Pozieres British Cemetery, Ovillers-la-Boisselle

[laughton]

There are a few topics discussing this cemetery, one recent June 2019 and the other April 2018. That got me started into the process of sorting out what happened at this cemetery. Rather than hijack those topics, I thought it best to put the details in a separate topic about the cemetery and how it appears to have developed. The CWGC does not always give us all the details, as they have told us they take their information from the historic (circa 1920's) cemetery record. For reference, the two other topics are:

 

Buried at Pozieres - where was the original cemetery?  @keithfazzani

 

Map Reference Inconsistency and Pozieres British Cemetery @Tinkicka

 

@dickaren suggested looking at the photographs on the website of https://www.ww1cemeteries.com, which had some great historic images that helped clear up the situation. Here is the link to the Pozieres cemetery: 

https://www.ww1cemeteries.com/pozieres-british-cemetery.html

 

I should mention that I previously prepared the ZIP FILES for this cemetery, which you will find here:

http://www.mediafire.com/folder/yy9m2tlzg46g6/Pozieres_British_Cemetery

 

COG-BR Consolidated

 

GRRF Consolidated

 

Here is my edited version of what the CWGC tells us about the cemetery (memorial excluded), to which I have added the trench map coordinates from the DAL (David Avery List) or COG-BR documents where available. There may be additional cemeteries or burial grounds that were concentrated to Pozieres, so if they appear in the COG-BR documents, I will add them to the list. This may take a few days and posts to put this all together.

 

Quote

The village of Pozieres was attacked on 23 July 1916 by the 1st Australian and 48th (South Midland) Divisions, and was taken on the following day. It was lost on 24-25 March 1918, during the great German advance, and recaptured by the 17th Division on the following 24 August.

 

Plot II of POZIERES BRITISH CEMETERY contains the original burials of 1916, 1917 and 1918, carried out by fighting units and field ambulances.

 

The remaining plots were made after the Armistice when graves were brought in from the battlefields immediately surrounding the cemetery, the majority of them of soldiers who died in the Autumn of 1916, but a few represent the fighting in August 1918.

 

The following were among the more important burial grounds from which British graves were concentrated to Pozieres British Cemetery:

 

• CASUALTY CORNER CEMETERY, CONTALMAISON 57d.X.16.a.2.7, on the road from Pozieres to Fricourt, used in the summer and autumn of 1916, which contained the graves of 21 Canadian soldiers, 21 Australian and 13 from the United Kingdom.
• DANUBE POST CEMETERY, THIEPVAL 57d.R.32.b.0.2 (named from a trench and a Dressing Station), between the site of Thiepval village and Mouquet Farm. Here were buried, in the winter of 1916-17, 34 soldiers from the United Kingdom, mainly of the R.F.A.
• NAB JUNCTION CEMETERY, OVILLERS-LA BOISSELLE 57d.R.33.a.0.6, at the crossing of the Thiepval-Pozieres Road and "Nab Valley", in which 60 soldiers from the United Kingdom and one German prisoner were buried in the winter of 1916-17.

 

There are now 2,760 Commonwealth servicemen buried or commemorated in this cemetery. 1,382 of the burials are unidentified but there are special memorials to 23 casualties known or believed to be buried among them. There is also 1 German soldier buried here.

 

If you look at the site schematic it is clear that what happened to Plot II (the original burials) is confusing. It appears that some of the original burials on the site were relocated within the site (57d.X.9) when the cemetery was "cleaned up" after the war.

 

There are two photographs from the Australian War Memorial that tells us something about what happened. In one of them, you can clearly see the white marker for Private P. S. McKinnon who is buried on Plot 2 Row A Grave 13. In the two images, you can see the larger memorial to the 8th Battalion AIF, then another memorial on the left with the white picket fence. In the first image on the left, Private McKinnon's marker is at the front. I wish I could read what is on the black marker but I cannot. To be in grave 2.A.13, McKinnon has to be in the front row of the existing cemetery, which appears to be a trench grave by the headstone spacing. If true, there should not be any headstones in front of McKinnon's, unless he was moved during the clean-up process. You can see a small marker in front of the McKinnon marker in the photo on the left.

 

 

Private McKinnon's GRRF tells us that the black marker on his left should be Private T. Senior. I have included the two GRRF documents for Plot 2 Row A, as the page before McKinnon is listed has the reference at the top that these related to men that were brought in from the other cemeteries on the CWGC list. These are both dated 3 August 1920.

 

 

Part of Plot 2 Row A can be found on the COG-BR documents noted here:

• https://archive.cloud.cwgc.org/archive/doc/doc2485136.JPG
•  
• https://archive.cloud.cwgc.org/archive/doc/doc2485137.JPG

 

There is also a group of graves for Plot 2 Row A Grave 22 listed here, a multiple burial, but I have not checked to see if that was altered later, as in the second document they were split:

• https://archive.cloud.cwgc.org/archive/doc/doc2485255.JPG
•  
• https://archive.cloud.cwgc.org/archive/doc/doc2485257.JPG
•  
• https://archive.cloud.cwgc.org/archive/doc/doc2485259.JPG

 

The McKinnon record does not have a COG-BR associated with it, so he may have been an original burial at the site in 1918.

 

I have yet to sort out what happened with plots 2.B and 2,c? Why are there only 2 graves in row B and such a large space in row C? What happened to the graves in front of McKinnon?

 

.... to be continued

 

 

 

[Howard]

On the great off-chance that it may be useful, here is the only aerial photo I have of 57D square X. Sadly it is not dated but others taken by 15 Squadron in the same series are dated May and June 1918.

 

Howard

 

 

[Tinkicka]

Hi Richard,

 

I agree that the consolidation of the Plots in the British Cemetery needs a little bit of investigation. I came across this picture while doing some research on my great-uncle.

 

 

As you can see, the 8th Battalion AIF cross is a good reference point as well as the grave marker for Private McKinnon, as you pointed out. If he still lies in row A of plot II then there are quite a few questions to be asked. The picture shows quite a few burials in what would be rows B and C, yet the current layout of these as you quite rightly point out shows that there is a lot of empty space.

 

I cannot find a date attached to this picture, however when you look at the rear of the picture, behind the 8th Battalion Cross there appears to be quite a number of burials, which would tend to suggest that this picture was taken after consolidation of the other burial locations. If that was the case, then there should be a lot more present in rows B & C which there are not...............the list of questions keeps growing...

 

Tinkicka

(Brett)

 

 

Edited 19 June , 2019 by Tinkicka
adjusted picture

[laughton]

This is what I extracted for Plot 2, so it was primarily men from August 1918 that filled in the places that had been removed or destroyed in Plot 2 Row A, the large trench grave. There is also evidence of Germans having been buried there that were removed from Plot 2 Row C on either side of DOWDESWELL, now in 2.C.4 and originally 2.C.16. It appears the Germans were from action in March 1918, when they overran the area. Three (3) German graves were removed on the left side and four (4) on the right (GRRF 2485331).

 

I now have a report from 1918 on the destruction of the area in four separate actions. I will sort that out and get it posted.

 

The complete EXCEL spreadsheet, with the coloured tabs for the sorting of data, is on our shared MediaFire site: DOWNLOAD

 

surname	initials	death 1	death 2	rank	regiment	unit	plot	row	grave
CAMERON	G B	26-08-18		Lieutenant	Army Service Corps		2	A	1
MORRIS	A	26-08-18		Second Lieutenant	Manchester Regiment	4th Bn. attd. 12th (Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry) Bn.	2	A	2
CRUM	W	24-08-18		Private	West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own)	10th Bn.	2	A	3
LUDLAM	J	27-08-18		Private	Lancashire Fusiliers	10th Bn.	2	A	4
LEECH	W	27-08-18		Private	Lincolnshire Regiment	7th Bn.	2	A	5
WILKINSON	B	24-08-18		Private	West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own)	10th Bn.	2	A	6
COX	R F	27-08-18		Private	Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment)	9th Bn.	2	A	7
PARRY	T	26-08-18		Private	Manchester Regiment	12th  (Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry) Bn.	2	A	8
LAMB	P	26-08-18		Company Serjeant Major	Manchester Regiment	12th  (Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry) Bn.	2	A	9
OLDHAM	E	27-08-18		Private	Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment)	9th Bn.	2	A	10
BERTRAM	A	27-08-18		Private	Dorsetshire Regiment	6th Bn.	2	A	11
HOPPER	D	29-08-18		Private	Lincolnshire Regiment	7th Bn.	2	A	12
McKINNON	P S	29-08-18		Private	Army Service Corps		2	A	13
SENIOR	T	25-08-18		Private	Border Regiment	7th (West. and Cumb. Yeomanry) Bn	2	A	14
KAYE	E	29-08-18		Corporal	King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry	9th Bn.	2	A	15
CUNNINGHAM	J	28-08-18		Private	Leicestershire Regiment	6th Bn.	2	A	16
CROWE	J A	28-08-18		Serjeant	Northumberland Fusiliers	12th/13th Bn.	2	A	17
KEMP	R	26-08-18		Second Lieutenant	Manchester Regiment	8th Bn.	2	A	18
GREEN	W P	26-08-18		Driver	Royal Field Artillery	"D" Bty. 122nd Bty.	2	A	19
BARLOW	W	05-09-18		Private	Cambridgeshire Regiment	1st Bn.	2	A	20
PRIOR	H	27-08-18		Second Lieutenant	King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry	5th Bn.	2	A	21
UNKNOWN					British Soldier		2	A	22
UNKNOWN					British Soldier		2	A	23
UNKNOWN					British Soldier		2	A	24
UNKNOWN					British Soldier		2	A	25
UNKNOWN					British Soldier		2	A	26
UNKNOWN					British Soldier		2	A	27
CURRAN	J	01-07-16		Rifleman	Royal Irish Rifles	13th Bn.	2	A	28
UNKNOWN					British Soldier	2/D.G. (20 2/Dragoon Guards on Poz. Mem. For March 1918)	2	A	29
UNKNOWN					British Soldier		2	A	30
UNKNOWN					British Soldier		2	A	31
UNKNOWN				Second Lieutenant	British Soldier		2	A	32
UNKNOWN				Lieutenant	British Soldier		2	A	33
HOLMES	F J	26-08-16		Private	Australian Infantry, A.I.F.	22nd Bn.	2	A	34
UNKNOWN					British Soldier		2	A	35
UNKNOWN					British Soldier		2	A	36
3 UNKNOWN					Australian Infantry, A.I.F.		2	A	37
BAIN	A L	03-09-16	04-09-16	Lance Corporal	Australian Infantry, A.I.F.	52nd Bn.	2	A	38
UNKNOWN					Australian Infantry, A.I.F.		2	A	39
UNKNOWN					Australian Infantry, A.I.F.		2	A	40
UNKNOWN					Australian Infantry, A.I.F.		2	A	41
TRIGWELL	L F	12-08-16		Private	Australian Infantry, A.I.F.	16th Bn.	2	A	42
UNKNOWN					Australian Infantry, A.I.F.		2	A	43
HOOPER	L J	26-09-16		Second Lieutenant	Dorsetshire Regiment	5th Bn.	2	A	44
FRANKS	E J	19-08-16	22-08-16	Private	Australian Infantry, A.I.F.	12th Bn.	2	A	45
CARLIN	E B	03-09-16		Corporal	Australian Infantry, A.I.F.	51st Bn.	2	A	46
CAMPBELL	E J	03-09-16	04-09-16	Private	Australian Infantry, A.I.F.	52nd Bn.	2	A	47
UNKNOWN					Canadian Soldier		2	A	48
BILHAM	J W	26-08-16		Private	Australian Infantry, A.I.F.	21st Bn.	2	A	49
UNKNOWN					British Soldier		2	A	50
UNKNOWN					British Soldier		2	A	51
UNKNOWN					British Soldier		2	B	1
UNKNOWN					British Soldier	T/15. London Regiment	2	B	2
GOULDING	G	29-08-16		Private	Cheshire Regiment	11th Bn.	2	C	1
UNKNOWN					British Soldier	H.L.I.	2	C	2
UNKNOWN					British Soldier	H.L.I.	2	C	3
DOWDESWELL	A E	25-03-18		Rifleman	London Regiment (London Rifle Brigade)	28th London Regiment (Artists' Rifles)	2	C	4

 

[laughton]

I was working on the post and had not seen the new ones. Great picture of the cemetery from Brett (Tinkicka)! I will need to look more closely at Howard's aerial photograph, perhaps as an overlay on the period trench map.

 

The Australian report from August 1918 makes direct reference to the cemetery. In one location:

Quote

Scars of the battle mark almost every monument, but the cemeteries, so far have been scrupulously respected. The cross of the 7th Field Company of Australian Engineers is nearly cut through by a shell, but still rises over the Canadian and Australian graveyard on the hill. The great white crosses of the 1st Australian Division and the 8th Australian Battalion stand scarred with shrapnel in the cemetery near the entrance to the village. Before them today are two newer rows of German graves, with that of a senior surgeon amongst them.

 

There is also a reference to the grave of Captain Margetts (A.I.F.), now remembered on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial. He fell on 24 July 1916.

 

Quote

The grave of Captain Margetts, of the 12th Battalion, is still marked by a small white cross, beside the stumps of the copse where he fell a little after daylight, when troops were first pushing across the roads against the Germans, who were still at the further side of the village.

 

There is a picture of that grave in April 1917, where it was reported (see here) that the grave was later obliterated by the Germans. There is no direct mention as to whether this grave was in the Pozieres Cemetery, prior to the destruction. If so, then Captain Margett's should have a Kipling Memorial (Sp. Mem. E) in the Pozieres British Cemetery. Perhaps the answer lies in finding out where the school house was located?

 

Australian War Memorial/E00532 (Public Domain)

 

That appears to differ from this image, also reported (see here) as Margett's grave:

 

[Becstar]

Richard, in the photo below could that be a new grave marker? The ground is disturbed, it stands out amongst the snowy ground. Possibly a photo opportunity of sorts?  

[laughton]

Possible. What did not appear correct was that both these photographs or plates was made on 4 February 1917 by the official Australian Photographer Herbert Frederick Baldwin.

 

Two (2) photos on the same date should not appear different? Something wrong here ....

 

Quote

In November 1916, Charles Bean was joined on the Western Front by the English press photographer Herbert Baldwin, who recorded the exploits of Australian troops on the Western Front throughout late 1916 and early 1917. Baldwin was appointed to “preserve” pictorially the movements and actions of Australian soldiers, and the landscapes over which those actions took place. He was already one of Britain’s most significant war photographers. He had covered the First Balkan War (1912–13), where he formulated a very clear sense of the war photographer’s responsibilitites, which were laid out in his book A war photographer in Thrace (1913). Baldwin took over 540 photographs on glass plates, and they are among the most beautiful images of the war.

 

Bean was a war correspondant and the author of the text I quoted earlier, so Baldwin was not with him when he returned to the site in 1918.

Edited 18 June , 2019 by laughton

[Tinkicka]

Howard,

 

thanks for the aerial photo. I have geo-referenced it and overlaid it with the grid square lines aligned with those on a trench map so people can see where the original cemetery appears to be on maps of the time. This is assuming that the grid reference on the aerial photo is accurate (I have my doubts given some of the features do not appear to be aligning correctly - it will take some more work to get these to align).

 

The map reference is the original one taken from the amended map reference on the GRRF cards which closely aligns with Plot II in Pozieres British Cemetery.

 

I will post a link to this posting in the 'Where was the original Cemetery Thread' for future reference.

 

Brett

[tootrock]

There is what appears to be a long-handled shovel beside the grave in the lower picture in post #5 above, adding credence to the idea that the grave may be newly dug (post #6 above).

Martin

[Howard]

Brett

Experience shows it is better to fit photos with geography rather than grid lines. The photos were a principal source of information to update the maps, hence the grid lines drawn on them; proportional dividers and other means were then used to generate map updates. Comparing map editions show small but detectable differences in overprint positions, not least owing to the alignment in each colour run for the maps. If then a map is used as a source of grid line geometry for a photo, then no wonder precise positions are in doubt. Although the ground around Pozieres is fairly flat, even the orthorectification error cannot be ignored; could some pilot flying a slow scout plane in turbulence really achieve a true vertical shot? I remain awed by the achievement of these people, what they tried and succeeded in doing in a short time in difficult circumstances is quite outstanding but errors are errors.

Then of course comes the trouble with fitting to geography, farm tracks move (a lot!), modern roads may have been widened on one side only so shifting their centre line etc.

I have often wondered about but never researched the business of restoring the battlefield, there must have been numerous boundary arguments post war with field and property marks that once relied on fence lines having been obliterated. More errors. If you get to +/- 10 metres, you are doing very well. Gold dust for geo-referencing points are mapped features that are still there and in the same position, (unlike a lot of road junctions).

Howard

[laughton]

Good eyes Martin - the shovel! To put the Captain Margett's issue to bed, it would appear that the battlefield grave is not near the site of the Pozieres British Cemetery.

• the two images of the graves above, if they are the same grave, were February 1917 (snow and circle part on cross) and April 1917 (no snow, plain cross) - perhaps the circular part was blown off in the shelling?
• the images, again if the same cross, are from different viewpoints - the pole and the building do not show in the February photograph
• Captain Margett's death was not the morning of the 24th (CWGC date), rather at 10 pm on the 23rd, if you take the war diary (this link) as the reliable source
   
• the battalion was initially to the southwest of the cemetery area in Black Watch Alley 57d.X.11, north of Bailiff Wood, moving on the 23rd into 57d.X.5.a.0.5 and 57d.X.4.b5.4.
• the war diary reports that as his location when he was killed, which would be the northeast quadrant of the Village of Pozieres, about 1,400 yards northeast of the Pozieres British Cemetery

It is possible that Captain Margett's remains were recovered after the war and moved to the Pozieres British Cemetery. I will take a look at the COG-BR documents for remains extracted from that area.

 

 

[dickaren]

If the grave is newly dug it is unlikely to be Margett as he was killed 7 months before the photo was taken? I am wondering if the structure in the background is the Gibraltar blockhouse which was (and the remains still are) at the western entrance to Pozieres as this was the only building left standing after the capture of the village.

In Stand To no.113 Nov 2018 there are two photo's of Pozieres Cemetery (from Jeremy Gordon-Smiths collection which I have not copied without his permission) showing during and after construction but before the memorial wall has been built which might show why some of plot two burials were moved. The first photo taken from outside the cemetery but looking across plot two shows what I think is the Stone of Remembrance, so maybe the graves were moved to create space in front of this. Jeremy is on the forum (Ivan Bawtree collection) so if he sees this he might be happy to post the photo's. The Stone  is now located at the rear of the cemetery and I guess was moved when the Memorial walls were built

Richard

Edited 19 June , 2019 by dickaren
Additional note

[jay dubaya]

Rows B and C contained mainly German graves as can be seen on this image, the graves were evidently removed post 1920 which left the 6 British graves we see today. I haven't yet looked at the CoG for this cemetery and one wonders if the 6 British graves were found when the German graves were removed as there is no evidence on the image to suggest that there were any British graves amongst rows B and C. The whole image can be found here

 

Jon

 

[dickaren]

This looks to have solved the mystery of Plot 2 Jon. I would say the German burials were removed when the cemetery was altered for when the Memorial Walls were built and the Stone of Remembrance moved to the rear of the cemetery.

Richard

Edited 19 June , 2019 by dickaren
spelling

[laughton]

Very interesting Jon! Those original drawings could answer a lot of questions in other cemeteries as well.

• the drawing is dated 2 November 1920 so that gives us a good reference date, which is after the GRRF date of 3 August 1920
• the trench map coordinates are given as 57d.X.9.b.60.65 but it does not say exactly where that is on the drawing, perhaps the entrance?
• as with all other CWGC cemeteries to date, there is no Row I
• the numbers provide details on the changes after that date (only looking at Plot 2):
  • Row A has two groups of burials 22 then 11 and now there are 51
    • what was 2.A.22 (the Unknown 2nd Lt.) became 2.A.32, then they filled in the empty space
    • Rifleman Curran was added to 2.A.28 when he was concentrated on or about 21 December 1921 (COG-BR 2485257). Note that his GRRF 2037410 tells us that 2.A.21 to 2.A.32 were all concentrations, and not dated until 28 September 1922

 

• Private Holmes was already in place in 2.A.34 on 3 August 1920 (GRRF 2485326), getting bumped from 2.A.25 (COG-BR 2485136)
  • Row B and C have the Germans, so they must have exhumed everyone to find the few that were not and some were identified
    • 2.B.1 (UBS) and 2.B.2 (UBS T/15 London Regiment) dated 28 September 1922 (GRRF 2037411)

 

• 2.C.1 (Private Goulding), 2.C.2 and 2.C.3 (also GRRF 2037411) and then 2.C.4, Riflemen Dowdeswell

 

• Dowdeswell was identified 3 August 1920 (GRRF) in amongst the Germans, confirming that they exhumed them all for identification

 

• Goulding and the two UBS of the Highland Light Infantry were concentrated into the now empty German graves on 13 February 1922 (COG-BR 2458273) and appeared on the list on 28 September 1922 (GRRF 2037411)

 

• Row D always had the space, but they don't say 4 in the small section and the large section expanded from 40 to 46
  • 2.D.1 is also UBS Highland Light Infantry, found with Lance Corporal Roy in 2.D.2, along with three other UBS in 2.D.3, 2.D.5 and 2.D.6 (COG-BR 2485275 and GRRF 2037411)
  •  
  • Private Wells in  2.D.4 is a bit of a mystery, as he was in 2.D.1 by himself in August 1920 (GRRF 2485331), after which it appears there was a Memorial Cross in that empty space in Row D, which was removed, perhaps at the same time they inserted the other  graves
• Row E received another burial as it grew from 26 to 27
•  
  • the Memorial Cross was removed from this row as well (GRRF 2485334), after which the others were shuffled (GRRF 2485335 and GRRF 2485336)
• Row F added 2, changing from 34 to 36
• Row H appears to have only added 1 but it may have been 2 added and 1 removed (GRRF 2037412)
• Row J added 4 and then dropped the Memorial Crosses at the end

 

(GRRF 2485346 is missing?)

That was a fun exercise!

 

 

[laughton]

Here is another interesting photograph. It comes from this site here: http://empirecall.pbworks.com/w/page/67852883/Williams-G-G-Pte-3355-France. Note that this page tells a bit about the possible origins of the photographs and their relationship to Patrick O'Callaghan and the 12th Field Ambulance.

 

The caption for this photograph is:   Where we buried some of our mates who were killed anywhere handy.  It is at casualty corner between Contal Maison and Poziere, the edge is made of whizz bang shell cases, picked up about the graves, it wouldn't have been much trouble to get thousands they were so thick, all the heavy shells burst when they hit the ground, these are 18 pounder shrapnel." (Patrick O'Callaghan)   The trench maps tell us that CASUALTY CORNER was at 57d.X.16.a.40.55.

 

Note that the grave in the lower right corner can be identified as that of Private William James Gingell #884. He was concentrated into Pozieres British Cemetery from 57d.16.a so that is a match (Grave 4.M.23). I am not sure if the "40.45" is correct as there is no corner at that location. It is in the location of Bailiff Wood. To the left of GINGELL is Private William Charles James #3308 (Grave 3.N.3), then 2 others not yet named and then Private Sydney Weir #10258, in the second enclosed area. James and Weir are direct matches to the 12th FIeld Ambulance whereas Gingell is 24th Bn A.I.F., explaining why he is not in the enclosed area.

 

Private William James Gingell #884	Private William Charles James #3308

 

Private Sydney Weir's body was not recovered, thus he is remembered on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial. I suspect that we will find him, perhaps many of the others in these photographs, in the Pozieres British Cemetery.

 

The caption for this photograph is:   The white cross, third from the right, is for Private W C James 3308, a member of the 12th Field Ambulance who died on 29 July 1916, aged 20.   The cross on the far left seems to be for Norman Sadler.    In Sadler's Red Cross file, it is mentioned that William James was buried with his friend Norman Sadler, and a cross was put over each of their graves.    A cross to the right of James is that of W J Gingell, 24 Inf Bn, from Ballarat, who died 30 July 1916. The work on the graves would have been done by their comrades.

 

If the other left cross is correct as named, that is Private Norman Henry Sadler #3373 who was concentrated into Grave 4.M.28 at Pozieres. He is found on both of the two records above for Gingell, near the bottom of each page.

 

I will need to check the Pozieres records for more men extracted from this area at Casualty Corners. As we have excellent records here in Canada for the 15th Canadian Infantry Battalion, it may also lead to the identification of the 3 men of that battalion buried together in  in Plot 4 Row M Grave 26. The cemetery is identified in the casualty record of Private Duncan McKenzie of the 7th BN CEF, accidentally shot by a comrade cleaning his rifle.

 

Another Canadian record on that page for Acting Corporal Bryan #531658 tells us that the exhumation was from a location on the road from Casualty Corner to Pozieres, 200 yards northeast of Casualty Corner at 57d.X.16.a.1.3. That is an exact match to the location of the cross roads west of Bailiff Wood, so it does give us confirmation that the cemetery was in the open space at 57d.X.16.a.40.55.

Edited 21 June , 2019 by laughton
the "3" had nothing to do with multiple burials