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Remembered Today:

Cemetery postcards


AliceF

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1 hour ago, Tetris L said:

 

Are you sure it was a civilian cemetery? In the above mentioned letter it was called “Militärfriedhof”, and the image that I found on the internet (see links below) looks more like a dedicated cemetery for German soldiers. Also, the size of the site and the situation on the hillside with the trees is quite similar to that of Bousson – that’s why I was wondering.

 

134s24_ardon.jpg

 

https://www.fof-ohlsdorf.de/134s21_soldaten (scroll down half way to the bottom)

https://picclick.at/Foto-AK-Ehrenfriedhof-Ardon-Laon-in-Longueval-Frankreich-1918-162949354562.html

 

It's not impossible that there was an extension made for German soldiers (or even a completely new cemetery at some distance). I have seen several pictures of German graves on the civilian cemetery, so I know that there were definitely German military graves there (these pics are from June 1917 and earlier).

 

Jan

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2 hours ago, AOK4 said:

 

It's not impossible that there was an extension made for German soldiers (or even a completely new cemetery at some distance). I have seen several pictures of German graves on the civilian cemetery, so I know that there were definitely German military graves there (these pics are from June 1917 and earlier).

 

Jan

I think I found the answer: The website http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8593486m has a map of the region from 1920. The map shows military buildings and structures from WW1 in blue color, cemeteries as areas with little crosses inside. If you zoom in on Ardon (“F.bg d’Ardon”) , you see two cemeteries nearby, a small one about 100 m west of the village center, which is where the civilian cemetery is today, and a larger one with the name “Cim(etie)re All(eman)d de Morlot” about 1 km north-west of Ardon, south of the Abbay St. Vincent. The latter is the exact same location of the cemetery that is now called “Bousson”. I guess the names were not “official”, so the cemetery called “Ardon” on the postcard which I posted above is more likely the one which is called “Morlot” in the map and officially called “Bousson” today. The large cemetery of Morlot/Bouson was opened in mid 1917, I assume because by that time there were already too many dead German soldiers in the area for the rather small local military and civilian cemeteries. Therefore I assume my great grandfather was buried directly at Morlot/Bousson in October 1917, and not moved there later.

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5 hours ago, Tetris L said:

my great grandfather

 

Greetings Tetris.

 

You have now entered the big, big wide world of research. ( I have been here since 2013 - still searching !!! )

Can you share the name of your great grandfather ? - you never know what can be found.

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I've bounced this request around a few times so I thought I'd try this thread, too.  When I first joined GWF, I stumbled across this postcard of Ramparts Cemetery:

 

5a4d657106799_StephenOrmeGamble-Ramparts

 

 

The nearest grave is my Grandma's first cousin, Cpl Stephen Orme Gamble of 1st West Lancs Field Coy.  He was KIA on 13 Sep 1915 by an artillery shell - his was the only death noted in the unit War Diary on that date.  I also have his MIC, Medal Roll, personal effects entry, and details from CWGC about his grave.

 

Anyone know where I might find an original copy of this postcard?  I'd like to add it to our collection of family images (originals, not digital). 

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2 hours ago, Martin Feledziak said:

You have now entered the big, big wide world of research. ( I have been here since 2013 - still searching !!! )

Can you share the name of your great grandfather ? - you never know what can be found.

 

Actually, I've been exploring that world for a while now, still finding new areas whenever I dig deeper. Of course any help would be appreciated. :)

 

I know quite a bit about my great-grandfather's fate in the war, I have a photo of him as a soldier, I have letters and other documents. His name  was Robert Hille, born 1878. He was a Grenadier in the 2nd Kompagnie of the 1st Bataillon of the Kaiser Alexander Garde-Grenadier-Regiment Nr. 1. He was killed by artillery fire in the Battle of Malmaison on the 20th of October 1917 near Etouvilles near Laon in France. As I explained above, his grave is in the cemetery of Laon-Bousson. I know that for sure because I visited his grave last year, 100 years to the day after his death, to honor him, and I also visited the centenary ceremony of the battle. These were quite touching moments.

 

http://www.denkmalprojekt.org/2008/vl_kaiser_alexander_rgt_1_wk1_2komp.htm 

 

This threat is probably not the right place to discuss my ancestor. Maybe I should start a separate one. 

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15 hours ago, Martin Feledziak said:

 

So the second plot in - Scots Guards- Pte TORROME was Concentrated to Poelcapelle.

https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/492202/torrome,-/#&gid=null&pid=1

 

He was concentrated to Poelcapelle but not from the location in the picture.

The first row of graves on the postcard in post #153 is a memorial row: "crosses found on the battlefield without remains", you can see actual graves in the second row but none in the first one. Pte Torrome was never buried there.

These memorial rows were later removed and the names are now on the Menin Gate.

 

The records of Pte Torrome show that his remains were found at Wieltje (28.C.28.b.65.90) and there was no cross on his original grave.

 

There is a long topic based on the same postcard here:

 

 

Regards,

Luc.

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12 hours ago, Tetris L said:

Maybe I should start a separate one

 

That would be a good idea.

 

2 hours ago, LDT006 said:

long topic

 

Gosh not kidding when you said "LONG".  BUT it is very interesting. I will read it when I have a weekend free.

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  • 4 years later...

Hello 

This is an old topic thread but maybe some of you still follow it.  Can someone help me identify the name of the cemetery having the gateway shown in the photo below? 

I think it was the gateway to the WWI Gavrelle Cemetery in northern France.   I don't know for sure.  The postcard came out of a Bavarian soldier's photo album who was in the K.B. RIR3 but the place name was not identified in the album. I've searched for modern day photographs of this same structure but have not found any. Since the area was fought over it is possible it was destroyed during WWI or WWII or later removed/remodeled and so it cannot be found today. 

On examination of the postcard you can see Imperial German soldiers standing at attention around the central monument. Also, at left in the background is a drummer (drum head appears as a white circle.  

Any help appreciated.  Thank you.  John

image.png.171b375cfdcf11c3d34cc829624d5f01.png

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11 minutes ago, JohnBurke said:

Hello 

This is an old topic thread but maybe some of you still follow it.  Can someone help me identify the name of the cemetery having the gateway shown in the photo below? 

I think it was the gateway to the WWI Gavrelle Cemetery in northern France.   I don't know for sure.  The postcard came out of a Bavarian soldier's photo album who was in the K.B. RIR3 but the place name was not identified in the album. I've searched for modern day photographs of this same structure but have not found any. Since the area was fought over it is possible it was destroyed during WWI or WWII or later removed/remodeled and so it cannot be found today. 

On examination of the postcard you can see Imperial German soldiers standing at attention around the central monument. Also, at left in the background is a drummer (drum head appears as a white circle.  

Any help appreciated.  Thank you.  John

image.png.171b375cfdcf11c3d34cc829624d5f01.png

It's the entrance to Laon GMC during the war.

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AOK4, Thank you for your quick response.  Would you happen to know what happened to the gateway?  Destroyed during or after WWI?  I don't see any modern day photos of it.   John

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3 hours ago, JohnBurke said:

AOK4, Thank you for your quick response.  Would you happen to know what happened to the gateway?  Destroyed during or after WWI?  I don't see any modern day photos of it.   John

Most probably the French tore it down after the war when they were in charge of the cemeteries according to the Versailles Treaty.

Jan

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Jan, 

Sounds logical to me.  Thank you. 

You are a knowledgeable chap on German military cemeteries.  I was wondering if I could ask you another question.  Maybe you know the answer.

I've been researching a young Bavarian artilleryman (b. 1895) by the name of Gr. Otto Glatt.  He was in the 8th Battery, Königlich Bayerisches 6. Landwehr-Feldartillerie-Regiment (Würzburg und Landau) when he was killed on 22 August 1915 at Schratzmännle.  In his service record (report number 43) it says "22.8.[19]15 in der Felsenhütte am Schratzmännle verschüttet (beerdigt [im] Bayerngrab Muldenhütte) am kleinen Steinbruch am Schratzmännle G[emein]de Urbeis [im] Einzel-Grab No. 13" I'm pretty sure that place doesn't exist anymore and his remains were moved to a mass grave.  A descendant of his told me, "When I visited Hartmannswillerkopf with my wife around 2009, we found a military cemetery, the name of Otto Glatt written on a big commemorative plaque there, together with the names of many other killed soldiers".  

I wonder, can you tell me the name of this cemetery?  I'd love to find a photo of this plaque with Otto's name on it.  Also, do you know if there any pictures of the "Felsenhütte am Schratzmännle" referred to in the service record?

Thanks, John

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Hello,

Otto Glatt is commemorated at the Kameradengrab on the German Military Cemetery Hohrod. Whether he is actually buried there is uncertain. Soldiers with no known grave are commemorated like this as well as soldiers whose remains were buried in the mass grave who couldn't be individually identified when the original graves were exhumed and reburied.

There may be pictures from the original grave site, but finding them may be an impossible task...

Anyway a picture from the plaque on the Kameradengrab at Hohrod may be online somewhere.

Jan

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 18/04/2018 at 23:45, Tetris L said:

 

 

 

This threat is probably not the right place to discuss my ancestor. Maybe I should start a separate one. 

Hi Tetris, I'd love to follow this thread should you start it.Especially since my great-grandfather also was in the Kaiser Alexander Garde Grenadier Regiment no. 1. So far it's been very hard to find any resources about this regiment.

 

Roel

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