Bulls Road Cemetery, Flers (Somme)

Details

Flers is a village and commune in the Department of the Somme, about nine miles Northeast of Albert and Bulls Road Cemetery is a little East of the village on the road to Lesboeufs (the name is perhaps a punning allusion to the Lesboeufs Road)

The village was captured by the 41st and New Zealand Divisions on the 15th September, 1916, in the Battle of Flers-Courcelette; this was the first occasion on which Tanks were brought into action. It was lost at the end of March, 1918, and recaptured on the following 27th August by the 10th West Yorks and the 6th Dorsets (17th Division)

The 41st Division Memorial, a bronze figure of a British soldier, stands in the village.

The Cemetery was begun on the 19th September, 1916, and was used by fighting units (mainly Australian) until March, 1917; these burials, 154 in number, now form Plot I. Plot II, Row A, graves 1-17 were added in September, 1918, by the 17th Division Burial Officer. The rest of the cemetery consists of graves (mainly September, 1916, or August, 1918) brought in after the Armistice from the fields between Flers and Longueval.

The Cemetery now contains the graves of 485 soldiers from the United Kingdom, 148 from Australia, 120 from New Zealand, and two whose unit in the forces is not known. The unnamed graves number 296; and special memorials are erected to eight soldiers from Australia, five from the United Kingdom and two from New Zealand, known or believed to be buried among them.

Number of burials by unit

Australian burials
155
   New Zealand burials
85
King's Royal Rifle Corps
39
   East Yorkshire Regiment
36
Royal West Kent Regiment
27
   Hampshire Regiment
25
Dorsetshire Regiment
18
   Durham Light Infantry
13
King's Liverpool Regiment
10
   Royal Field Artillery
9
Lancashire Fusiliers
6
   Royal Berkshire Regiment
6
Welsh Regiment
6
   Manchester Regiment
4
Bedfordshire Regiment
3
   Middlesex Regiment
3
Royal Sussex Regiment
3
   Green Howards - Yorkshire Regiment
2
Royal Dublin Fusiliers
2
   Royal Engineers
2
Royal Fusiliers - City of London Regiment
2
   Royal Garrison Artillery
2
West Yorkshire Regiment
2
   Worcestershire Regiment
2
London Regiment - 3rd Bn. Royal Fusiliers
1
   London Regiment - 6th Bn. London Rifles
1
London Regiment - 19th Bn. St. Pancras
1
   Loyal North Lancashire Regiment
1
Machine Gun Corps
1
   Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
1
Queen's - Royal West Surrey Regiment
1
   Royal Army Medical Corps
1
South Wales Borderers
1
   Suffolk Regiment
1
Tank Corps
1
   Wiltshire Regiment
1
Identified burials
474
      
Unidentified UK units
257
      
Unidentified New Zealand units
37
      
Wholly unidentified
2
      
Total burials
770
      

Men with awards buried in this cemetery

Sgt. J. Donnely D.C.M., 12th Bn. East Surrey Regiment, died 15th Sept. 1916. II. J. 22.

2nd Lt. William George Drew M.M., 47th Bn. Australian Inf. K.I.A. 24th Jan. 1917 aged 28. I. A. 36.

Cpl. Reginald Charles Hayden M.M., 49th Bn. Australian Inf. K.I.A. 24th Nov. 1916. I. A. 16.

Cpl. D. A. Homersham M.M., "Z" 21st Trench Mortar Bty. Royal Field Artillery. Died 6th Oct. 1916. III. K. 10.

Cpl. William John Jackson M.M., 14th Bn. Australian Inf. K.I.A. 28th Jan. 1917 aged 22. I. C. 3.

Capt. Frederic Devereux Jessop M.C., 12th Bn. East Surrey Regiment, died 15th Sept. 1916 aged 26. III. E. 5.

R.S.M., P. A. S. Kesby, Mentioned in Despatches. 1st Bn. Lancashire Fusiliers, died 25th Oct. 1916 aged 36. L. C. 13.

Pte. Edwin Isaac Newton, Mentioned in Despatches. 58th Bn. Australian Inf. K.I.A. 9th March 1917 aged 19. I. C. 28.

C.S.M. Thomas Alfred Perkins M.C., "A" Coy. 5th Bn. Royal Berkshire Regiment, K.I.A. 13th Oct. 1916 aged 33. I. A. 3.

2nd Lt. Frederick Stobo Phillips M.M., 1st Bn. Australian Inf. K.I.A. 5th Nov. 1916. I. C. 10.

Cpl. F. Platt M.M., "X" 21st Trench Mortar Bty. Royal Garrison Artillery. Died 6th Oct. 1916. III. K. 9.

L/Cpl. R. Polhill M.M., 6th Bn. Dorsetshire Regiment, died 27th Aug. 1918. II. A. 11.

Capt. John Donald Kay Strang, Twice Mentioned in Despatches. 3rd Bn. 3rd N.Z. (Rifle) Brigade. K.I.A. 15th Sept. 1916 aged 22. III. H. 13.

Lt. F. W. Woods, Territorial Efficiency Medal. 4th Bn. Dorsetshire Regiment. K.I.A. 28th Aug. 1918 aged 37. India Dec. 1914 to 1916; Dorset Regiment 1916 to 1917; Musketry Officer in America, Nov. 1917 to May 1918. III. L. 2.

Spr. A. O. Wright M.M., 93rd Field Coy., Royal Engineers. Died 31st Aug. 1918. II. A. 15.