Location

Cambrai is a town about 32 kilometres south-east of Arras on the main straight road to Le Cateau. From the Cambrai inner ring road take the D942, Route de Solesmes, for approximately 1.5 kilometres to find the Cemetery on the right hand side of the road.

There are CWGC Panels indicating the way, but do not forget that this is in fact a German Military Cemetery so following the signs for that will also bring you here.

If asking the way you may well find that the locals will also refer to it as the German Cemetery.

Historical Information

Cambrai was occupied by German forces on 26 August 1914 and it remained in German hands until 9 October 1918.

The 1917 Battle of Cambrai (20 November to 3 December) brought the Allied line to within eight kilometres of the town on the south-west side, but German reinforcements held the line and recaptured much of the lost ground.

The fighting throughout this battle and the German offensive in the spring of 1918 greatly increased the size of the cemetery. Amongst its graves are a number of men from the famous Boelcke Flying Squadron.

The 1918 Battle of Cambrai, the last of the Battles of the Hindenburg Line, delivered the town into the hands of Commonwealth forces, though it was very severely damaged and the main square was still burning two days after the fight.

The Route de Solesmes German Military Cemetery was created in 1917 by the German Army and laid out with great care.

Within its grounds a number of memorials were erected to all the nations involved in the fighting: German, British and French.

Following the liberation of Cambrai, in October and November 1918 four Commonwealth casualty clearing stations were posted at Cambrai.

On 11 August 1918, as an inscription in the cemetery records, the Bavarian Commandant handed over to the town the care and maintenance of the cemetery.

The French greatly enlarged the cemetery over the next few years bringing in graves from other German cemeteries.

The entire cemetery contains 10 685 German soldiers, 6 Rumanians, 192 Russians and 502 Commonwealth.

CWGC

There are two Commonwealth plots of regrouped graves.

Plots are numbered I to VI, in the south-east corner, and Plot VII, near the north side, on the left of the entrance. Plots I to IV were made by Commonwealth troops after the capture of Cambrai.

Plots V and VI contain 69 graves brought from the battlefields east and south of the city, and Plot VII contains the graves of Commonwealth prisoners.

Plot VII - British Prisoners

The cemetery now contains 502 Commonwealth burials and commemorations of the First World War. 28 of the graves are unidentified but special memorials are erected to seven soldiers known to be buried among them.

Another special memorial commemorates a soldier buried by the Germans in Cauroir Communal Cemetery, whose grave could not be found. The Commonwealth plots were designed by Charles Holden.

Died 11 November 1918

There are a number of burials within the graveyard of soldiers who died of injuries (or the Spanish flu that was prevalent at the time) after the cessation of hostilities.

Private T Vaughan 11751 1st/4th Bn King's Shropshire Light Infantry
Who died on 11 November 1918

Private Archie Edward Mills, 25729, 1st Bn Hampshire Regiment
Who died on 11 November 1918. Aged 21
Son of Annie Malia Mills, of Bushy Down Cottages, Droxford, Hants, and the late Edward Mills. Born at Botley.

French Cemetery - Russian Plot

Cambrai East Cemetery is in fact a mixed cemetery containing graves of three of the major belligerents.

What at first appears to be a square of French crosses is at closer scrutiny a plot of mostly Russian soldiers from their Brigades who had been fighting with the French Army.

Russian Soldiers

The small statues showing the various helmets of the three armies were all erected during the German period. Each is in a sector belonging to one of the other armies.

A British Helmet in the Soldatenfriedhof

A German Helmet in Plot VII

The Soldatenfriedhof

The German Military Cemetery obviously forms the major part of Cambrai East with a large cross and texts in both French and German.

Following the Franco-German War Grave Agreement of 19 July 1966 the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge began work on the refurbishment of the hedges and plants.

In 1977 the replacement of the wooden crosses commenced with the use of stone markers. Rather unusually for their Military Cemeteries the stone is white.

Note the French and German Helmets

7 939 soldiers have their individual graves - though you will note that each grave marker invariably has at least two names on it.

There are also 242 unknown graves.

A mass grave contains the bodies of 2 746 of whom only 442 are known.

Amongst the crosses you will also find the graves of 26 Jewish soldiers.

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On 24 November 2007 one of Germany's missing: Soldier Josef Himmelreich, was buried 90 years to the day after he had died at Bourlon.

Josef Himmelreich