czechmj Posted 30 June , 2016 Share Posted 30 June , 2016 Bit of a long-shot, but does anyone recognise the attached cemetery? It was taken in the 60's when my great-uncle returned to France/Belgium. He served with the R.N.D Drake from 1917 - 1919. Many thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Michelle Young Posted 30 June , 2016 Admin Share Posted 30 June , 2016 Possibly Hamel? Michelle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Pegum Posted 30 June , 2016 Share Posted 30 June , 2016 From the images on the CWGC website, Hamel Cemetery seems to be in open fields, with no adjacent buildings. Anyway, there is only one Naval casualty in Hamel: Surgeon Godfrey Alan Walker, 1st Field Amb. R.N. Div. Czechmj's great-uncle would have been unlikely to visit, unless he was in the same Field Ambulance himself. Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
czechmj Posted 2 July , 2016 Author Share Posted 2 July , 2016 Thanks for your help. I am working my way through a list of cemeteries and looking on internet photos but so far no luck. The adjacent buildings look like a farm, wheras most of the cemeteries I have seen are in open fields or next to woods. The photo was taken 50 years ago so the building might not be there now. We do know that he went back to where he was injured, which was somewhere near Achiet-le-grand, so I will centre my search out from there. Will let you know if I find anything. Cheers Matt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Michelle Young Posted 2 July , 2016 Admin Share Posted 2 July , 2016 Possibly Douchy les Ayette? It has farm buildings around it Michelle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
czechmj Posted 2 July , 2016 Author Share Posted 2 July , 2016 Thanks Michelle. That's the best match so far. It could well be the place, but the gravestones in my picture appear to be much closer together. I will investigate further. Appreciate your help. Cheers Matt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roel22 Posted 3 July , 2016 Share Posted 3 July , 2016 Hi Matt, you wrote your great-uncle got injured around Achiet Le Grand, so that's where I started looking. The object I was curious about was the electricity pole in the top right corner of your photo. Assuming this pole is still there I started looking for a cemetery with such a pole nearby. And quickly I found one: Achiet Le Grand Cummunal Cemetery & Extension (pole in red circle). Even today this pole is 100% identical to the one in your photo. But there are a few pro's and cons. Pro's: - The cemetery has gravestones standing shoulder to shoulder - The position of the electricity pole fits the position of the pole in your photo (check Google Earth for more details) - Several Drake Bn.-casualties are buried here. Cons: - The house has gone - The wall has gone My theory: The house was demolished for an extension of the original (civilian) cemetery. Achiet Le Grand Extension Extension, so to speak. The wall was replaced by a (higher) hedge, to provide more privacy. When my theory fits, your great-grandfather would have been standing at the end of the cemetery, near the red dot. Roel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dai Bach y Sowldiwr Posted 3 July , 2016 Share Posted 3 July , 2016 Hi roel, I'm not sure it is that electricity pylon. Google Earth gives a distance from the cemetery to the pylon of about 200m. The pylon in the top photo doesn't seem that far to me. The shadow of the pylon you marked is also about 30m, with light from the SSE, so it is in the middle of the day, not a long shadow of dawn or dusk. This implies the pylon is very tall, taller than the one in the photo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m0rris Posted 3 July , 2016 Share Posted 3 July , 2016 Have you tried Google street view? On google maps, spot your location and drag the little yellow man from the bottom right corner. It reveals a good view of the pylons. I have a small 20kb file which unfortunately it won't let me upload at the moment. Searching for "small concentrated CWGC cemetery" did bring more choices. Bus House Cemetery in Belgium being one - also tucked away behind farm buildings. However if I was to hazard a guess, this looks like France to me as I can't see much evidence of Belgian red bricks. ps Managed to add 7KB file. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Le_Treport Posted 3 July , 2016 Share Posted 3 July , 2016 Random thought - but could that be another fairly large cemetery in the distance between the house and the barn building. Serried rows of Portland stone merging as one white line? Does the spacing of the stones tell us anything about whether it's a battlefield, concentration or CCS type cemetery? I'm up for this challenge so I'll be scouring Google Earth! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
czechmj Posted 3 July , 2016 Author Share Posted 3 July , 2016 Thanks everyone, some very interesting ideas and observations. It would be great if we can crack this! Cheers Matt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m0rris Posted 3 July , 2016 Share Posted 3 July , 2016 Wondering if this could be it. This is a photo of Proville Cemetery. I found it searching for "Royal Naval Division Drake battalion graves France". The distinct ornate wall looks pretty similar as does angled wall next to it. Will http://www.inmemories.com/Cemeteries/proville.htm http://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/59002/Proville British Cemetery Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m0rris Posted 3 July , 2016 Share Posted 3 July , 2016 Aerial view: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 3 July , 2016 Share Posted 3 July , 2016 18 minutes ago, m0rris said: Wondering if this could be it. This is a photo of Proville Cemetery. Will, Excellent research, the stone wall, and the top panels of the ornamental wall behind, are a perfect match, as are the closeness of the gravestones and the proximity of the houses, I think you are spot on ! and the OP will be delighted. Regards, LF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roel22 Posted 3 July , 2016 Share Posted 3 July , 2016 This may be a bingo, Will. The entrance in the cemetery wall on the left is a match as well. Roel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m0rris Posted 3 July , 2016 Share Posted 3 July , 2016 It'd be a nice idea to take the original photo and place it over the 'view'. I did a similar thing here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Le_Treport Posted 3 July , 2016 Share Posted 3 July , 2016 Next question then, whose grave are they at? Middle row, about 20 from the end? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dai Bach y Sowldiwr Posted 3 July , 2016 Share Posted 3 July , 2016 1 hour ago, m0rris said: Wondering if this could be it. This is a photo of Proville Cemetery. I found it searching for "Royal Naval Division Drake battalion graves France". The distinct ornate wall looks pretty similar as does angled wall next to it. Yes. Bang on! Well done. I've driven around the streets on Streetview, and it looks as though the pylon has gone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roel22 Posted 3 July , 2016 Share Posted 3 July , 2016 Maybe this man? Grave IB15: I think 15 is a bit more to the right, but it's the correct row. Roel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roel22 Posted 3 July , 2016 Share Posted 3 July , 2016 Will, how on earth did you find this hidden cemetery? Google Earth didn't give it away... Roel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m0rris Posted 3 July , 2016 Share Posted 3 July , 2016 Hi Roel - Just by Googling RND Drake Btn graves France - and by chance and glorious fluke this picture came up way down the Google Images search results. Just so fortunate someone photographed it from that angle. In this case 'Streetview' couldn't really help. You can see the narrow entrance to the left of someone's backyard with blue Renault Kangoo etc. Will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
czechmj Posted 4 July , 2016 Author Share Posted 4 July , 2016 This is brilliant research and detective work! Thank you so much Will. It's fantastic to be able to place him, I was starting to think it wasn't going to be possible. Thanks to all who contributed. Yes, absolutely delighted with the outcome. Thanks also for the names, I will look into them and see if I can find any further connections. Great result. Cheers Matt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roel22 Posted 4 July , 2016 Share Posted 4 July , 2016 11 hours ago, m0rris said: Hi Roel - Just by Googling RND Drake Btn graves France - and by chance and glorious fluke this picture came up way down the Google Images search results. Just so fortunate someone photographed it from that angle. In this case 'Streetview' couldn't really help. You can see the narrow entrance to the left of someone's backyard with blue Renault Kangoo etc. Will Wow, you certainly have a sharp eye! Roel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m0rris Posted 4 July , 2016 Share Posted 4 July , 2016 Thanks everyone. Without that wall it would have been a lot more difficult to spot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trenchtrotter Posted 4 July , 2016 Share Posted 4 July , 2016 On 30 June 2016 at 22:09, Michael Pegum said: From the images on the CWGC website, Hamel Cemetery seems to be in open fields, with no adjacent buildings. Anyway, there is only one Naval casualty in Hamel: Surgeon Godfrey Alan Walker, 1st Field Amb. R.N. Div. Czechmj's great-uncle would have been unlikely to visit, unless he was in the same Field Ambulance himself. Michael You must have wrong Hamel. This Hamel cemetery is on Somme 1916 battlefield. There are shave T buildings and it has many many RND casualties. I have been many times and visited. There are battalion commanders, surgeons, chaplains and many other RND men. Hamel as in Beaumont Hamel. TT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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