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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

Ovillers 1982


nicburch

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  • "A farmer clearing some ground next to Ovillers Military Cemetery in 1982 discovered the remains of 49 British and 2 German soldiers buried in a large shell hole or old trench during the Battle of the Somme. They are now commemorated by a Special Memorial in Terlincthun."
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  • Were these men reburied in Ovillers Cemetery? 
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As far as I’m aware they are in a mass grave at Terlincthun, which was the open cemetery at the time. The practice of burying remains close to where they were found has only been happening for about 25 years.it’s been a few years since I visited Terlincthun and can’t place my photos of the stone, but there’s one in the Somme battlefields book by Martin and Mary Middlebrook. 

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I spoke to a local a few years back about this and he reckons that not all of the bodies were recovered.

Tony

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I don’t think so. EDIT looked in Middlebrook, the photo shows the stone has cap badges but no name identification of any of any remains.

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17 hours ago, KIRKY said:

I spoke to a local a few years back about this and he reckons that not all of the bodies were recovered.

Tony

Hm, that may not be a reliable source. Legally, you can't leave human bodies from WWI somewhere unless it's absolutely impossible to recover them. Otherwise the plot of land should be transformed into a cemetery and the state should take over the plot in question.

2 hours ago, Michelle Young said:

I don’t think so. EDIT looked in Middlebrook, the photo shows the stone has cap badges but no name identification of any of any remains.

Are the BRS available for Terlincthun? Those may answer a few questions.

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  • 2 months later...

Hi all, 

just looking for information about this mass grave. 

This is the picture of it. 

D94A1232small.jpg.53185975ac5693686cb077d8b592410e.jpg

Does anybody have some more reference to the find? newspaper articles of the time or the like??? 

M.

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Thanks!!

I found the passage in Middlebrook's Guide to the Somme which mentions it but there is also nothing more. Next time I'm in the area, I'll try to have a look at local newspapers of the time...

M.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • Admin

The grave earlier 

IMG_2154.jpeg

IMG_2156.jpeg

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  • 1 month later...
On 18/09/2023 at 20:30, Marilyne said:

Hi all, 

just looking for information about this mass grave. 

This is the picture of it. 

D94A1232small.jpg.53185975ac5693686cb077d8b592410e.jpg

Does anybody have some more reference to the find? newspaper articles of the time or the like??? 

M.

Honours to them :poppy::(

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