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Details
LESBOEUFS is a village and commune
in the Department of the Somme, about 11 kilometres East of Albert;
and the Guards' Cemetery is 1 kilometre South?West of the village, on
the North?West side of the road to Ginchy. The nearest convenient railway
station is at Albert.
The village was attacked
by the Guards Division on the 15th September, 1916, and captured by
them on the 25th. It was lost on the 24th March, 1918, after a stubborn
resistance by part of the 63rd Machine Gun Battalion, and recaptured
on the following 29th August by the 10th South Wales Borderers.
The fighting in 1916 is commemorated by the Guards Division Memorial
situated along the road to Ginchy.
The village has been "adopted," with Morval, by the City of
Canterbury.
The cemetery consisted, at the time of the Armistice, of 40 graves (now
Plot I), mainly those of. officers and men of the 2nd Grenadier Guards
who fell on the 25th September, 1916. It was very greatly increased
by the concentration of graves from the battlefields and small cemeteries
round Lesboeufs. It now contains the graves of 2,911 soldiers and Marines
from the United Kingdom, 209 from Australia, eleven from New Zealand,
and five from Canada. The graves of 39 French soldiers have been removed
to other cemeteries. The unnamed graves number 1,643, or more than half
the total; and special memorials are erected to 76 soldiers from the
United Kingdom and seven from Australia, known or believed to be buried
among them. Other special memorials record the names of five soldiers
from the United Kingdom, buried in Ginchy A.D.S. Cemetery, whose graves
were destroyed by shell fire.
In 1962, the isolated Grave at Lesboeufs of three officers of the 2nd
Bn. Coldstream Guards, killed in action on the 26th September, 1916
and buried in one grave by the roadside, 76 metres North of the crossing
of the roads from Lesboeufs to Ginchy and from Flers to Combles was
opened for concentration of the remains to the Guards' Cemetery, Lesboeufs,
but as no remains were found these three officers were commemorated
by Special Memorials "E" in this cemetery, inscribed as follows:
BURIED AT THE TIME
AT LESBOEUFS
BUT WHOSE GRAVE IS NOW LOST
"THEIR GLORY SHALL NOT BE BLOTTED OUT"
The cemetery covers an area of 8,838 square metres.
The more considerable
burial grounds concentrated into this cemetery were the following
FLERS DRESSING STATION CEMETERY, GINCHY, between Delville Wood
and Flers, containing the graves of 33 soldiers from Australia and
eight from the United Kingdom who fell in September, 1916-March, 1917.
FLERS ROAD CEMETERY, FLERS, on the Flers-Longueval road, containing
the graves of 17 soldiers from the United Kingdom, three from New
Zealand and one from Australia, who fell in October, 1916.
GINCHY A.D.S. CEMETERY, on the North side of Ginchy village.
This was a Field Ambulance cemetery, used from November, 1916 to March,
1917, and containing the graves of 77 soldiers from the United Kingdom
and one from Australia.
GINCHY R.F.A. CEMETERY, between Ginchy and Flers, containing
the graves of 16 artillerymen from the United Kingdom and five from
Australia who fell in October, 1916-February, 1917.
GUARDS' BURIAL GROUND, GINCHY, on the East side of the village,
containing the graves of 21 officers and men of the Guards Division
who fell on the 15th September, 1916.
NEEDLE DUMP CEMETERY, LESBOEUFS, on the road to Flers, containing
the graves of 23 soldiers from Australia and four from the United
Kingdom who fell in October, 1916-March, 1917
NEEDLE DUMP SOUTH CEMETERY, LESBOEUFS, about 46 metres South
of Needle Dump Cemetery, containing the graves of 14 soldiers from
Australia and nine from the United Kingdom who fell in October, 1916-March,
1917.
SWITCH TRENCH CEMETERY, FLERS, a little East of the Flers-Longueval
road, containing 1 110 (mainly Australian) graves of 1916-17. On the
site of another part of Switch Trench, further West, the New Zealand
Government have erected one of their two Battlefield Memorials in
France.
WINDMILL TRENCH CEMETERY, LESBOEUFS, on the road leading North
from Lesboeufs. It was used from September, 1916 to March, 1917, and
it contained the graves of 27 soldiers from the United Kingdom and
16 from Australia.
Number of burials by Unit
| Australian |
190
|
|
Royal Field Artillery |
165
|
| Grenadier Guards |
120
|
|
Coldstream Guards |
99
|
| Irish Guards |
42
|
|
Rifle Brigade |
41
|
| Middlesex Regt. |
40
|
|
Durham Light Infantry |
38
|
| King's
Royal Rifle Corps |
38
|
|
Duke of
Wellington's - West Riding Regt. |
35
|
| West Yorkshire Regt. |
31
|
|
Royal Engineers |
30
|
| Royal Garrison Artillery |
30
|
|
Lancashire Fusiliers |
24
|
| 1st Bn. London Regt.
- Royal Fusiliers |
23
|
|
King's Own Royal Lancaster
Regt. |
23
|
| King's Own Yorkshire
Light Infantry |
23
|
|
Scots Guards |
23
|
| Cameronians - Scottish
Rifles |
22
|
|
Leicestershire Regt. |
22
|
| Machine Gun Corps
- Infantry |
22
|
|
Royal Fusiliers -
City of London Regt. |
21
|
| Essex Regt. |
19
|
|
King's Liverpool Regt. |
19
|
| Royal Welsh Fusiliers |
18
|
|
3rd Bn. London Regt.
- Royal Fusiliers |
17
|
| Somerset Light Infantry |
17
|
|
Hampshire Regt. |
16
|
| Sherwood Foresters
- Notts. & Derbys. Regt. |
15
|
|
Royal Army Medical
Corps |
14
|
| Royal
Warwickshire Regt. |
13
|
|
Seaforth
Highlanders |
13
|
| Border Regt. |
12
|
|
Duke of Cornwall's
Light Infantry |
12
|
| King's Shropshire
Light Infantry |
11
|
|
New Zealand |
11
|
| Monmouthshire Regt. |
10
|
|
Dorsetshire Regt. |
9
|
| Devonshire Regt. |
8
|
|
Queen's - Royal West
Surrey Regt. |
8
|
| Yorkshire Regt. -
The Green Howards |
8
|
|
13th Bn. London Regt.
- Kensington |
7
|
| Argyll & Sutherland
Highlanders |
7
|
|
East Yorkshire Regt. |
7
|
| Welsh Guards |
7
|
|
York & Lancaster
Regt. |
7
|
| Buffs
- East Kent Regt. |
6
|
|
East Surrey
Regt. |
6
|
| King's Own Scottish
Borderers |
6
|
|
Royal West Kent Regt.
- Queen's Own |
6
|
| Lincolnshire Regt. |
5
|
|
Royal Dublin Fusiliers |
5
|
| South Wales Borderers |
5
|
|
Norfolk Regt. |
4
|
| Royal Berkshire Regt. |
4
|
|
Royal Horse Artillery |
4
|
| Welsh Regt. |
4
|
|
Worcestershire Regt. |
4
|
| 5th Bn. London Regt.
- London Rifle Brigade |
3
|
|
Bedfordshire Regt. |
3
|
| Gloucestershire Regt. |
3
|
|
Ox. & Bucks. Light
Infantry |
3
|
| Royal Inniskilling
Fusiliers |
3
|
|
South Staffordshire
Regt. |
3
|
| East Lancashire Regt. |
2
|
|
Highland Light Infantry |
2
|
| Northumberland Fusiliers |
2
|
|
Royal Irish Rifles |
2
|
| Royal Newfoundland
Regt. |
2
|
|
Suffolk Regt. |
2
|
| 10th Bn. London Regt.
- Hackney |
1
|
|
16th Bn. London Regt.-Queen's
Westminster Rifles |
1
|
| 21st Bn. London Regt.
- First Surrey Rifles |
1
|
|
4th Bn. London Regt.
- Royal Fusiliers |
1
|
| 8th Bn. London Regt.
- Post Office Rifles |
1
|
|
9th Bn. London Regt.
- Queen Victoria's Rifles |
1
|
| Cameron Highlanders |
1
|
|
Cheshire Regt. |
1
|
| King's Dragoon Guards |
1
|
|
Leinster Regt. |
1
|
| Manchester Regt. |
1
|
|
North Staffordshire
Regt. |
1
|
| Northamptonshire Regt. |
1
|
|
Royal Army Ordnance
Corps |
1
|
| Royal Flying Corps/Royal
Air Force |
1
|
|
Royal Irish Fusiliers |
1
|
| Royal Naval Division |
1
|
|
|
|
| Identified burials
|
1493
|
|
|
|
| Unidentified UK
burials: |
1621
|
|
|
|
| Unidentified Australian
burials: |
19
|
|
|
|
| Unidentified Canadian
burials: |
3
|
|
|
|
| Total Unidentified
burials |
1643
|
|
|
|
| Total burials |
3136
|
|
|
|
Plan of this Cemetery
Those having awards in this cemetery
Lt. August Agelasto M.C., Mentioned in Despatches. 1st attd.
6th Bn. Dorsetshire Regt. Died 8th Nov. 1916, aged 28. 10.X.9
Sgt. Sydney James Brimicombe M.M., 3rd Coy. 2nd Bn. Coldstream
Guards, died 15th Sept. 1916, aged 25. 5.N.2
C.S.M. John James Bull, Mentioned in Despatches. 1st Bn. Leicestershire
Regt. Killed in action 15th Sept. 1916, aged 35. Served in the South
African Campaign. 12.B.4
Sgt. John Linton Graham Challen M.M., Australian Heavy Trench
Mortar Bty. Killed in action 4th Jan. 1917, aged 29. Native of Collingwood,
Victoria, Australia. 4.B.10
Capt. Reginald Noël Davis, Mentioned in Despatches. 3rd,
attd. 2nd Bn. Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regt.), killed in action
12th Oct. 1916, aged 26. Husband of Mildred Constance Davis, who died
of pneumonia in 1918 while working with the French Red Cross at Marseilles.
Native of Newcastle on Tyne. 9.AA.5
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Pte. J. P. Donnelly
M.M. D.C.M., 1st Bn. East Yorkshire Regt., Died 25th
Sept. 1916. 6.F.7
He was killed in action on the 25th Sept 1916, aged 44 and was in
fact a Sgt when he died, also he had been awarded the DCM whilst
serving in the Boer War. (the headstone was amended with these facts
in the 1980's).
He re-enlisted in 1914 and served in the depot as a Sgt instructor,
he was posted to the 1st Btn in France in 1916 as a Private. He
was awarded the MM soon after arriving.
He was killed in front of Gueudecourt on the afternoon of the 25th
September taking part in the 64th Bde attack on Gird trench.
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Lt. Col. W. D. Drury-Lowe D.S.O.
1st Bn. Grenadier Guards, died 25th Sept. 1916. 7.A.6
Lt. Owen Macaulay Eicke M.C., 62nd Brig. Royal Field Artillery.
Killed in action 5th Nov. 1916, aged 24. Choral scholar, King's College,
Cambridge. 4.L.1
Cpl. Philip Charles Elmes M.M., 16th Bn. King's Royal Rifle Corps.
Died 3rd Nov. 1916, aged 20. 9.H.4
Capt. Trevor Francis M.C., 53rd Bn. Australian Inf. Killed in
action 14th March 1917, aged 28. 10.X.4
Cpl. W. G. Gillingham M.M., 88th Bn. Machine Gun Corps (Infantry).
Died 20th Nov. 1916. 7.B.1
Sgt. F. Grundy M.M., 2nd Bn. Sherwood Foresters (Notts. &
Derbys. Regt.). Died 29th Sept. 1916. 12.M.10
C.S.M. A. Hill M.M., 2nd Bn. Lancashire Fusiliers. died 12th
Oct. 1916. 2.V.9
Cpl. F. Hughes M.M., 2nd Bn. Seaforth Highlanders, died 14th
Oct. 1916. 8.D.1
Pte. J. Hughes M.M., 17th Bn. Royal Welsh Fusiliers. Died 31st
Aug. 1918. 2.Z.6
Gnr. John Henry Huntley M.M., "C" Bty. 62nd Brig. Royal
Field Artillery. Died 25th Oct. 1916, aged 26. 2.E.6
Maj. Hugh McCarthy Ince, Mentioned in Despatches. 53rd Bty. 2nd
Brig. Royal Field Artillery. Killed in action 4th Nov. 1916, aged 23.
Also served in Egypt. 10.Y.4
Capt. T. L. Ingram D.S.O., M.C., Twice mentioned in Despatches.
Royal Army Medical Corps, attd. 1st Bn. King's Shropshire Light Inf.
Killed in action 16th Sept. 1916, aged 41. Native of Welford, Rugby.
10.U.1
Sgt. E. J. Latham D.C.M., 9th Bn. The Rifle Brigade. Died 15th
Sept. 1916. 12.J.10
C.S.M. Murtagh Lennon D.C.M., 8th Bn. Royal Dublin Fusiliers.
Killed in action 10th Sept. 1916 aged 41. Native of Dublin. 11.F.8
2nd Cpl. T. J. McCarthy M.M., 2nd Field Sqdn. Royal Engineers.
Died 25th Sept. 1916. 4.G.10
Lt. Richard Henry Marriott M.C., King's Shropshire Light Inf.,
died 18th Sept. 1916, aged 22. 9.Y.2
Cpl. Harry Melton M.M., 1/7th Bn. Middlesex Regt. Killed in action
1st Oct. 1916, aged 21. 7.X.6
C.S.M. Simon Munro D.C.M., 53rd Bn. Australian Inf. Killed in
action 14th March 1917, aged 37. Native of Inverness, Scotland. 10.X.10
L/Cpl. William Murray, Mentioned in Despatches. 4th Australian
Light Trench Mortar Battery. Killed in action 1st Feb. 1917, aged 25.
3.J.5
Sgt. William Robert Nappin M.M., 87th Bty. 2nd Brig. Royal Field
Artillery. Killed in action 8th Oct. 1916, aged 25. 10.L.1
Cpl. Henry Robert James Neal D.C.M., 2nd Bn. Sherwood Foresters
(Notts. & Derbys. Regt.) Killed in action on the Somme 16th Sept.
1916, aged 27. Native of London. 12.B.8
Lt. The Hon. William Alastair Damer Parnell M.C., Grenadier Guards
attd. No. 4 Coy. 2nd Bn. Killed in action 25th Sept. 1916, aged 22.
Third Son of 4th Baron Congleton C.B., and of Lady Congleton, Park Lane,
London. 1.C.1
Sgt. Joseph Peat M.M., 115th Heavy Bty. Royal Garrison Artillery.
Died 17th Jan. 1917, aged 22. 9.F.4
Maj. H. Peel D.S.O., M.C., 8th Bn. London Regt. (Post Office
Rifles). Died 24th March 1918. 2.F.8
Lt. Albert Humphrey Pinder, Mentioned in Despatches. 1st Bn.
Leicestershire Regt. Killed in action 15th Sept. 1916, aged 29. Special
Memorial 48.
2nd Lt. S. R. Pitt M.C., 2nd Brig., Royal Field Artillery. Died
23rd Oct. 1916. 2.U.1.
Sgt. E. W. Player M.M., "D" Bty. 92nd Brig. Royal Field
Artillery. Died 23rd Oct. 1916. 5.Q.1
Cpl. J. J. Prior M.M., 2nd Field Coy. Royal Engineers. Died 23rd
Oct. 1916, aged 28. Special Memorial 9.
Sgt. Roy Douglas Proctor M.M., 15th Bn. Australian Inf. Killed
in action 1st Feb. 1917, aged 26. Native of Ballina, New South Wales.
3.B.2
Sgt. M. Riordan D.C.M. and Bar. 1st Bn. Irish Guards. Died of
wounds 15th Sept. 1916, aged 31. 6.N.4
Lt. James Keeling Robin M.C., 4th Australian Light Trench Mortar
Battery. Killed in action 2nd Feb. 1917, aged 29. 3.J.3
2nd Lt. Richard (Dickon) Ross M.C., 1st Bn. Devonshsire Regt.
Killed in action 25th Sept. 1916, aged 22. Born at Rutherford, Maxton,
Roxburghshire. 10.N.6
Sgt. Ernest Sparrow M.M., 2nd Bn. Coldstream Guards. Killed in
action 16th Sept. 1916, aged 25. 13.K.5
Cpl. T. Stevenson M.M., 17th Bn. Royal Welsh Fusiliers. died
4th Sept. 1918. 11.H.6
Capt. W. A. L. Stewart M.C., Grenadier Guards, attd. 4th Bn.
Died 25th Sept. 1916. 9.A.1
Sgt. J. Swift D.C.M., 1st Bn. Sherwood Foresters (Notts. &
Derbys. Regt.) Died 14th Nov. 1916, aged 33. 3.Z.8
R.S.M. J. M. Tulloch M.M., 2nd Seaforth Highlanders. Died 23rd
Oct. 1916. 7.R.1
Maj. Harry Wilson Verelst M.C., 2nd Bn. Coldstream Guards. Died
26th Sept. 1916. Spec. Mem. "E". One of three officers of
the Coldstream Guards who were originally buried in a grave by the roadside.
A subsequent search failed to find the bodies, possibly due to an incorrect
marker. These officers how have Special Memorials, "E" in
this cemetery.
Others buried in this cemetery
Sgt. James Anderson, 5th Bty. 45th Brig. Royal Field Artillery.
Killed in action 15th Nov. 1916, aged 31. Also served in the South African
Campaign. 12.T.6
Capt. Christopher Carrington, N.Z. Field Artillery. died of wounds
received at Flers 8th Oct. 1916, aged 22. Also served at Gallipoli.
2.B.10
Sgt. Robert Chaytor (served as Baxter). 5th Australian Pioneers.
Killed in action 9th March 1917, aged 29. Native of New South Wales.
3.K.9
2nd Lt. Noel William Scott Fletcher, 11th Bn. Durham Light Infantry,
died of wounds 7th March 1917, aged 19. Educated at King's College Choir
School, Cambridge; Rossall; Sandhurst. 12.E.2
Gnr. Frank Albert Henry Forrest, 3rd Bty. N.Z. Field Artillery.
Died of wounds 10th Oct. 1916, aged 23. Also served at Gallipoli. 3.E.1
Pte. Percival Tom Harding, 2nd Bn. Grenadier Guards. Died 25th
Sept. 1916, aged 25. Civil Servant in H.M. Office of Woods, Forest and
Land Revenues. 2.A.9
Pte. Leonard Dalton Hayward, 2nd Bn. Coldstream Guards. Killed
in action at Ginchy 15th Sept. 1916, aged 22. A chartered accountant.
13.K.8
2nd Lt. Thomas Percy Arthur Hervey, 21st Bn. King's Royal Rifle
Corps. Killed in action at the Battle of the Somme 15th Sept. 1916,
aged 29. A Civil Servant employed at Fiji, from whence he volunteered
for service in the War. His grave has the following inscription: In
far Fiji he heard his country's call and came and died. 4.F.2
Pte. Arthur Davidson Keeler (served as Davidson). 1st Bn. Coldstream
Guards. Died 15th Sept. 1916, aged 23. 9.R.4
Pte. G. Lansley, 1st Bn. London Regt. (Royal Fusiliers), killed
in action 8th Oct. 1916, aged 18. Prior to enlistment in 1914, was a
Sgt. in the Royal West Kent Cadets. Born at Home Park, Hampton Court,
Middlesex. 11.M.2
Pte. John William Mitchell, 1st Bn. West Yorkshire Regt. Died
18th Sept. 1916, aged 36. Also served on the North West Frontier of
India. 13.D.3
Pte. Martin Molloy, 2nd Bn. Irish Guards, killed in action 13th
Sept. 1916, aged 29. A member of the Royal Irish Constabulary. 4.Z.1
Lt. Ronald Herbert Pike Pease, 1st Bn. Coldstream Guards. Killed
in action 15th Sept. 1916, aged 19. Son of Lord and Lady Daryngton of
London. 13.P.2
Pte. Frank R. Rometch (served as Ward) 20th Bn. Australian Inf.
Killed in action 2nd Jan. 1917, aged 36. Native of Hobart. 9.L.10
Lt. Dillwyn Parrish Starr, 2nd Bn. Coldstream Guards. Killed
in action 15th Sept. 1916. Son of Mr. & Mrs. Starr of Philadelphia,
U.S.A. Also served in Gallipoli (with R.N.A.S.) in 1915. Special Memorial.
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