Euston Road Cemetery, Colincamps (Somme)

Colincamps is a village and commune in the Department of the Somme, 11 kilometres North of Albert. "Euston" was a road junction 2 kilometres East of the village, and the cemetery is close to that spot.

Colincamps and "Euston" were within the British lines before the British offensive of July, 1916, and the Cemetery was used as a front line burial ground during and after the unsuccessful attack on Serre on the 1st July. After the German retreat in March 1917 it was scarcely used, and towards the end of March 1918 it passed with Colincamps into German hands; but that was the limit of the German advance. The line was held, and pushed forward by the New Zealand Division; and the Cemetery was used again for burials in April and May 1918. The whole of Plot I, except five graves in the last row, represents this original cemetery of 501 graves.

After the Armistice, 758 graves were brought in from neighbouring communes. Some were in small Cemeteries ( a list which is given below) and the rest were scattered over the battlefields.

The Cemetery is particularly associated with three dates and engagements; the attack on Serre on the 1st July 1916; the capture of Beaumont-Hamel on the 13th November 1916; and the German attack on the 3rd New Zealand (Rifle) Brigade trenches before Colincamps on the 5th April 1918.

Euston Road Cemetery covers an area of 3,894 square metres. It is surrounded by a red brick wall and a stone coping. It stands on a wide plateau and Colincamps and Gommecourt Wood can be seen from it.

Number of burials by Unit

New Zealand burials
284
  East Yorkshire Regt.
137
West Yorkshire Regt.
56
  York & Lancaster Regt.
50
Royal Field Artillery
48
  Royal Fusiliers - City of London Regt.
44
Middlesex Regt.
29
  East Lancashire Regt.
28
Australian burials
26
  Royal Sussex Regt.
23
Royal Scots Fusiliers
22
  King's Royal Lancaster Regt.
20
Manchester Regt.
20
  Machine Gun Corps - Infantry
19
Royal Welsh Fusiliers
18
  South Staffordshire Regt.
18
King's Liverpool
16
  King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry
13
Royal Berkshire Regt.
13
  Border Regt.
12
Durham Light Infantry
12
  Royal Warwickshire Regt.
12
Essex Regt.
11
  Royal Scots - Lothian Regt.
11
Northumberland Fusiliers
11
  Gordon Highlanders
11
Devonshire Regt.
10
  Rifle Brigade
9
Highland Light Infantry
8
  Hampshire Regt.
8
Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry
8
  Norfolk Regt.
8
King's Shropshire Light Infantry
8
  Bedfordshire Regt.
7
Cheshire Regt.
6
  Honourable Artillery Company
6
Ox. & Bucks. Light Infantry
6
  Royal Army Medical Corps
6
North Staffordshire Regt.
5
  Queen's - Royal West Surrey Regt.
5
Royal Garrison Artillery
5
  Canadian burials
4
Suffolk Regt.
4
  Royal Dublin Fusiliers
4
Somerset Light Infantry
4
  Duke of Wellington's - West Riding Regt.
3
Lancashire Fusiliers
3
  Sherwood Foresters - Notts. & Derbys. Regt.
3
Royal Engineers
3
  King's Royal Rifle Corps
3
Royal Flying Corps/Royal Air Force
2
  Black Watch - Royal Highlanders
2
Grenadier Guards
2
  Worcestershire Regt.
2
5th Bn. London Regt. - London Rifle Brigade
2
  Coldstream Guards
1
2nd King Edward's Horse
1
  Dorsetshire Regt.
1
Wiltshire Regt.
1
  Welsh Regt.
1
Gloucestershire Regt.
1
  Training Reserve Bn.
1
Inniskilling Dragoons
1
  Seaforth Highlanders
1
Lincolnshire Regt.
1
  28th Bn. London Regt. - Artists Rifles
1
Yorkshire Regt.
1
  Royal Army Service Corps
1
Indian Army burials
1
   
1
Identified burials
1124
     
Unidentified UK burials:
77
     
Unidentified New Zealand burials:
17
     
Unidentified Australian burials:
1
     
Wholly Unidentified burials
76
     
Total Unidentified burials
171
     
Total burials
1295
     

Those with awards in this cemetery

Gnr. A. Anderson M.M., 1st Canadian Div. Ammunition Col., Canadian Field Artillery. Died 3rd Oct. 1916. 1.C.52

Sgt. William Arthur Birkett M.M., Cross of Karageorge 1st Classe with Swords (Serbia)
. Div. Signal Coy. New Zealand Engineers. Killed in action 28th March 1918 aged 24. 3.A.2

L/Cpl. T. Dornan M.M., "C" Coy. 2nd Bn. Gordon Highlanders. Died of wounds 3rd April 1917 aged 41. 2.G.9

Maj. R. G. Gordon D.S.O., Lowland Heavy Bty. attd. 12th Heavy Bty. Royal Garrison Artillery. Died 26th March 1918 aged 39. Born at Valparaiso. 5.C.6

Lt. Colin Hally M.C., New Zealand Machine Gun Bn. Killed in action 6th April 1918. 4.G.3

Pte. G. Hanson M.M
., 12th Bn. York & Lancaster Regt. Died 1st July 1916. 4.R.6

Sgt. G. Harrison, Mentioned in Despatches. 13th Bn. East Yorkshire Regt. Died 13th Nov. 1916 aged 23. A schoolmaster. 1.G.41

Pte. B. Hartop M.M., 1st Bn. Essex Regt. Died 11th Sept. 1918. 2.F.3

Maj. George Henry Holland M.C., Mentioned in Despatches. 15th (North Auckland) Coy. 1st Bn. Auckland Regt. N.Z.E.F. Killed in action 15th May 1918 aged 32. 4.K.9

Bmdr. P. Hughes D.C.M., M.M., 29th Bty. 42nd Brig. Royal Field Artillery. Died 1st Nov. 1916. 1.E.47

2nd Lt. Henry Myrddin Jones, Mentioned in Despatches. 10th Bn. Royal Welsh Fusiliers. Killed in action near Beaumont Hamel 13th Nov. 1916 aged 25. 1.G.69

Sgt. J. Massey M.M., "B" Coy. 2nd Bn. South Staffordshire Regt. Died 7th Sept. 1916 aged 29. 1.F.14

Sgt. H. Roberts, Mentioned in Despatches. 120th Bty. 27th Brig. Royal Field Artillery. Died 5th Sept. 1918. 5.F.1

Sgt. W. Scott, Mentioned in Despatches. 41st Bty. 42nd Brig. Royal Field Artillery. Died 15th Nov. 1916 aged 30. 1.E.9

2nd Lt. John Reginald Stagg D.C.M., 27th attd. 17th Bn. Middlesex Regt. Killed in action 17th Sept. 1916 aged 37. 1.F.43

Pte. Harold Archibald Stephenson M.M
., "C" Coy. 2nd Bn. Honourable Artillery Company. Died of wounds 6th April 1917 aged 25. 4.F.8

Cpl. F. T. Weldon M.M., 1st Bn. Northumberland Fusiliers. Died 23rd Dec. 1916. 1.H.49

C.S.M. C. W. Wheeler D.C.M., 4th Bn. Royal Fusiliers. Died 6th Nov. 1916 aged 22. 1.E.32

Cpl. Arthur William Wood, Croix de Guerre (Belgium). 4th Australian Light Trench Mortar Battery. Killed in action 30th March 1918 aged 22. 4.I.3


Others buried in this cemetery

Lt. Frederick Jacob Brooks, 4th attd. 2nd Bn. South Staffordshire Regt. Died 13th Nov. 1916 aged 21. Native of Cape Town, South Africa. 1.G.66

Pte. William Ernest Cox, 12th Bn. East Yorkshire Regt. Killed in action 13th Nov. 1916 aged 36. Also served in the South African Campaign. 4.Q.8

Spr. Arthur James Cullingham. Div. Sig. Coy. New Zealand Engineers. Killed in action 28th March 1918 aged 37. Served with the Royal Engineers in the Somaliland Expedition and the South African Campaign. 4.A.1

2nd Lt. Rosser Fellowes Marriott Dean. 4th Bn. Royal Warwickshire Regt. attd. 93rd Bn. Machine Gun Corps. Killed in action 1st July 1916 aged 33. Educated at Wellington College and Oriel College, Oxford. Acted as Intelligence Officer in Kenya Colony in 1914. Returned to England, invalided with malaria. Rejoined in 1915. 1.D.14

L/Cpl. George Kenneth Duff. Div. Signal Coy. New Zealand Engineers. Killed in action 28th March 1918 aged 25. Also served in Egypt and Gallipoli. 3.A.1

2nd Lt. Leslie Charles Focken (served as Fawkner)
. 15th Sqdn. Royal Flying Corps. Killed in aerial combat on the Somme 26th Oct. 1916 aged 21. Served in Gallipoli with 5th Bn. Australian Inf. Born at Hong Kong. 1.E.60

Pte. John Abbotson Harper. 18th Bn. West Yorkshire. Died 1st Jul 1916 aged 25. Now known to be commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, France.

2nd Lt. Wilfrid George Hollands. 7th attd. 4th Bn. Royal Fusiliers. Killed in action near Serre 12th Oct. 1916 aged 23. Student of Guys Hospital, London. Enlisted in Middlesex Regt. Sept. 1914. Received Commission the following year and went to France April 1916. Regimental Bombing Officer. 1.C.40

Pte. Severin Emil Johannessen. 16th Bn. Australian Inf. Killed in action 5th April 1918 aged 35. Native of Hiso, Norway. 4.N.1

2nd Lt. Ronald George Pugh. 3rd Bn. King's Shropshire Light Inf. attd. 7th Bn. North Staffordshire Regt. Killed in action 19th Aug. 1916 aged 23. Previously wounded at Gallipoli. 5.N.9

Pte Herbert Seaward, 1st Bn, Canterbury Regiment, NZEF - 44599.Killed in action 7th June 1918 during his first day in action. Aged 23, Son of George and Adelaide Seaward of Kaiapoi, New Zealand. Herbert was originally buried in the White City Cemetery near Albert, but his body was exhumed from there in 1920 and interred at Euston Road. His parents were informed that "the exhumation was carried out with all reverence". IV.M. 3.

Sgt. John William Streets. 12th Bn. York & Lancaster Regt. Killed in action 1st July 1916 while attempting to rescue one of his men from no man's Land. Aged 31. Refusing entry into grammar school in order to support his younger twin brothers, he became a miner, eventually writing a book about coal-mining. The inscription on his grave, taken from one of his war poems from "The Undying Splendour, published in May 1917 reads, "I fell but yielded not my English soul: that lives our here beneath the battle's roll" He was from Whitwell in Derbyshire.

 

Sgt. George Winskill, 6/1431. New Zealand Machine Gun Bn. Killed by a sniper 27th March, 1918. Aged 23 Son of G. Winskill, of Bank St., Amberley, Canterbury. New Zealand . V. D. 3.
George was originally buried in an isolated trench in the Northern Avenue
Communication Trench near Colincamps - he was later interred in the Euston
Road Cemetery.