Auchonvillers

Auchonvillers (; ) is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France.

Its name seems to come from an old German man's name Alko (hypocoristic for a name starting Alk-) or similar (who invaded with the Franks in the 5th century AD), and Latin villare ("[land] belonging to a villa, farm").Dictionnaire des noms de lieux de France, edited by A Dauzat & Ch. Rostaing, publ. by Larousse in 1963

First World War The area was involved in the Battle of the Somme. There is a Commonwealth War Cemetery in the commune. English-speaking troops commonly rendered the place's name as 'Ocean Villas'; British gunners also knew it as 'Eight-inch Villas'.Maj J.O.K. Delap (ed) With a Siege Battery in France. 303 Siege Battery R.G.A. 1916-1919, Woolwich: Royal Artillery Institution, 1919/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2003, ISBN 978-1-84342-669-1, p. 76.

See also Communes of the Somme department Auchonvillers Military Cemetery

References