Question about CWGC tombstones

[EarlyMB]

When I visited a few of the CWGC cemeteries on the Somme last July I noticed a few variations in the use of the tombstones. Most are a fixed distance apart and mark the burial site of a single warrior, but a good number mark two burials (of known and/or unknown warriors) and I wonder what is the reason for this? Why do some burials contain one body and other two? It seems that being identified or not was not a factor.

 

See images below, that illustrate what I mean (from the Y ravine cemetery at Beaumont-Hamel)

 

 

 

 

A variation of the double burial I noticed in the WW2 Bayeux CWGC cemetry, where each of this pilots has his own headstone but they are obviously buried together:

 

 

But in the case of the Somme headstones, it seems a bit random if they were buried alone or together?

 

 

[Alan24]

I would suggest that where original wartime burials were made by Hospitals, Clearing Stations, etc. they were not quite so geometrically perfect given their priorities at the time.

Those graves created after the war by bringing in the dead from the battlefields or concentrating smaller groups to larger cemeteries obviously had more scope to organise in a more regular layout. 

This is evident at Tyne Cot where the original burials were left in-situ. See area in yellow highlight below.

[tootrock]

Two bodies could originally have been buried together, and when they were exhumed it was found impossible to separate the remains, so both commemorated on one grave marker at re-burial.

Martin

[EarlyMB]

1 hour ago, Alan24 said:

I would suggest that where original wartime burials were made by Hospitals, Clearing Stations, etc. they were not quite so geometrically perfect given their priorities at the time.

Those graves created after the war by bringing in the dead from the battlefields or concentrating smaller groups to larger cemeteries obviously had more scope to organise in a more regular layout. 

This is evident at Tyne Cot where the original burials were left in-situ. See area in yellow highlight below.

 

Thanks, that is an interesting example of an original cemetery surrounded by its own extension. I'm not sure where the nearest British hospital near Y-Ravine was but I assume it was someplace behind the St. Johns Trench. I'll have to look into that.

 

 

5 minutes ago, tootrock said:

Two bodies could originally have been buried together, and when they were exhumed it was found impossible to separate the remains, so both commemorated on one grave marker at re-burial.

Martin

 

That would be a very plausible explanation, that they cleared the field burials and re-buried them one-on-one as found. In fact, it would also explain why in some cases two identified bodies are buried together... when found they couldn't say who was who.

[jay dubaya]

Y Ravine Cemetery was a battlefield clearance cemetery created by V Corps in the spring of 1917, it is not associated with any RAP/hospital. Many of those buried there had previously been buried on the battlefield between July - November 1916. The grave of Warford and the UBS - Warford was originally buried in a shell hole with several others - mainly Newfoundlanders. The two bodies that lie beneath the head stone - one was identified but impossible to separate the two sets of remains and confirm which one was Warford

[DavidOwen]

I have come across quite a number of CWGC records with the same grave reference quoted. Sometimes multiple soldiers are buried in the same plot. One example is below. Apologies for the poor formatting!

 

BUCK

T C

D C M

09/05/1915

Serjeant

Coldstream Guards

2nd Bn.

France

'7584'

RUE-DES-BERCEAUX MILITARY CEMETERY, RICHEBOURG-L'AVOUE

I. D. 15.

BURNS

JAMES

J

23

09/05/1915

Private

London Regiment (London Scottish)

14th Bn.

France

'2304'

RUE-DES-BERCEAUX MILITARY CEMETERY, RICHEBOURG-L'AVOUE

I. D. 15.

DAVIS

A E

10/05/1915

Lance Corporal

Northamptonshire Regiment

1st Bn.

France

'8385'

RUE-DES-BERCEAUX MILITARY CEMETERY, RICHEBOURG-L'AVOUE

I. D. 15.

GRIFFIN

ROBERT

R

21

09/05/1915

Private

Royal Sussex Regiment

"E" Coy., 5th Bn.

France

'1103'

RUE-DES-BERCEAUX MILITARY CEMETERY, RICHEBOURG-L'AVOUE

I. D. 15.

PELLING

W H

09/05/1915

Private

Royal Sussex Regiment

2nd Bn.

France

'1380'

RUE-DES-BERCEAUX MILITARY CEMETERY, RICHEBOURG-L'AVOUE

I. D. 15.

ROBERTSON

G

10/05/1915

Serjeant

Black Watch (Royal Highlanders)

1st Bn.

France

'9684'

RUE-DES-BERCEAUX MILITARY CEMETERY, RICHEBOURG-L'AVOUE

I. D. 15.

[EarlyMB]

10 hours ago, jay dubaya said:

Y Ravine Cemetery was a battlefield clearance cemetery created by V Corps in the spring of 1917, it is not associated with any RAP/hospital. Many of those buried there had previously been buried on the battlefield between July - November 1916. The grave of Warford and the UBS - Warford was originally buried in a shell hole with several others - mainly Newfoundlanders. The two bodies that lie beneath the head stone - one was identified but impossible to separate the two sets of remains and confirm which one was Warford

 

I think that means the cemetery survived the offensive of 1918. I did not look at all the graves but I think most, if not all, were from the 1916 offensive. As for pvt Warford and unknown remains, it makes you think about how hard the work of clearance parties must have been...

 

As for the grave references indicating the same plot, to me that means they are buried in the same section of the cemetery but not necessarily in the same grave?

[EarlyMB]

 

 

 

 

 

I think these two headstones, also at Y Ravine cemetery, also illustrate the difficulty of identifying.