Ovillers-la-Boisselle | |
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_1.jpg) Lochnagar Crater Memorial | |
 Coat of arms | |
 Location of Ovillers-la-Boisselle | |
  Ovillers-la-Boisselle  Ovillers-la-Boisselle | |
| Coordinates:50°01′56″N2°41′55″E / 50.0322°N 2.6986°E /50.0322; 2.6986 | |
| Country | France |
| Region | Hauts-de-France |
| Department | Somme |
| Arrondissement | Péronne |
| Canton | Albert |
| Intercommunality | Pays du Coquelicot |
| Government | |
| • Mayor(2020–2026) | Christian Bernard[1] |
Area 1 | 9.61 km2 (3.71 sq mi) |
| Population (2023)[2] | 431 |
| • Density | 44.8/km2 (116/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| INSEE/Postal code | 80615 /80300 |
| Elevation | 80–153 m (262–502 ft) (avg. 115 m or 377 ft) |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
Ovillers-la-Boisselle is acommune in theSommedepartment inHauts-de-France in northernFrance.
The commune of Ovillers-la-Boisselle is situated 22 kilometres (14 mi) northeast ofAmiens and extends to the north and south of the D 929 Albert–Bapaume road.
The constituent village of Ovillers-la-Boisselle (commonly shortened to "Ovillers") lies on the north of the D 929 road, north-east ofAveluy and south-west ofPozières.
The constituent village of La Boisselle, which had35 houses in 1914, lies across the D 929, to the south-west of Ovillers at the junction of the D 104 toContalmaison.
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
|---|---|---|
| 1968 | 333 | — |
| 1975 | 336 | +0.13% |
| 1982 | 390 | +2.15% |
| 1990 | 392 | +0.06% |
| 1999 | 371 | −0.61% |
| 2007 | 373 | +0.07% |
| 2012 | 443 | +3.50% |
| 2017 | 446 | +0.14% |
| Source: INSEE[3] | ||
The village of La Boisselle is a settlement dating back to pre-Roman times,[4] and the D 929 Albert–Bapaume road follows the course of aRoman road. During theFranco-Prussian War (1870–1871), the area suffered serious damage after theBattle of Bapaume.[4]
InWorld War I, the area was the site of intense and sustained fighting betweenGerman andAllied forces. Between 1914 and 1916, theWestern Front ran through the commune, and its villages were completely destroyed. In 1916, the commune was the site of particularly heavy fighting during theBattle of the Somme (seeOvillers-la-Boisselle in World War I). After theArmistice of 11 November 1918, the former inhabitants returned and gradually rebuilt most of the infrastructure as it had been before the war.
In 2011, British researchers aroundPeter Barton started theLa Boisselle Project, a long-term archaeological, historical, technological and genealogical study with special focus onL'îlot de La Boisselle, a 3.12-hectare (7.7-acre)historic site on the south-western tip of La Boisselle which was known during World War I asL'îlot to the French,Granathof to the Germans andGlory Hole to the British. The site still holds mine craters as well as traces of trenches, shelters and tunnels related to underground warfare,[5] but isprivate property and not open to the public.
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