Avin Communual Cemetery (Belgium)

[Guest Nuffield]

In Avin, a small village near where I live in Belgium is the Avin Communal Cemetery, a notice on the entrance states that the cemetery is a Commonwealth War Cemetery. One Commonwealth war grave exists in the cemetery:-

Private C.E. Powers, Canadian, 47th Bn Canadian Infantry (Western Ontario Regt.) Service N° 629561, DoD 3/1/1919. I hope this forum could answers some questions. Why would this be the only grave, could there some local connection ?. The DoD of 1919 suggests Pte. Powers died of wounds sustained before 11/11/1918, would he have been in a local hospital (no local Hospital now, the nearest is some 15km away) or in a field hospital. Why was Pte. Powers interred here rather than in one of the larger Commonwealth War Cemeteries. Note:- Avin is in the province of Liege and some considerable distance from the Western Front line.

Mike.

[Terry Denham]

It is not uncommon for communal cemeteries or churchyards in France and Belgium to contain one or two Commonwealth War Graves. These graves were not concentrated into the larger cemeteries unless there was a good reason to do so.

The 1919 date of death does not necessarily indicate dying of earlier wounds. You will see many war graves on the Western Front with 1919 dates and even up to 1921. Many troops were still in France/Belgium for all sorts of duties including battlefield clearance etc - and also partly as a precaution against renewed fighting (no matter how unlikely) before the peace treaties were signed.

It is probable that this man died in an accident or of illness whilst in the area. There are several such cemeteries in the province of Liège containing Commonwealth graves - including one at Verviers which has the grave of a British soldier (of Belgian nationality) repatriated to Belgium from the UK in 1917!