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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

Roclincourt Military Cemetery


michaelpi

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Just saw this, might not have, so remember to "tag" or "ping" someone put the @username in the message - such as @michaelpi - which notifies one of the post.

 

As with any cemetery, I never know that I have all the COG-BR documents, unless I check all the details. In the early days I would gather what I could and then keep an eye  out for others. With time, I have figured out better ways, so always good to take another look.

 

From what I see on the GRRF documents for this cemetery, they start in Plot 4, so obviously I am missing some of those. That work is dated 21 May 2014, prior to this project kicking off in October 2014. I was probably doing a routine search. My grandfather was at Roclincourt and so I was probably looking for men of the 26th Northumberland Fusiliers (34th Division) that were missing from his platoon.

 

I will come back and fill in this topic with the details, as I have been doing for the other cemeteries. The CWGC tells us more, as it clearly says the concentrations were in Plot IV Row F and that is what is in the COG-BR documents collected. Regardless, the rest of the GRRF documents are missing and I will fetch those! They start at GRRF 2510639. Strange, I had the ZIP File named correctly, but not all the documents? Now corrected and uploaded!

Quote

The French troops who held this front before March 1916 made a military cemetery (now removed), on the south-west side of which the present Commonwealth cemetery was made. It was begun by the 51st (Highland) and 34th Divisions in April 1917, and contains many graves of 9 April, the first day of the Battles of Arras.

 

It continued in use, as a front-line cemetery, until October 1918 and after the Armistice graves, mostly from the battlefield north of Roclincourt, were brought into Plot IV, Row F.

 

Roclincourt Military Cemetery contains 916 Commonwealth burials of the First World War, 32 of them unidentified. There are also four German war graves. The cemetery was designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield. Originally, the cemetery contained a wooden memorial erected by the 22nd Royal Fusiliers to one officer and 27 N.C.O.'s and men who fell in action at Oppy in April and May 1917.

 

I  see there are some UNKNOWN CANADIANS from 51b.A.23.d.2.5, which I may have never investigated at the time. That is at a different time than the attack on Vimy Ridge, so I should be able to figure out which Canadian units were in the area. They were back in that area in August 1918 as well, on the left flank of the 51st Highland Division.

 

If they put concentrations in Plot 4 Row F that would imply that row was added after Plots 5 and 6 were complete. There I see some Canadians from April 1918, such as Livermore in 6.C.16 GRRF 2510700. His casualty record tells me he was KIA in the trenches west of Oppy and was a direct burial. That answers that question.

 

On the site plan you can see that Plot 4 Row F appears to have been added along the left edge of the cemetery.

 

CemeteryPlan.ashx?id=58500

 

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No problem - always glad to help! When your use the "ping" make sure to click on the list that appears,

 

That makes @michaelpi if you just type it, look like this if you type and then select @michaelpi

 

2081616194_pingme.jpg.2692798bcc1ab257f88f6f90dadeeb80.jpg

 

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