The village of Mametz was carried by the 7th Division on 1 July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme, after very hard fighting at Dantzig Alley (a German trench) and other points. The cemetery was begun later in the same month and was used by field ambulances and fighting units until the following November. The ground was lost during the great German advance in March 1918 but regained in August, and a few graves were added to the cemetery in August and September 1918. At the Armistice, the cemetery consisted of 183 graves but it was then very greatly increased by graves (almost all of 1916) brought in from the battlefields north and east of Mametz and from eight smaller burial grounds in the area. The cemetery was designed by Sir Herbert Baker. William Haines of Market Overton - who is remembered on the war memorial at Teigh, a thankful village, lies in Plot VI, Row K, grave 7 and his grave has his initials as A.W rather than W.A.  William Knox of Geeston lies in Plot IX, Row J, Grave 4.