Martinpuich British Cemetery &
Martinpuich Communal Cemetery (P de C)

Details

Martinpuich is a village and commune in the Department of the Pas-de-Calais, immediately North of Bazentin in the Somme. It was captured by the 15th (Scottish) Division on the 15th Spetember, 1916, lost in April, 1918, and retaken in August, 1918.

Martinpuich Communal Cemetery is on the south side of the village. It contains the graves of four soldiers from the United Kingdom who fell in September-November, 1916. One of those unidentified and two whose exact grave cannot now be located are named on a special memorial. Another specail memorial records the name of a seaman of the Royal Naval Division, buried in Martinpuich German Cemetery, whose grave cannot now be found.
They are :-

Lce. Cpl R.E. Bullows, 3009 1/8th Bn. Royal Warwickshire Regt. Died 11th Nov., 1916, Special Memorial.

Bmdr. Frank Muir, 4251. "D" Bty. 250th Bde. Royal Field Artillery. Died 30th Sept., 1916.

Dvr. James Reid, 54766. "D" Bty 102nd Bde. Royal Field Artillery. Died 6th Oct., 1916.

A.B. J. Wilkinson R/257. R.N.V.R. "Drake" Bn. R.N. Div. Died 25th March, 1918 aged 24. Martinpuich German Cem. Mem.

and 1 Unidentifed Burial

Martinpuich British Cemetery is on the south side of the village. It was begun in November, 1916, and used by fighting units and Field Ambulances until June, 1917, and again at the end of August, 1918. In 1931 the bodies of ten soldiers buried by the Germans were found in the Communal Cemetery, and concentrated into the British Cemetery. It now contains the graves of 80 soldiers and airmen from the United Kingdom, 34 soldiers from Australia and one soldier from Canada. Special memorials are erected to four men od the Royal Warwicks, killed in November 1916, who are known to be among them. The grave of an American Medical Officer has been removed to another cemetery.

The school playground at Martinpuich was designed and presented to the village by the 47th (London) Division as a memorial to those of their dead who fell in France, and in particular in the capture of High Wood.

Number of burials by Unit

Australian burials
34
   Royal Sussex Regiment
13
Royal Warwickshire Regiment
12
   Royal Field Artillery
8
Royal Engineers
7
   Dorsetshire Regiment
4
Cameronians - Scottish Rifles
3
   Gloucestershire Regiment
3
Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Regiment
3
   Duke of Wellington - West Riding Regiment
2
Gordon Highlanders
2
   King's Own Scottish Borderers
2
Lincolnshire Regiment
2
   Machine Gun Corps
2
Worcestershire Regiment
2
   Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders
1
Canadian burials
1
   Highland Light Infantry
1
Lancashire Fusiliers
1
   Manchester Regiment
1
Royal Air Force
1
   Royal Army Medical Corps
1
Royal Navy Division
1
   Royal Scots - Lothian Regiment
1
Seaforth Highlanders
1
   West Yorkshire Regiment
1
Identified burials
110
      
Unidentified burials
10
      
Total burials
120
      

Men with awards buried in Martinpuich British Cemetery

Pte. Cecil John Byrne M.M., 2nd Australian Pioneers. Died of wounds 11th March 1917 aged 22. B. 15.

Pte. Hackelton Mathew Johnson M.M., 2nd Australian Pioneers, K.I.A. 1st March 1917 aged 25. B. 7.

2nd Lt. Cyril Doughty Naylor M.C., 7th Bn. Lincolnshire Regiment, died 25th Aug. 1918 aged 20. A. 16.

Cpl. J. C. Rettie M.M., 8th/10th Bn. Gordon Highlanders, died 19th Jan. 1917. C. 1.

Pte. E. Revis M.M., 10th Bn. West Yorkshire Regiment. Died 27th Aug. 1918 aged 30. A. 1.