MaxD Posted 2 August , 2014 Share Posted 2 August , 2014 My subject shares his CWGC headstone with a fallen comrade of the same unit as do some others who fell in the same action. What would be the reason(s) for not having individual stones? MaxD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrissparrow Posted 2 August , 2014 Share Posted 2 August , 2014 Buried together! Probably a mass grave. Large trench dug and all thrown in. Quite common where fighting was fierce. Which cemetery is he in? Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry_Reeves Posted 2 August , 2014 Share Posted 2 August , 2014 Max You will find a number of graves in Etaples Military Cemetery with two men sharing the same headstone, and often interred on different dates. In the London Road Cemetery, Coventry some members of a WW2 bomb disposal team share a grave and headstone, only in their case there was almost certainly little left of their bodies. TR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HERITAGE PLUS Posted 2 August , 2014 Share Posted 2 August , 2014 Max The following is from 'The Somme Battlefields' by Martin and Mary Middlebrook. If burials were so close that there was insufficient place for each body to have its own headstone, then one headstone would contain the details for two or even three men; if two men then the cross had to be omitted; if three, the regimental badges also. It was possible that two bodies were found together intertwined, for instance following artillery bombardment and whilst both could be identified it was not possible to separate them. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaxD Posted 2 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 2 August , 2014 Thanks everyone. These were 17 men of 1 Berks all killed on 26 Aug 14 and buried in Maroilles communal cemetery so not a mass grave. The 17 have 10 stones between them. They were buried that day according to the unit history. The plot is small so perhaps it was just that they couldn't all fit in individually?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrissparrow Posted 2 August , 2014 Share Posted 2 August , 2014 Probably buried by the Germans. They would have have been happy to put them in two by two. Interesting to see a Chinese 1919 grave in there. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Tulloch-Marshall Posted 2 August , 2014 Share Posted 2 August , 2014 ... not a mass grave. The 17 have 10 stones between them. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaxD Posted 3 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 3 August , 2014 Tom - Can't see what you posted at 1015 last night? Chris - The unit history records that the unit buried them. Dave - The plot is in a French churchyard so presumably they were, like so many, reburied but perhaps sadly it was a question of what remained?Rgds MaxD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrissparrow Posted 3 August , 2014 Share Posted 3 August , 2014 MaxD, Can you post any photos? Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centurion Posted 3 August , 2014 Share Posted 3 August , 2014 Chris may well be right and the men were originally buried in a mass grave which was later dug up and the bodies moved (possibly more than once) eventually ending up in the cemetery which you are referring to. In the days before DNA was even known about it would be often well nigh impossible to distinguish between the remains left . Things like dog tags, personal items etc found in association with a set of remains from several men might well be used to assertain that they were all that was left of several soldiers. The process of body recovery and consolidation in today's graveyards could take years and be carried out in stages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrissparrow Posted 3 August , 2014 Share Posted 3 August , 2014 It would also be interesting to see the relevant section of the unit history. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knotty Posted 3 August , 2014 Share Posted 3 August , 2014 Another example of a row of graves with two men from different regiments sharing the same headstone is the one in Ypres Town Cemetery, most were casulties during October and November 1914, with at least 13 different regiments being recorded. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaxD Posted 3 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 3 August , 2014 Everyone Thank you all. Helped by what has been said and some additional research, I believe the picture in this case is very much as most of you have said. The first burial would have been quick as the retreat continued straight away. The area was then held by the Germans until 1918 so the likelihood must be high that they were moved after that to the cemetery (there are 2 burials from 1918 and 1919 among the Aug 14 dead). A pic of the plot can be seen at http://histoiremaroilles.fr/realisations.html. 10 stones for 20 soldiers (not 17 as said earlier) , inscriptions facing each other, so a mass grave, albeit a small one (as you said Chris, in my first answer i was thinking large). Thanks all, happy now. Chris - see your messages. MaxD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawsyd Posted 3 August , 2014 Share Posted 3 August , 2014 It even happens in England. In Chorley (Lancashire) that are at least two examples of 'double' CWGC graves. I contacted CWGC to ask why this was so (in all four cases the men had no family or regimental connection) & was told (I've deleted the email, so can't quote exactly) that it does happen where the cemetery is short of space & where the families concerned have no objections. If you check through the attached link, you will find the 'doubles'. http://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/2068710/CHORLEY%20CEMETERY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centurion Posted 3 August , 2014 Share Posted 3 August , 2014 It even happens in England. In Chorley (Lancashire) that are at least two examples of 'double' CWGC graves. I contacted CWGC to ask why this was so (in all four cases the men had no family or regimental connection) & was told (I've deleted the email, so can't quote exactly) that it does happen where the cemetery is short of space & where the families concerned have no objections. If you check through the attached link, you will find the 'doubles'. http://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/2068710/CHORLEY%20CEMETERY Makes sense if the grave(s) is (are) in an existing cemetery where space may be limited. Not so much in one created especially to house the dead of the war Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAF Posted 16 September , 2018 Share Posted 16 September , 2018 I noticed this recently at Varennes Cemetary, one associated with casualty clearing stations. I guess even in this relatively organised situation that men were buried in some haste and close together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seaJane Posted 16 September , 2018 Share Posted 16 September , 2018 Two double headstones from Lyness Cemetery, Hoy, Orkney: HMS HAMPSHIRE casualties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
familyhistoryman Posted 16 September , 2018 Share Posted 16 September , 2018 In Darwen Cemetery there is a double CWGC memorial to a father and son Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fattyowls Posted 16 September , 2018 Share Posted 16 September , 2018 (edited) This one is in Toxteth Park cemetery in Liverpool; I think I remember someone telling me they are father and son; Arthur and Arthur Leslie Wright. Pete. Edited 16 September , 2018 by Fattyowls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilyne Posted 17 September , 2018 Share Posted 17 September , 2018 the question is interesting and the answers probably ranging from personnal to practical. There are a few at Les Baraques, among which this one: and then I have this one on Kemmel: I thought I had more pictures, but apparently ... M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted 17 September , 2018 Share Posted 17 September , 2018 Longeneuse St Omer has many double named headstones this is H Cooper Gloucester and A Smith Gordon Highlanders, same day. maybe because of a major CCS and dealing with so may casualties. when you look around there are many doubles also headstones touching as if tight for space ,but, there is a fair bit of free space which could be used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted 17 September , 2018 Share Posted 17 September , 2018 (edited) free space the ones to the left hedge are touching each other as the next row and those near the cross either side of steps Edited 17 September , 2018 by chaz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArmyVeteranMum Posted 19 August , 2023 Share Posted 19 August , 2023 I found one the other day and did wonder, now I know Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted 19 August , 2023 Share Posted 19 August , 2023 welcome to the forum AVM there are in fact many others, recent visit around Thiepval area has many doubles, and the odd treble, many if not most, are different regiments. Primarily around CCS or Battlefield medical stations, where its quicker to bury two in one hole . Then there are the ones side by side, touching headstones, these were multiple bodies found in the same place and not separable. We attended the triple burial at Hermies, separated regulation spacing, when we went back later the headstones were touching. I suspect, that with the canal works going on in the future, there may be more in the Loos Cemetery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArmyVeteranMum Posted 19 August , 2023 Share Posted 19 August , 2023 But this one is in a cemetery here in Scotland Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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