Bienvillers
Location
Bienvillers is a large village in the department of the Pas de Calais 18 kilometres south-west of Arras. The Military Cemetery is just beyond the village on the south road leading to Souastre (D2). A CWGC signpost indicating directions to the site is situated on the village square.
Historical Information
Bienvillers Military Cemetery was begun in September 1915 by the 37th Division, carried on by other Divisions in the line until March 1917, reopened from March to September 1918, when the village was again near the front line, and completed in 1922-24 when a number of graves, mainly of 1916, were brought in from the battlefields of the Ancre.
Its twenty-one plots show a remarkable alternation of original burials in regimental or divisional groups, and groups of concentrated graves.
The cemetery now contains 1 605 Commonwealth burials and commemorations of the First World War. 425 of the burials are unidentified but there are special memorials to two casualties known or believed to be buried among them.
The 16 Second World War burials all date from the early months of the war, before the German invasion in May 1940 forced the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from France.
Lt Colonel Walter Brodie VC MC
2nd Bn Highland Light Infantry
Died on 23rd August 1918 aged 34
Son of John Brodie, of 23 Belgrave Crescent, Edinburgh
Husband of Grace Brodie
London Gazette No 29005 dated 12th December 1914, records the following:
For conspicuous gallantry near Becelaere on the 11th November, in clearing the enemy out of a portion of our trenches which they had succeeded in occupying. Heading the charge, he bayoneted several of the enemy, and thereby relieved a dangerous situation. As a result of Lieutenant Brodie's promptitude, 80 of the enemy were killed and 51 taken prisoners.
Grave: XVIII F 15
Lieutenant Colonels
Lt Colonel John Hardyman DSO MC
8th Bn Somerset Light Infantry
Died on 24th August 1918 aged 23
Son of George Hardyman MB FRCS, and Eglantine Hardyman, of Perrymead Court, Bath
Scholar, Poet, Orator
Justified by faith
In Jesus Christ
Grave: XIX F 11
Lt Colonel Claude Parry DSO
34th Bde Royal Field Artillery
Died on 20th August 1918 aged 48
Son of the late Maj General F Parry
Husband of Dora Parry, of Kelvin, Brockhill Rd, Hythe, Kent
Grave: XIX E 3
Lt Colonel Ron Wood
12th Prince of Wales's Royal Lancers
6th Bn Tank Corps
Died on 21st August 1918 aged 36
Son of Herbert Evelyn Wood, of Isle of Raasay, Invernessshire
Husband of Inez Wood, of 71 Cadogan Place, London
Grave: XIX E 2
Lt Colonel Thomas Bullock
1st Bn Dorsetshire Regiment
Died on 11th April 1918 aged 43
Son of the late Mr and Mrs Samuel Bullock, of London
Husband of Millicent Bullock, of 5 Verne Rd, Rodwell, Weymouth
Grave: I A 33
Lt Colonel Archibald James DSO
8th Bn Northumberland Fusiliers
Commanding 8th Bn West Yorkshire Regiment
Died on 26th March 1918 aged 40
Son of William and Emily James, of Barrock Park, Cumberland
Grave: I A 24
Lt Colonel Charles James DSO and Bar
6th Bn Border Regiment
Died on 19th May 1918 aged 26
Son of Dr C James, of The Pollard Elms, Upper Clapton, London
Husband of Phyllis Cursham (formerly James), of The Manor House, Thrumpton, Derby
Grave: XVI D 7
Lt Colonel Oswyn Davies
6th Bn Manchester Regiment
Commanding 8th Bn Lancashire Fusiliers
Died on 5th April 1918 aged 44
Son of John Davies, DL JP, and Jane Davies, of Froodvale, Llanwrda, Carmarthenshire
He died as he lived
For others
Grave: XVII A 4
Private Christopher Carroll 9398
2nd Bn Royal Dublin Fusiliers
Died on 18th April 1916 aged 22
Son of Mr J Carroll, of 89 Upper Church St, Dublin
In memory of Christopher Kit Carroll
89 Upper Church Street Dublin
Killed in Action
18th April 1916
Placed by his great nephew
Joe Duffy
No mother's care did him attend
Nor did a father o'er him bend
No sister by to shed a tear
No brother his last words to hear
He dying in a foreign land
No father by to take his hand
No mother near to close his eyes
Far from his native land he dies
Born Dublin 1894, Died France 1916
The Royal Dublin Fusiliers
Grave: XIV A 8
Private Simeon Taylor 4420
4th Bn Leicestershire Regiment
Died on 9th August 1918 aged 17
Son of Mrs Elizabeth Taylor, of 3 Burley's Lane, Leicester
Grave: IV C 5
Private Alfred Jones 6071
112th Coy Machine Gun Corps
Died on 16th March 1916 aged 17
Son of William Jones, of 109 Croft Rd, Stockingford, Nuneaton
Grave: V A 1