Combles is situated on the D20 road, some 50 km (31 mi) north-east of Amiens.
History
Combles after its capture in 1916 by British and French troopsSöldenau war memorial (Ortenburg, Germany); among the dead is Georg Reiter, killed at Combles on 30 April 1916
Combles was the operations centre for the battle of Bapaume during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71.
Combles was again at the centre of much fighting during World War I (1914–1918), with many of its buildings damaged and many of its residents injured or killed, not to mention the numerous casualties among the forces in combat there. Many British soldiers who fell in the war are buried in the local cemetery, and there are numerous war cemeteries in the immediate surrounding area.
It has, however, been substantially developed since the war's end.
