Thiepval Memorial
Mémorial franco-britannique de Thiepval
The largest Commonwealth war memorial in the world, inscribed with the names of 72,000 missing soldiers from the Battle of the Somme, with a visitor centre beside it.
The Thiepval Memorial, designed by Lutyens and completed in 1932, is a red-brick arch about 45 meters high, with stacked arches that carry pillars engraved with the names of more than 72,000 British and South African soldiers who died on the Somme battlefields and have no known grave. It is the largest war memorial in the world built by Britain. Behind the memorial lies a cemetery where British and French soldiers rest side by side. The nearby visitor centre has a gallery set up by the Historial de la Grande Guerre in Péronne, which explains the Battle of the Somme in 1916. Admission is free. The visitor centre is open roughly 10:00 to 18:00 (until 17:00 in winter). It is about 40 km from Amiens and requires a car or a day tour of the First World War battlefields.
Opening hours
Monument open all day; visitor center 10:00–18:00 (until 17:00 in winter)
Nearby sights
- Ulster Tower
- Lochnagar Crater
- Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial
- Delville Wood South African Memorial
- Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux
- Historial de la Grande Guerre
- Hortillonnages of Amiens
- Saint-Leu Quarter