After being known by various forms of the name of the local river, the Ancre, it was renamed to Albert after it passed to Charles d'Albert, duc de Luynes.

[3] In his letters home to his wife, Rupert Inglis, who was a former rugby international and now a forces chaplain, described passing through Albert: "We went through the place today (2 October 1915) where the Virgin Statue at the top of the Church was hit by a shell in January.

The Basilica, however, was faithfully rebuilt according to its original design by Eduoard Duthoit, the son of the architect who had overseen its construction in 1885–1895.

The underground shelters in which the museum is located served as protective bunkers for Albert's residents during aerial bombardments in World War II.

The city appears in the short story "The Garden of Forking Paths", by the Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges.

The tank stopped and returned fire while the half-track advanced to within ten metres of the British who threw grenades at it forcing it to withdraw.

As the Germans were travelling, in many cases, astride their vehicles, the heavy fusillade created a catastrophic number of casualties amongst the enemy.

Murray, accompanied by a sergeant and a corporal, advanced further down the track on foot when they encountered a seven man German patrol at point blank range.

On reconnoitering the wood the following morning, the British found between thirty and forty German vehicles, packed head to tail, all burnt out.

There is little doubt that Captain Murray's decision to engage the enemy overnight, rather than wait until daylight, averted a potential disaster for the people of Albert.

During the operation, which lasted for four hours and routed a far superior and better equipped enemy, the Green Howards lost two men, Sergeant Harland Matthews (27) and private Richard Westcott (19).

The full citation reads, "During the whole of these operations, which lasted for more than four hours, Captain Murray displayed great powers of leadership and a very high standard of personal gallantry.