Poppy Mercier History & Photography

01/09/2026

Today I want to remember the 3 men of the Guards Armoured Division who died on the 1st September 1944 in Albert (Somme).

Elements of the Division including the Welsh Guards, Horse Guards & Grenadier Guards began to make their way towards Albert. The local occupation forces had heard of their arrival, and had already begun to prepare for evacuation. There are conflicting reports as to the amount of resistance left in the town; one account claims the presence of an entire SS Battle Group, while another says only a few remnants. By the time the reconnaissance units had arrived on the southern entrance road of Albert, most of the “heavy enemy resistance” that had been reported that morning had gone. Small pockets of mortar fire targeted the advancing tanks and scout cars, sadly leading to the deaths of three men we remember today: Gordon Ebbage (age 23), Roger Rawlence (age 24) & George Snowden (age 19).

After their deaths, they were buried into Albert Communal Cemetery Ext, the closest IWGC cemetery to where they were killed. I was very lucky that I was put in touch with a relative of Trooper Rawlence, who sent me the IWGC photo of his grave, plus the letter from the chaplain that buried him.

“Ever Open Eye”
1 September 1944 - 1 September 2026

30/08/2026

A brief visit to Achiet le Petit German Cemetery

27/08/2026

If you find yourself on the Somme on the 20th September this year, why not take advantage of the FREE guided tour I'm providing at Courcelette?
As part of the Journées Européennes du Patrimoine this year, I'm offering a guided tour into the history of Courcelette British Cemetery.
If you're interested in attending, please drop me an email at [email protected] or via this page! Please note this tour will only be conducted in English. Booking isn't required but it's helpful for me to attain rough visitor numbers

23/08/2026

If you visit Adanac Military Cemetery, you may come across the grave of Lieutenant Ronald Arnholz. Today I’m telling you his story, 108 years - to the day - after his death.

16/08/2026

Come on a visit to Les Baraques Cemetery, located in Sangatte close to Calais. This cemetery of just over 1500 burials contains some of the most fascinating stories I’ve come across on the Western Front.

12/08/2026

What an experience to capture the eclipse up at my local CWGC cemetery! The little “solar croissants” shadowing on the headstones made for the most amazing effect ☀️

(And the final picture from the “camera obscura” we made to watch the eclipse safely!)

12/08/2026

You may have seen last night that I’ve spent some time updating my socials - I’m currently trying to make sure all my channels match now I’m branching out further!
You can now find me:
• on Instagram .h.mercier
• on YouTube

WW1 & WW2 History Videos created by Poppy Mercier - a young historian living and working on the old Somme Battlefields

09/08/2026

Sunset at Pozieres British Cemetery
This was taken on the evening of the 110th Anniversary of the Battle of Pozieres. In 7 weeks of fighting, the Australians suffered approx 23,000 casualties.

22/04/2026

Remembering those who experienced, suffered and died during the first gas attack on this day, 111 years ago, 22nd April 1915.

Martin Greene, a British Officer on the front line that day, was witness to the brutal attack:
“Just at dawn they opened a very heavy fire, especially machine-gun fire, and the idea of that was apparently to make you get down. And then the next thing we heard was this sizzling – you know, I mean you could hear this damn stuff coming on – and then saw this awful cloud coming over. A great yellow, greenish-yellow, cloud. It wasn’t very high; about I would say it wasn’t more than 20 feet up. Nobody knew what to think. But immediately it got there we knew what to think, I mean we knew what it was. Well then of course you immediately began to choke, then word came: whatever you do don’t go down. You see if you got to the bottom of the trench you got the full blast of it because it was heavy stuff, it went down.”

21/04/2026

Remembering Joseph Boussu, “Mort Pour La France”, on this day 109 years ago.

Joseph Boussu was born in Becordel on 16 June 1893 to Jules & Marie Boussu. Shortly after his birth, the family moved to Courcelette to work for the Gonse family, a prominent landowning family in the village. In October 1913 he joined the 8th Bn Chasseurs à Pied. The unit was officially mobilised on 2nd August 1914. The unit saw heavy fighting in the Argonne & Verdun in 1915 and 1916. During the action at Berry-au-Bac & Hill 108 in early April 1917, Joseph was mortally wounded. He sadly died from his wounds on 21st April 1917 at the evacuation hospital of Prouilly (Marne). After the war, the family had his body returned home to be buried in the family plot in Courcelette. His younger brother, Emile, who served with the local regiment (120th R.I.) survived the war and moved to Rouen with the rest of the family in the mid-1920s.

Since then, there has been no one to care for his grave. I started the project to restore and care for his grave in February 2024, and with the aid of good friends, we began with a basic tidy up & replacement of his wooden cross.

In August 2025, the restoration was completed. A new plaque was placed on his grave, a new rose bush has been planted and the fixtures and fittings have been repaired or replaced. It is now a grave befitting Joseph, who gave his life for his country.

Remember Joseph on this day, the day he died for France.