In 2012 I obtained an Excel file from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. It listed all the New Zealand soldiers killed or missing in the 1916 Somme fighting with their details and relevant documents. My initial intention was only to track the last movements of a great uncle who was killed on October 2 1916. I eventually ended up painstakingly plotting the locations of 347 NZ soldiers whose remains were found in the New Zealand Division's sector and who could be identified. This was done using hundreds of "Burial Return" documents, a link to which can be found at column 9 in the list. These documents give the details of remains found including location and details of items that aided identification. Many more such documents are nowadays freely available on the CWGC website.
Note that this list contains details of ONLY those killed between early September 1916 and 4th October 1916 and who were identified. Their bodies were found all over the division's area of activity, sometimes singly and sometimes in small battlefield burial plots or shell holes. Most of the searches and exhumations were carried out in the first few years after the war. The date, which is sometimes not legible, is stamped on the Burial Return. When remains were discovered the officer in charge would note the location using wartime trench map co-ordinates. Some officers were more diligent than others, giving positions accurate to within 25 yards. Others only gave rough co-ordinates eg 57c.M.36 which covers an area of 1000 x 1000 yards, in which case I have simply given the Google Maps location at the center of this square. While most of the exhumations and concentration reburials were performed in 1919 and the early 1920s some took place much later. One such case was a mass burial plot just to the west of Flers. It contained the remains of at least 19 NZers who could only be identified by items such as badges, uniforms, discs etc. There were no crosses. The exhumations were carried out in 1932 and many of these men were reburied some distance away in Serre Road No 2 Cemetery. Presumably the nearby cemeteries were full and were not able to be further extended.
It's interesting to note that the locations where bodies were found, and the units to which they belonged, often reflects the order or progress of the fighting. For instance on the morning of the initial attack (15 September) the first wave consisted of 2/Otago on the left with 2/Auckland to their right. 2/Otago suffered from heavy enfilade MG fire coming from High Wood (Bois des Fourcaux) which had not yet been cleared by the Londoners of the 47th Division. Many of the men found in this area were of the 2/Otago battalion and were killed on that day.
Likewise, on 20th September at 8:30pm 2/Canterbury crept up the ridge towards Goose Alley trench west of Flers which was giving the germans good observation over the NZ positions in and around Flers. They were seen when only 50 yards away. The subsequent fighting lasted all that night, most of the next day and into the 2nd night. The remains of many Cantabrians were found scattered around the location where Goose Alley intersected the German Flers and Flers Support lines where most of the “soldiers battle” took place. In all 39 men of 2/Canterbury were reported killed with 49 missing. CWGC records show a total of 78 soldiers in 2nd Canterbury died on 20 and 21 September, meaning most of those reported missing were dead. More than 400 germans died as well as some Scottish Black Watch men who had been working their way up Drop Alley on the left.
Similarily,1000 yards northeast of L'Abbaye d'Eaucourt the bodies of many 2/Otago and 2/Wellington men were found. This reflects an assault on 2 October on “The Circus” strongpoint and following right hook in which the NZers overshot their objectives. Some of the bodies, including that of my own uncle (Alf Cowie) and that of the runner (John Fitzgerald) sent to call them back, were found between the german front trench line and the support line, which, incidently, remained so until the germans unilaterally withdrew in February 1917.
Several kilometers behind the front in the rear of High Wood the remains were found of 3 New Zealand artillerymen of the same battery, killed on the same day and buried in one grave with just one cross. This could indicate an incident, perhaps an accident or even a direct hit from german counter-battery fire.
The New Zealand Memorial at the Caterpillar Valley Cemetery, which overlooks the NZ Division starting positions on the 15th September, lists the names of 1205 NZers who have no known grave. Over 2000 New Zealanders were killed or died of wounds as a result of the Divisions time on the Somme in 1916.
CSH 2022
More reading..
Clearing The Dead
Reading trench maps