Ancre British Cemetery

[Peter Woodger]

Hi

Some time ago on the forum I reported my research which established, to my satisfaction, that Ancre British Cemetery was started by 37th Division in late November 1916. That same Division started cemeteries that can be identified as Y Ravine 2, Sherwood, RND and Ancre River 2. These cemeteries were added to by V Corps in the spring of 1917 when they also started a cemetery called Ancre River 1 which appears to be either incorporated into Ancre British or just another name for Ancre British. I have had great difficulty in establishing where the burials were made but I now think that I may know.

To recap 37th division made burials in late November 1916 in Plot 3 Rows A, C and E. Plot 4 Row A (graves 1 to 32), Row C ( graves 1 to 59), and E (graves 1 to 61), Plot 7 Row A and Plot 8 Row A (1 to 97).

By the tedious process of searching for British service records I can find that there were burials made in the inbetween rows of plots 3 and 4 throughout the rest of the war but none of the graves that I have found records for are numbered above 21 in any row.

We must remember that V Corps only cleared bodies that lay on the surface. An already buried man was only reburied if shellfire had exposed the body. If we look at the burials made by V Corps in Redan Ridge 1 & 3, which similarly to the Ancre area saw fighting in July and November, the ratio of unknown to known burials is 0.938. (107 to 114)

We must also remember that close spaced or trench burials are the pattern in all the V Corps cemeteries.

If we now look at Ancre British cemetery then outside of the present plots 3 and 4 and plot 7 and 8 row A all the rows are groups of 10 spaced graves. Allow me to ignore the 5 short rows around the central circle. This means that all those graves are 1919 concentrations. We are left with only plot 3 and 4 rows B and E above grave 21 and Plot 4 row A above 32 as possible sites for River 1.

If we look at Plot 4 Graves 33 to 54 (old row end) and Plot 3 Row D graves 32 to 61 (old row end) we have 52 burials with an unknown to known ratio of 0.677 (21 to 31). I believe these 52 burials to be those made in spring 1917 by V Corps.

The rest of these rows have a ratio of 3.40 (160 to 47) which is a ratio we might expect from post war concentrations.

In the RND DD records at Yeovilton there are 6 records that say that the man was buried “alongside Ancre British”. The next of kin of these 6 men were informed of their burial in letters dated 03/04/1917. All 6 men are commemorated in the central circle with their stones saying that they are known to be buried in this cemetery. There are 8 totally unidentified burials within the 21 unknowns so it is possible that these men are buried amongst them which could certainly be called “alongside Ancre British”. Only 4 of the identified men and none of the Unknowns are RNVR which seems a very low ratio for this area. If the other 6 are there, amongst the unknowns, it would make the ratio much closer to the expected.

The 1928 and on line registers say 517 burials were made by the Armistice. I cannot reconcile this figure at all. All the 1919 burials were in rows of 10 even when adjacent to long rows of earlier trench burials. (note that 40 foreign burials were removed after 1920 and account for the random vacancies). This suggests that the inbetween rows were full at the Armistice which would result in a count much higher than 517.

There is much confusion over the name or names of this cemetery. The 1928 and the on line register both say “Ancre British then called Ancre River 1”. This infers that the whole cemetery was called Ancre River 1 and was later changed. The photo on page 212 of “The Irish on the Somme” shows a view that seems to be taken from the centre looking up the cemetery and there is in the foreground a notice saying “Ancre British Cemetery” and giving a map reference of 57D Q18 c 0 2. This photo is suggested to be from 1921. I have a plan of the whole cemetery dated July 1920 which quotes the same map reference and is titled Ancre British Cemetery.

All of the Burial returns that I have seen, about 100, from the 1919 concentrations spread all over the cemetery refer to Ancre River and give a map reference of 57D Q17 d 9 1. I have a photo taken from midpoint of the cemetery looking towards the entrance which says Ancre River British Cemetery and is dated September 1921.

The Q17 d 9 1 reference does not lie inside the cemetery boundary but appears to be on top of the bank on the Hamel side. Was this poor map reading by the 148th Labour Company or was it the location of the company office at the time of the concentration work.

I do not think that the name of the cemetery affects the suggestion I make above.

There is one other possibility and that is that V Corps number 26, Ancre River Number 2 was not within the boundary of Ancre British but was just outside at Q17 d 9 1.

At the end of my first paragraph I said “I now think that I may know.” I would value other opinions in my unusually uncertain state.

Peter

[auchonvillerssomme]

Peter. Bit early for me to digest all that, will sit and focus later. One thing I will say is be careful when looking at the TM co-ordinates in this area in relation to the ground now. The cemetery overlay onto all of the TM's puts it into an impossible location. Credit to Linesman.

Mick

IGN

I know the flags are not quite in the correct position they were taken from another map.

Mick

[nick6405]

Hi Peter, do you know what the ruined building is next to Ancre British cemetrry please? It looked to me that it had been used in ww1 but is constructed of brick only.

Thanks

Nick