Caterpillar Valley was the name given by the army to the long valley which runs West to East past "Caterpillar Wood", to the high ground at Guillemont.
Caterpillar Valley was captured during a night assault on Bazentin Ridge by the 3rd, 7th and 9th Divisions on 14 July 1916.
The Germans captured it during the German advance in March 1918 before being retaken by the 38th (Welsh) division on 28 August 1918. Following this a small cemetery was made - this contained 25 graves of the 38th Division and the 6th Dragoon Guards, and is now Plot One of the present cemetery.
After the Armistice the cemetery was extended when over 5500 graves of officers and men were brought in from other small cemeteries and the nearby battlefields. The majority had died in the autumn of 1916 or in August / September 1918.
Caterpillar Vally Cemetery now contains 5573 graves or commemorations. 3798 are unidentified
On the 6th November 2004, the remains of an unidentified New Zealand soldier were removed from this cemetery and entrusted to New Zealand at a ceremony held at the Longueval Memorial, France. The remains had been exhumed by staff of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission from Plot 14, Row A, Grave 27 and were later laid to rest within the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior, at the National War Memorial, Wellington, New Zealand.
GPS Co-ordinates: Latitude: 50.02619 Longitude: 2.79200