London Cemetery & Extension, High Wood, Longueval (Somme)

Details

Longueval is a village and commune in the Department of the Somme, 7½ miles east-north-east of Albert. High Wood, so named by the Commonwealth Forces, from its position on the top of a windswept hill, is known locally as the Bois de Fourreaux (or Fourcault) and is in Flers, about a 1¼ miles north-west of Longueval.

In 1916 Longueval was the scene of furious fighting lasting from the 14th to the 29th July, when the village was cleared by the 5th Division and became the apex of a salient in the line held by the Commonwealth Forces. It was lost in March 1918 and retaken by the 38th (Welsh) Division and the Carabineers on the 28th August, 1918. High Wood was taken by the 7th Division and Cavalry, for a day, on the 14th July, 1916 and the southern part was retaken on the 20th by the 33rd Division. The struggle in the wood was continued by the 51st (Highland) Division until the 7th August. On the 15th September it was cleared by the 47th (London) Division.

Although High Wood is in Flers, the London Cemetery and Extension is in Longueval, opposite High Wood and a little way south-west of the Martinpuich-Longueval road. The original London Cemetery (now Plot 1A), commenced with the burial of 47 men "in a large shell hole" by the 47th Division, on the 18th and 21st September, 1916, and other graves were added later. It is, in fact a group of battlefield graves containing the bodies of 101 soldiers from the United Kingdom (94 of whom belonged to the 47th Division) who fell in the months July-September 1916, but mainly on the 15th September. All save three are identified and the majority are commemorated by headstones which could not be placed over the actual graves. They are arranged in three rows, and each bears the superscription "Beleived to be"

Nearby stands a memorial inscribed :

The 78 Non-Commissioned Officers and Men
who are commemorated on the stones
erected in rows B, C & D are buried in this
Cemetery but the position of the graves
is not known.

After the Armistice it became necessary to enlarge the burial ground, to receive the dead from the surrounding battlefields. This enlarged cemetery, known as London Cemetery and Extension, was specially designed to incorporate the original cemetery, which lies intact immediately to the left of the main entrance. It now contains the graves of 3,335 men from the United Kingdom; 299 from Australia; 162 from Canada; 35 from New Zealand: 33 from South Africa: 2 from India; 2 French and 2 German soldiers, making a total of 3,870 men. The unnamed graves are 3,114 in number. A special memorial, type E, records the name of a soldier from the United Kingdom who was buried in Quesnoy-sur-Deule Communal Cemetery, but whose grave was lost.

The Cemetery, one of five in Longueval which together contain the graves of more than 15,000 dead, is the third largest cemetery in the Somme. It stands on high ground commanding extensive views over the countryside, and from it can be seen at least five parish churches.

Number of Burials by Unit

Australian burials
103
   Canadian burials
54
19th Bn London Regiment - St. Pancras
39
   Machine Gun Corps
22
2nd/18th Bn London Regiment - London Irish Rifles
21
   Middlesex Regiment
21
New Zealand burials
20
   Royal Scots - Lothian Regiment
17
Duke of Cornwall Light Infantry
15
   King's Liverpool Regiment
15
Notts. & Derbyshire Regiment
14
   Northumberland Fusiliers
13
Royal Warwickshire Regiment
13
   20th Bn London Regiment - Blackheath & Woodwich
12
King's Royal Rifle Corps
12
   Manchester Regiment
12
South African Brigade
12
   Lincolnshire Regiment
11
Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
11
   Rifle Brigade
11
Norfolk Regiment
10
   Welsh Guards
10
Essex Regiment
9
   Queen's - Royal West Surrey Regiment
9
Royal Sussex Regiment
9
   Royal Welsh Fusiliers
9
Duke of Wellington - West Riding Regiment
8
   Lancashire Fusiliers
8
Royal Fusiliers
8
   Suffolk Regiment
8
Welsh Regiment
8
   1st/8th Bn London Regiament Post Office Rifles
7
Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders
7
   East Surrey Regiment
7
Grenadier Guards
7
   Bedfordshire Regiment
6
Devonshire Regiment
6
   King's Own Scottish Borderers
6
17th Bn London Regiment - Poplar & Stepney Rifles
5
   Cheshire Regiment
5
Buffs - East Kent Regiment
5
   Coldstream Guards
5
East Yorkshire Regiment
5
   Gloucestershire Regiment
5
Royal Field Artillery
5
   West Yorkshire Regiment
5
Black Watch
4
   Cameronians - Scottish Rifles
4
Durham Light Infantry
4
   Green Howards - Yorkshire Regiment
4
King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment
4
   King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry
4
Loyal North Lancashire Regiment
4
   Royal Berkshire Regiment
4
Royal Irish Rifles
4
   Royal West Kent Regiment
4
Scots Guards
4
   Somerset Light Infantry
4
Wiltshire Regiment
4
   1st/12th Bn London Regiment - London Rangers
3
23rd Bn London Regiment
3
   Gordon Highlanders
3
Irish Guards
3
   North Staffordshire Regiment
3
Royal Scots Greys
3
   Seaforth Highlanders
3
South Staffordshire Regiment
3
   Worcestershire Regiment
3
1st/15th Bn London Regiment - Civil Service Rifles
2
   1st/2nd Bn London Regiment - Royal Fusiliers
2
Border Regiment
2
   Hampshire Regiment
2
Hertfordshire Regiment
2
   Highland Light Infantry
2
Leicestershire Regiment
2
   Royal Army Medical Corps
2
Royal Dublin Fusiliers
2
   Royal Engineers
2
Royal Munster Fusiliers
2
   Royal Navy Division - infantry
2
Royal Scots Fusiliers
2
   1st/3rd Bn London Regiment - Royal Fusiliers
1
1st/4th Bn London Regiment - Royal Fusiliers
1
   1st/7th Bn London Regiment
1
1st/9th Bn London Regiment - Queen Victoria's Rifles
1
   24th Bn London Regiment
1
2nd/14th Bn London Regiment - London Scottish
1
   2nd/2nd Bn London Regiment
1
3rd Hussars
1
   5th Dragoon Guards
1
Honourable Artillery Company
1
   King's Shropshire Light Infantry
1
Northamptonshire Regiment
1
   Royal Artillery
1
Royal Irish
1
   Royal Irish Fusiliers
1
Royal Newfoundland Regiment
1
   Scinde Horse
1
South Lancashire Regiment
1
   South Wales Borderers
1
York & Lancaster Regiment
1
      
Identified burials
755
      
Unidentified burials
3114
      
Total burials
3869
      

Awards

Lt. Robert de H. M. Bell, Mentioned in Despatches, 10th Bn. King's Royal Rifle Corps, died 3rd Sept. 1916 aged 20. Son of Col. Mark Bell V.C., C.B., A.D.C., R.E. 9A 25

Maj. T. R. Cunningham, Mentioned in Despatches, 27th Bn. A.I.F. Died 2nd Aug. 1916. 3C 29

Sjt. Wm. H. Dryden D.C.M., Canadian Army Medical Corps. Died 27th Sept. 1916 aged 28. 7 D 7

Sjt. J. L. Greenwood M.M., 1st Bn. King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment, died 22 Oct. 1916 aged 30. 9.D.23

Sjt. A. Haskayne, Mentioned in Despatches, 11th Bn. King's Liverpool Regiment, died 19th Aug. 1916 aged 26. 5.B.26

Sjt.A. J. O. Humphreys M.M., 1st Bn. Welsh Guards, died 10th Sept. 1916 aged 21. 9 E 10 15

Pte. F. C. Irwin M.M., 49th Bn. A.I.F., died 3rd Sept. 1916 aged 24. 2.J.20

Capt. L. S. Jennings, Mentioned in Despatches, 2nd Bn. N.Z. Otago Regiment, died 15th Sept. 1916 aged 23. 2.C.2

Maj. L. F. Jones, Mentioned in Despatches, 1st/12th London Regiment, The Rangers, died 1st July 1916 aged 31. Joint grave 9.J.12

2/Lt. Wm. A. Langsdale M.M., Mentioned in Despatches, 12th Pioneer Bn. Sherwood Foresters, died 22nd March 1916 aged 21. 3.B.15

Sjt. G. R. Pearson D.C.M., 14th Bn. Durham Light Infantry. Died 18th Sept. 1916 aged 25. 10.H.4

Sjt. M. Renaud M.M., 1st Bn. The Queen's, Royal West Surrey Regiment. Died 15th July 1916 aged 24. 2.D.2

Lt. G. Stirling M.C., Scots Guards, attached to Machine Gun Corps, Infantry. Died 15th Sept. 1916, 9.A.35

Cpl. Wm. Townley, Croix de Guerre (France), 6th Bn. King's Own Scottish Borderers. Died 4th July 1916. 3.A.1

Cpl. Joseph Wainwright M.M., 11th Bn. Manchester Regiment, died 26th Sept. 1916 aged 24. 2. C. 24

Sjt. C. West M.M., 13th Bn. Middlesex Regiment, died 18th Aug. 1916 aged 20. 6.F.2