PRIVATE E. SHELLY.east surrey regiment

[Patrick]

Hello all ,

Here a cross question from histoforums wich i believe will have much more chance to be answered here .

original message follows , but xtofska who lives in a small village 120 km away from the somme main battlefields wonders why

28377 PRIVATE E. SHELLY. 5th january 1917 , has a lonesome tomb at the entrance of the village cimetery here away from it all .

on his commonwealth grave is mentioned east surrey regiment .

Why is that soldier buried in his village is what he wonders, and what info on the east surrey regiment .

Maybe something can be found in a look up on 'Soldiers Died' on the above soldier

Thanks for any help here thanks .

Patrick

original question from

de xtofska (20/06/2003 16:13:44)

Bonjour, je viens d'aller faire un petit tour au cimetière communal car je recherchais une date, (quoi de mieux que d'aller au cimetière quand la mairie est fermée et que les registres d'état civil de moins de 100 ans ne sont pas consultables) et à l'entrée il y a une tombe du commonwealth avec concession à perpétuité.

c'est inscrit EAST SURREY REGIMENT sur le haut. ensuite 28377 PRIVATE E. SHELLY. 5th january 1917

a quoi correspond ce EAST SURREY REGIMENT.

Pour information j'habite un petit village de l'ouest du département de la Somme, alors que les champs de bataille durant la 1ere GM étaient à plus de 120 kms (cad a l'est du département.)

Pourquoi ce soldat britannique a été enterré dans mon village ???

Merci d'avance à ceux qui pourront aiguiller ma curiosité.

http://www.1914-18.org/~histoforums/pgm/af...php?nummsg=5859

[Doug Lewis]

Patrick

SDGW-

Ernest Shelley

8th Btn East Surrey Regiment

Born Kilburn,Middlesex (Brondesbury,Middlesex)

Died 05/01/17

KIA F&F

Formerly 13057,Middlesex Rgt.

Doug

[Paul Reed]

He is buried at FOREST-L'ABBAYE , which is a small village on the Somme, east of the Bay of the Somme and close to Noyelles, where the Chinese cemetery is located. There were bases and training areas around here, and I suspect he was killed or died in one of those; there were many accidents, men died of sunstroke, fell off the back of lorries, were kicked in the head by horses etc etc. They were normally buried close to where they had died.

Probably an interesting story here, but might take a bit of research to find it!

Incidentally, his unit was in the line near Courcelette when he died.

[Patrick]

hi Dough

Whats the meaning of F&F after the killed in action (KIA F&F?

Hi Paul ,

Thanks for your comments , appreciated,

interesting to have a cross-question with the original links

between forums , opens quite a lot of possibilities.

Could the soldier in question have been in charge of the Chinese laborers?

As his regiment was 70km away ,

what could he have been doing there alone , away from his mates?

he was maybe a specialist in some form or trade and useful with the Chinese ?

chio

Patrick

[Terry Denham]

F&F = France & Flanders

A common abbreviation used by SDGW & other sources.

[Guest Alan Sawyer]

I know this is an old post but I too came across this isolated grave while on a bike tour, and wanted to find out the history. The diaries of the 8th Batallion, E Surrey Regt, tell the story. The Batallion was in Forest L'Abbaye doing training. Private Shelly was doing live grenade training and his fourth grenade exploded just after it left his hand, killing him and wounding a couple of others. The diary entry can be seen here: http://qrrarchive.we...00819170104.pdf

[Sandie Hayes]

I thought his grave was separate from other WW1 graves, I didn't realise he was the only soldier buried in the whole cemetery.

From CWGC:

Forest-I'Abbaye Churchyard contains one Commonwealth burial of the First World War.

Photograph from TWGPP

[tipperary]

The answer comes to light 9 years on. May he rest in peace.john

[Sandie Hayes]

The answer comes to light 9 years on. May he rest in peace.john

Yes, many thanks to Alan Sawyer.

Rest in Peace Ernest Shelly

[anthony osborne]

Rest in Peace Ernest

[Guest Alan Sawyer]

I must say, I was deeply moved by finding that lone grave and its simple, under-stated contrast to the rest of the cemetary. Someone had left a pot of flowers some time ago, but no card, so I don't know whether it was visiting relatives or some kindly local. The cemetary is very well cared for - 2 families came to lay flowers and tidy up around their family graves while I was having lunch on a bench outside.

I pulled up a couple of weeds, tidied up a bit, and left a note of my visit. If I can figure out how, I'll include some photos of the church and cemetary. It's a very peaceful spot, with the 12th Century church (unsympathetically restored) up a little dead-end lane off a quiet country road, SE of the battlefield at Crecy.

[Sandie Hayes]

Thank you for posting these photographs. His grave looks well cared for.

I see what you mean by the church being 'unsympathetically restored'.

Sandie