auchonvillerssomme Posted 21 April , 2007 Share Posted 21 April , 2007 Apologies if this has been a topic before but I can't find anything. In a field on the Blue series map 2407E at l'Abbaye d'Eaucourt is marked 'Tombe'. On the ground there is nothing to see. and i'm unable to find any other info. I have even considered the other translation for Tombe as fall but that doesnt make sense so I can only think it does mean grave. Any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Bennitt Posted 21 April , 2007 Share Posted 21 April , 2007 Apologies if this has been a topic before but I can't find anything. In a field on the Blue series map 2407E at l'Abbaye d'Eaucourt is marked 'Tombe'. On the ground there is nothing to see. and i'm unable to find any other info. I have even considered the other translation for Tombe as fall but that doesnt make sense so I can only think it does mean grave. Any ideas? Can't help on that but it's not the only one. I noticed when I was in the area on Thursday there is another marked on the edge of the farm just by Crucifix Corner on the road from Bazentin-le-Grand to Montauban. Given that there was a lot of ancient settlement in the area I would think it dates to a bit older than the Great War. cheers Martin B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auchonvillerssomme Posted 21 April , 2007 Author Share Posted 21 April , 2007 Yes I can see that one. did you recce the field? Mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Bennitt Posted 21 April , 2007 Share Posted 21 April , 2007 Yes I can see that one. did you recce the field? Mick Fraid not. It was at the end of a fairly lengthy walk which had taken us a bit further than we intended and it was getting late. Having visited the musée de Picardie in Amiens the day before, where there is quite a lot on ancient sites, notably the most recent ones at Méaulte, I assumed there would be not much to see. cheers Martin B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Reed Posted 21 April , 2007 Share Posted 21 April , 2007 This was once the grave of - if I remember correctly - two officers, now buried in Warlencourt British Cemetery. Check the details in Barrie Thorpe's book on Private Memorials, if you have it. Their names also featured in a seperate entry in the CWGC register for this area. One thing I know of sure it was quite a large grave, with the memorials in stone (not CWGC headstones). It was also land once owned by the late mayor of my village, and he was reluctant to have the grave moved, but the CWGC insisted. The stonework remained on the site until it gradually disappeared, sometime in the 80s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Coulson Posted 22 April , 2007 Share Posted 22 April , 2007 Checked my copy of Private Memorials of the Great War on the Western Front by Barrie Thorpe. I believe you are referring to two "graves" a few yards apart in a formal garden one for Lt E H Montgomery RFA and Lt J R Tarras RFA which were beside the road from Ligny-Thilloy to Eaucourt L'Abbaye. It turned out that both officers had been lying in Serre Road No 2 all along and many years passed before the mistake was discovered, once this was established the site was cleared. The book available from the WFA is a really interesting read. Bob. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Reed Posted 22 April , 2007 Share Posted 22 April , 2007 Bob - I don't have the book but I know for a fact that they were once buried here. There was a seperate entry in the CWGC register for them. M. Gonse, our late mayor, was there when the remains were moved to another cemetery - I thought it was Warlencourt, but it seems it was Serre, which makes more sense. It's a while since I looked at the material relating to this case, but I did a lot of research on the ground, with locals etc, back in the mid-90s. Sadly no-one had a photo of this memorial. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Coulson Posted 22 April , 2007 Share Posted 22 April , 2007 That's interesting Paul so they were originally buried by the road side and then moved. The book seems to say that they were never buried there. Bob. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Bennitt Posted 22 April , 2007 Share Posted 22 April , 2007 What about the other one near Crucifix Corner? In 'Walking the Somme' (which I found very useful last week, ta very much, Paul, it will become a livre de chevet in preparation of my next trip to the area) there is mention of the farm but not the grave. cheers Martin B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Reed Posted 22 April , 2007 Share Posted 22 April , 2007 Do you mean the Wallace cross at Bazentin, Martin? That is a memorial to a missing soldier, as opposed to a grave. I found the original cross in someone's garage in the early 1990s; thanks to the WFA and the commune of Bazentin they restored it to its original position. I didn't include anything on this memorial in the section on Eaucourt simply because the walk doesn't go past the site of it, and even when I wrote the book 14 years ago, there was no trace of anything there at ground level. Glad you found the book of use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Bennitt Posted 22 April , 2007 Share Posted 22 April , 2007 Hi Paul no it's the 'tomb' I referred to in post 2. We found the Wallace Cross -- very handsome. cheers Martin B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Reed Posted 22 April , 2007 Share Posted 22 April , 2007 Oh yes - I see now. That is not Great War related and is part of the farm settlement. I am pretty sure there is nothing much on that spot now, either. I did once speak to the farm owner about it, and he was pretty 'vague', and wouldn't let me go over and have a look at the ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Bennitt Posted 22 April , 2007 Share Posted 22 April , 2007 Oh yes - I see now. That is not Great War related and is part of the farm settlement. I am pretty sure there is nothing much on that spot now, either. I did once speak to the farm owner about it, and he was pretty 'vague', and wouldn't let me go over and have a look at the ground. Thanks Paul cheers Martin B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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