Location

The town of Abbeville is on the main road from Paris to Boulogne (N1), about 80 kilometres south of Boulogne. The communal cemetery and communal cemetery extension are located on the left hand side of the road when leaving the town in a north-east direction for Drucat. CWGC direction signs will be found within the cemetery. Enter the Communal Cemetery by the left hand side main gate and follow CWGC signs within the Cemetery. The extension may be entered from the communal cemetery or from the side lane.

Coming from Boulogne you will pass the Autoroute roundabout and descend a hill into the town (Beware the Gendarmerie carry out speed checks - 50 kph). Turn left at the small roundabout half way down.

From within the town follow the signs for Boulogne (N 1) and you will come to a roundabout on the northern edge of the town (The bottom of the above hill). The narrow road, before, the Boulogne exit is signposted with a CWGC panel. If you miss it continue up the hill and turn right at the next small roundabout.

Historical Information

For much of the First World War, Abbeville was headquarters of the Commonwealth lines of communication and No 3 BRCS, No 5 and No 2 Stationary Hospitals were stationed there variously from October 1914 to January 1920.

The communal cemetery was used for burials from November 1914 to September 1916, the earliest being made among the French military graves. The extension was begun in September 1916.

During the early part of the Second World War, Abbeville was a major operational aerodrome, but the town fell to the Germans at the end of May 1940.

On a frosty February morning

On 4 June, an attempt was made by the 51st Division, in conjunction with the French, to break the German bridgehead, but without success. Towards the end of 1943, eight large ski shaped buildings appeared near Abbeville.

These proved to be storage units for flying bomb components and they were heavily bombed by Commonwealth air forces.

Abbeville was retaken on 4 September 1944 by Canadian and Polish units.

Abbeville Communal Cemetery contains 774 Commonwealth burials of First World War and 30 from the Second. The Extension contains 1,754 First World War burials and 348 from the Second.

The Commonwealth sections of both cemetery and extension were designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield.

Workers from Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps

An unusual Story

Lena Ashwell was a well known actress and theatre manageress. In 1915, she became the first person to organise companies of actors to travel to France and perform for the troops.

Even though the war ended in November 1918 it was not possible to simply ship everybody back home. Apart from the fact that the Armistice had to be renewed from time to time - it was an cease fire rather than a definitive cessation of hostilities - the administration of demobilising everybody was going to take time.

The luckier troops got to be entertained by concert parties.

Emily Pickford and Fred Taylor of the YMCA
Who died on 7th February 1919

Emily Pickford Member of Lena Ashwell's Concert Party Aged 38 Daughter of Mr and Mrs W Pearn, of Penarth Wife of Ernest Pickford, of 101 Windsor Rd, Penarth, Glam	Fred Taylor Member of Lena Ashwell's Concert Party Aged 29 Son of Herbert and Alice Taylor, of Hornsey, London Unable to serve owing to physical disability
Grave: Extension V G 23	Grave: Extension V G 24

Emily had been the musician and Fred the baritone in a seven man troop which included other singers and a ventriloquist.

This photo was taken just after the 90th Anniversary of their deaths. On a similarly freezing night the party had put on a concert at Gouy l'Hôpital 45 kilometres away on the road towards Beauvais. They had been provided with two cars and the return journey brought them in near the SNCF Railway station and, as today, along the banks of the River Somme.

It would appear that coming along the tow path the lead vehicle with Emily and Fred on board lost the road and slipped into the river. Although the driver and another passenger were rescued, Emily and Fred drowned in the icy waters.

Their bodies were later recovered and brought to the Communal Cemetery only a few kilometres away from the place of the accident.

The French Military Cemetery

There is also a small plot of French soldiers buried here.

It would appear that these are all soldiers repatriated from Military Cemeteries elsewhere. Both of the following men were Abbevillois.

Conscription

At the age of twenty Frenchmen were called forward for their period of Military Service. This is an idea stretching back to the days of the Revolution when the defence of the country became a matter not just for the army but for the nation. It was the duty for every able bodied man to defend the motherland - often by attacking somebody else's !

Having served his two years (in 1913 it was increased to three), the soldier passed into the Reserve for eleven years during which time he would be called up so many times a year to continue with his training. At this stage he would be transferred to the Territorial Army for seven years.

Whilst serving as a Reservist and a Territorial the soldier would be called up in case of war. It was only when he had finished his time with the Territorials and had passed into their reserve for yet another seven years that in theory he would only be called up if things were desperate.

As a guide, infantry regiments were made up of three active or two reserve battalions, but the numbering of the battalions was consecutive: 1,2 and 3 plus 4 and 5. A battalion would have been about 800 strong.

One difference between the French system and that of the British is that French Regiments fought as an entire unit, the battalions remaining together. The British fought by battalions with no requirement for the 2nd battalion to be in the same brigade as the 1st.

If you are looking at French infantry regimental numbers they are reasonably easy to distinguish. Simplest of all, RIT means a Territorial Unit - Régiment d'Infanterie Territoriale - and thus made up of men who were at least 34 years old.

Those marked RI - Régiment d'Infanterie - form the Active and Reserve regiments. Each Active regiment had a reserve whose number was 200 more than the parent unit.

Thus the 328è RI were the Reserve Regiment for the 128è RI. In essence if you can subtract 200 from the regimental number it is a reserve unit. Of course by the end of the war the distinction between the two classes had become blurred as new conscripts were sent to wherever they were needed most.

The requirement to serve a period of military service came to an end in 1996 as the French Defence Forces moved to a professional basis.

Maintaining the link with the people

Although conscription has been done away with all French children on reaching 17 must carry out a Journée d'appelle as it is called. This day long seminar brings youngsters into contact with the Military of all arms so that they can be taught about the Defence Forces and instilled with a bit of patriotic spirit.

Those that wish can undertake a period of a week or two with a fighting unit to see how they like the life.

An important point about this day with the military is that without the certificate of attendance you cannot work for the Civil Service, or even obtain a driving licence. Thus, even if you have no interest at all in things military, you are still induced to spend a bit of time learning about what they do and why.

---

Mutiny on the Chemin des Dames