Laventie
Location
Laventie is a village and commune in the Department of the Pas-de-Calais. The cemetery is situated on the eastern outskirts of the town.
From Fromelles take the road out towards the Australian Memorial and VC Corner Cemetery, this will bring you out onto the main road : D 171. Turn left towards Neuve Chapelle. After a kilometr5e and just before the village of Fauquissart you will see a sign pointing towards the Cemetery off to your right on Rue Masselot.
| GPS | N | E | OSM |
|---|---|---|---|
| Decimal | 50.615584 | 2.794797 | Map |
Historical Information
The Deutsche Soldatenfriedhof at Laventie was created by German troops during the German offensive of April 1918 : the Battle of Armentières (Battle of the Lys in British terms). After the war, the French military authorities expanded the facility by adding another 360 German casualties from seven neighbouring areas.
The first work to improve the condition of the cemetery was led by the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge in 1927 within the guidelines of the 1926 agreement with the French military authorities. Numerous trees were planted but the problem of permanently marking the graves remained unresolved until after the second World War.
In 1971 the provisional wooden crosses were finally replaced with metal ones carrying the soldier’s name and date of death.
There are 1,978 burials in the cemetery, in individual graves. However, seventeen remain unknown. The graves of the eight Jewish soldiers were given a stèle made of natural stone.
Leutnant Hans Lohse
Died on 26th June 1918
Grave: 4/199
Sergeant Bernhard Leuferding
Died on 20th July 1918
Grave: 5/24