Address D57, 02420 Bony, France | ||
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Designed by George Howe
Marcel Loyau | ||
Somme American Cemetery and Memorial in France is situated ½ mile southwest of the commune of Bony, Aisne in northern France. It is located on a gentle slope typical of the open, rolling Picardy countryside.
Contents
Cemetery
The 14.3-acre (58,000 m2) cemetery contains the graves of 1,844 of the United States' military dead from World War I. Most lost their lives while serving in American units attached to the British Army, or in operations near Cantigny. The headstones, set in regular rows, are separated into four plots by paths that intersect at the flagpole near the top of the slope. The longer axis leads to the chapel at the eastern end of the cemetery.
A massive bronze door surmounted by an American eagle leads into the chapel, whose outer walls contain sculptured pieces of military equipment. Once inside, light from a cross-shaped crystal window above the marble altar bathes the subdued interior with light. The walls bear the names of 333 of the missing. Rosettes mark the names of those since recovered and identified.