beyond the village, turn right onto the D107 heading northwest to Martinpuich.  High Wood lies to the east of the road and opposite its centre is London Cemetery and Extension.

On 14 July the Germans were pushed back from their second line trench system along the Bazentin ridge towards High Wood and Longueval.  Behind these positions was their third or Switch Line.  Over the rest of July and August, this area was hotly contested by both sides.  Attacks were followed by counterattacks, only to be followed in turn by new attacks.

These positions were finally taken on 15 September, during the Battle of Flers-Courcelette where tanks were used for the first time.  In High Wood, despite protests from the 47th (London) Division, which was to undertake the attack, the assault was to rely on the tanks with no artillery bombardment.  Inside the wood the tanks failed and the Londons’ assault, although successful, was very costly.

London Cemetery was started only days after the battle when 47 men were buried in a shell hole.  By the 1918 Armistice the number had risen to 101.  3,700 more graves were concentrated in the cemetery’s extension following the war and, after 1945, 165 more Second World War graves were also brought here.

From the rear wall of the cemetery there is a clear view southwest to Bazentin-le-Petit and the Communal Cemetery where Robert Graves was wounded.  Further across to the northwest Edward Colle took his tank in support of the 50th Division on 15 September, pushing over the ridge to Martinpuich.