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The Western Front Today - 50th Northumbrian Division Memorial

Sited nearby the Oxford Road CWGC cemetery in the Ypres Salient (established in 1917) where many members of the division were buried is the memorial to the British 50th (Northumbrian) Division.

The 50th Division was formed from territorial origins in the north-east of England and was despatched to the Western Front in April 1915 where it quickly saw action during the Second Battle of Ypres and helped to smash the Hindenburg Line in October 1918.

After the Second World War the memorial was altered to include a note reflecting the division's role in the later war.  Behind the memorial are barely visible bunkers comprising the line of the notorious Cambrai Redoubt.

Film Footage of 50th Division Memorial

References:
Before Endeavours Fade, Rose E.B. Coombs, After the Battle 1994
Major & Mrs Holt's Battlefield Guide - Ypres Salient, Leo Cooper 2000

A howitzer is any short cannon that delivers its shells in a high trajectory. The word is derived from an old German word for "catapult".

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