Dantzig Alley British Cemetery, Mametz (Somme)

Details

Mametz is a village and commune in the Department of the Somme, five miles East of Albert. Dantzig Alley British Cemetery, named from a German trench, is a little East of the village, on the North side of the road to Montauban.

Mametz was carried by the 7th Division on the 1st July, 1916, after very hard fighting at Dantzig Alley and other points. The cemetery was begun later in the same month; it was used by Field Ambulances and fighting units until the following November. The ground was lost in March, 1918, and regained in August and September, 1918. The cemetery consisted, at the Armistice, of 183 graves, now in Plot I; but it was then very greatly increased by concentration of 1,782 graves (almost all of 1916) from certain smaller burial grounds and from the battlefields North and East of Mametz.

The cemetery now contains the graves of 1.922 soldiers and airmen, and one Royal Marine gunner, from the United Kingdom, and 17 soldiers from New Zealand, 13 from Australia, ten from Canada and three from South Africa. Five French and seven German graves have been removed to other cemeteries. The unnamed graves are 518 in number, and special memorials are erected to 17 soldiers from the Untied Kingdom, known or believed to be buried among them. Other special memorials record the names of 70 soldiers from the United Kingdom and one from New Zealand, buried in other cemeteries, whose graves were destroyed by shell fire.

The following were among the burial grounds from which British graves were brought to this cemetery:-

Aeroplane Cemetery, Fricourt, on the the old German front line to the South of Fricourt village. It contained the graves of 24 N.C.Os and men of the 20th Manchester's who fell on the 1st July, 1916.

Bottom Wood Cemetery, Fricourt, on the South edge of a small wood between Mametz and Fricourt Woods. This was a Field Ambulance station for some months from July, 1916, and the cemetery contained the graves of 98 soldiers from the United Kingdom, five from New Zealand and one from Australia.

Bulgar Alley Cemetery, Mametz, 250 yards East of the village, named after a trench. It contained the graves of 24 soldiers from the United Kingdom, who fell on the 1st July, 1916, and all but one of whom belonged to the 22nd Manchester's

Hare Lane Cemetery, Fricourt, at the North-West corner of the village, named from a trench. It contained the graves of 54 soldiers from the United Kingdom who fell on the 1st and 2nd July, 1916, and of whom 49 belonged to the 10th West Yorks.

Mametz German Cemetery, in which 12 soldiers from the Untied Kingdom were buried by their comrades in July and August, 1916. This cemetery was near the crossing of the Fricourt-Maricourt and Mametz-Bray roads.

Mansel Copse Cemetery, Mametz, on the Fricourt-Maricourt road, near the present Devonshire Cemetery; and Mansel Copse West Cemetery, Mametz, 500 yards further West. These contained the graves of 51 men of the 2nd Border Regiment, who fell on the 1st July, 1916.

Montauban Road Cemetery, Carnoy, which contained the graves of 25 soldiers from the United Kingdom (almost all of the 18th Division) who fell on the 1st July, 1916.

Vernon Street Cemetery, Carnoy, in the valley between Carnoy and Maricourt, at a place called "Squeak Forward Position". Here were buried, by the 21st Infantry Brigade and other units, 110 soldiers from the United Kingdom who fell in July-October, 1916.

Number of Burials by Unit

Manchester Regiment
220
Royal Field Artillery
135
Queen's - Royal West Surrey Regt.
94
King's Liverpool Regiment
64
Royal Garrison Artillery
61
Border Regiment
59
West Yorkshire Regiment
57
Green Howards - Yorkshire Regiment
50
Royal Welsh Fusiliers
48
Royal Fusiliers - City of London Regiment
39
East Surrey Regiment
36
Bedfordshire Regiment
35
Royal Engineers
35
South Staffordshire Regiment
35
Northamptonshire Regiment
34
Gordon Highlanders
26
King's Royal Rifle Corps
26
Machine Gun Corps - Infantry
24
Northumberland Fusiliers
21
Welch Regiment
22
Royal Army Medical Corps
19
Buffs - East Kent Regiment
18
New Zealand units
18
Royal Scots Fusiliers
16
Essex Regiment
15
Notts & Derbys Regiment
15
Australian units
13
Royal Horse Artillery
13
Devonshire Regiment
12
Royal West Kent Regiment - Queen's Own
12
Middlesex Regiment
11
South Lancashire Regiment
11
Norfolk Regiment
10
Royal Scots - Lothian Regiment
10
Royal Warwickshire Regiment
10
Black Watch - Royal Highlanders
9
Canadian units
9
Dorsetshire Regiment
9
Rifle Brigade
9
Royal Berkshire Regiment
9
Royal Irish Regiment
9
Highland Light Infantry
8
South Wales Borderers
8
East Yorkshire Regiment
7
16th Bn. London Regiment - Queen's Westminster Rifles
7
Royal Army Service Corps
7
Seaforth Highlanders
7
Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders
6
Coldstream Guards
6
Leicestershire Regiment
6
Loyal North Lancashire Regiment
6
North Staffordshire Regiment
6
Durham Light Infantry
5
Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
5
Suffolk Regiment
5
Cameronians - Scottish Rifles
4
East Lancashire Regiment
4
 Gloucestershire Regiment
4
Lincolnshire Regiment
4
 Royal Sussex Regiment
4
Cameron Highlanders
3
 Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry
3
King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry
3
 Lancashire Fusiliers
3
Somerset Light Infantry
3
 South African Regiment
3
Cheshire Regiment
2
 Leinster Regiment
2
6th Bn. London Regiment - Rifles
2
 Royal Flying Corps/Royal Air Force
2
Royal Munster Fusiliers
2
 Wiltshire Regiment
2
York & Lancaster Regiment
2
 Army Cyclist Corps
1
Cambridgeshire Regiment
1
 Duke of Wellington - West Riding Regiment
1
King's Own Scottish Borderers
1
 16th Lancers - King's
1
17th Lancers
1
 37th Lancers
1
1st Bn. London Regiment - Royal Fusiliers
1
 3rd Bn. London Regiment - Royal Fusiliers
1
7th Bn. London Regiment
1
 17th Bn. London Regiment - Poplar & Stepney Rifles
1
23rd Bn. London Regiment
1
 Lord Strathcona's Horse
1
1st Royal Dragoons
1
 Royal Marine Artillery
1
West Kent Yeomanry
1
 Worcestershire Regiment
1
Identified burials
1536
      
Unidentified UK burials
518
      
Total burials
2054
      

Those with Awards in this cemetery

Maj. Aston Giffard Astley M.C., 2nd Bn. Royal Fusiliers attd. Machine Gun Corps. Killed in action 1st Oct. 1916 aged 26. E.11

Capt. W. J. Banks M.C., Mentioned in Despatches. 15th Brig. Royal Field Artillery. Killed in action 30th July 1916 aged 35. A.24

Pte. George Henry Bedford M.M., 7th Bn. The Queen's. Died 1st July 1916 aged 18. P.1

Cpl. W. A. Bone M.M., 8th Bn. East Surrey Regiment. Died 1st July 1916. Q.1

Sgt. H. G. Bristow M.M., 15th Siege Bty. Royal Garrison Artillery. Died 30th Aug. 1916. V.2

Bmdr. John Joseph Britter M.M., 58th Bty. 35th Brig. Royal Field Artillery. Killed in action 12th July 1916 aged 22. G.4

Capt. Norman Walford Broughton D.S.O., Mentioned in Despatches, Royal Army Medical Corps, attd. 73rd Brig. Royal Field Artillery. Died 10th Sept. 1916 aged 27. N.6

Lt. Col. H. B. Burnaby D.S.O., 11th Bn. The Queen's. Died 8th Sept. 1916 aged 42. D. 31

Dvr. Albert Bertram Cope, Mentioned in Despatches, "A" Bty. 107th Brig. Royal Field Artillery. Killed in action at Mountauban 20th Aug. 1916 aged 27. Joined the army Oct. 1914 from the clerical staff of the London County Council. C. 8

2nd Lt. Hubert St. Lawrence Feiling, Mentioned in Despatches. 1st Bn. Black Watch. Died 20th Nov. 1916 aged 26. F. 8

Lt. Edouard Herbert Allan Goss, Mentioned in Despatches. The Buffs, killed in action on the Mametz--Montauban Road 1st July 1916 aged 39. Son of L. Allan Goss of Cambridge. Born at Rangoon, Burma. Gazetted December 1914. R. 4

L/Cpl. H. Greenfield M.M., "A" Coy. 7th Bn. The Queen's. Killed in action 1st July 1916 aged 26. Eldest of three brothers lost in the war. Q.5

Lt. Alan Hodgkinson, Mentioned in Despatches. 2nd Bn. Royal Warwickshire Regiment. Killed in action 1st July 1916 aged 23. G.10

St. G. Irving M.M., 20th Bn. Manchester Regiment. Died 1st July 1916 aged 39. F.8

Pte. Thomas Charles Jones M.M., 14th Bn. Royal Welsh Fusiliers. Died 10th July 1916 aged 20. T.1

Cpl. A. Kitchen M.M., 5th Bn. King's Liverpool Regiment. Died 17th Sept. 1916. B.1

Capt. John Peake Knight D.S.O., Twice Mentioned in Despatches. 35th Bty. Royal Field Artillery. Killed in action 31st Aug. 1916 aged 26. J. 7

Gnr. C. Lailey D.C.M., 106th Bty. Royal Field Artillery. Died 1st Sept. 1916. B. 44

Lt. Reginald Hugh Lawson M.C., Mentioned in Despatches, The Rifle Brigade. Killed in action 24th Aug. 1916 aged 23. Scholar of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge and Haileybury. B. 24

Cpl. H. Lewin M.M., 7th Bedfordshire Regiment. Died 1st July 1916. C.1

Lt. Col. Harold Lewis, Twice mentioned in Despatches. 37th Lancers (Baluch Horse), commanding 20th Bn. Manchester Regiment. Killed in action 1st July 1916 aged 35. I. 1

Capt. Charles Roy Limbery M.C., 1st Bn. South Staffordshire Regiment. Died 1st July 1916 aged 26. E. 8

2nd Lt. Harold Harding Linzell M.C., 7th Bn. Border Regiment. Died 3rd July 1916 aged 21. H.2

Sgt. H. Long D.C.M., 2nd Bn. Border Regiment. Died 1st July 1916. B.10

L/Sgt. J. McNulty D.C.M., 2nd Bn. Royal Scots Fusiliers. Died 2nd July 1916 aged 28. W.7

Capt. Charles Campbell May, Mentioned in Despatches. "B" Coy. 22nd Bn. Manchester Regiment. Killed in action at Mametz 1st July 1916 aged 27. Son of Maj. & Mrs. C. E. May of New Zealand and London. Husband of Bessie Earles of Paris. B. 3

L/Cpl. W. Mein M.M., 16th Bn. Manchester Regiment. Died 1st July 1916. U.5

Sgt. C. H. Morgan M.M., 2nd Bn. Border Regiment. Died 1st July 1916. H.7

Sgt. H. A. Morris D.C.M., 10th Bn. Sherwood Foresters. Died 7th July 1916. M.2

Capt. I. A. J. Pask D.SO., M.C., 28th Brig. Royal Field Artillery. Died 1st Sept. 1916. C.35

Pte. J. Protheroe M.M., 7th Bn. Somerset Light Infantry. Died 1st Sept. 1916. E.3

Gnr. J. Rix M.M., 129th Bty. 42nd Brig. Royal Field Artillery. Died 30th July 1916. O.5

Cpl. John Robertson M.M., 1st Bn. Cameron Highlanders. Died 4th Sept. 1916 aged 27. L.3

Lt. Col. Frederick Leonard Sharp, C.M.G., 39th Brig. Royal Field Artillery. Killed in action 13th Aug. 1916 aged 49. C.21

Sgt. T. S. Silverton M.M., 9th Bn. Northumberland Fusiliers. Died 3rd Aug. 1916. A.39

Sgt. Charles George Smallbones M.M., "A" Coy. 7th Bn. The Queen's. Killed in action 1st July 1916 aged 37. Also served in South African Campaign. S.6

L/Cpl. E. J. Swanborough D.C.M., 2nd Bn. Border Regiment. Died 1st July 1916. B.4

Sgt. R. J. Thompson M.M., 117th Bty. Royal Field Artillery. Died 21st July 1916. F.6

Lt. James Frederick Venmore M.C., 14th Bn. Royal Welsh Fusiliers. Died 11th July 1916 aged 28. R.1

2nd Lt. W. C. S. Warr D.C.M., 22nd Brig. Royal Field Artillery. Died 1st July 1916. B.4

2nd Lt. Albert William Webb D.C.M., Mentioned in Despatches. 109th Siege Bty. Royal Garrison Artillery. Killed in action 24th July 1916 aged 38. J.2

Ch.P.O. (C.G.) W. Wright M.M., Howitzer Brig. Royal Marine Artillery. Died 22nd Sept. 1916. G.7

Capt. W. T. Wyllie, Mentioned in Despatches. 2nd Bn. Durham Light Infantry (Brig. Maj.) 13th Infantry Brig. Killed in action 19th July 1916 aged 34. F.9

Those buried in this Cemetery:-

L/Cpl. H. Greenfield M.M., "A" Coy. 7th Bn. The Queen's. Killed in action 1st July 1916 aged 26. Eldest of three brothers lost in the war. Q.5. the others were
C.S.M. A. F. Greenfield, G2192, 7th Btn The Queens (Royal West Surrey Regt.). Killed in action 13th July 1916, aged 22. Commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.
Sgt. P. Greenfield, G2194, 7th Btn The Queens (Royal West Surrey Regt.). Killed in action 13th July 1916, aged 20. Commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.