Heilly

Heilly is situated on the D52 road, some 12 miles (19 km) northeast of Amiens. During the First World War, being on the railway line Amiens-Albert led to a group of three Casualty Clearing Stations (CCSs) being set up around the railway station in preparation for the Battle of the Somme. The railway line allowed the use of Ambulance Trains to transport the wounded on to large hospitals further from the front lines. Just under 3000 graves are in the military cemetery, Heilly Station Cemetery, primarily of those who died in 1916. The cemetery, along with the sites of two of the original CCSs, are actually in the neighbouring commune of Méricourt-l'Abbé.