Flatiron Copse Cemetery
Location
Flatiron Copse Cemetery is on the right hand side of D929, Amiens-Albert-Bapaume, 10 kilometres east of Albert. From Albert take the right turn at Y junction (102nd Infantry Brigade Memorial). It is located in the D20 just south-west of Bazentin-le-Petit. From the D929 turn south (signposted Bazentin) and on reaching the D20 T-junction turn right: the cemetery is green-signposted immediately.
The Cemetery is accessible by car. The track continues towards the 38th (Welsh) Divisional Memorial opposite Mametz Wood however I would suggest caution in anything other than very dry weather.
| GPS | N | E | OSM |
|---|---|---|---|
| Decimal | 50.019790 | 2.758416 | Map |
Historical Information
Flatiron Copse was the name given by the army to a small plantation a little to the east of Mametz Wood. The ground was taken by the 3rd and 7th Divisions on 14th July 1916 and an advanced dressing station was established at the copse. The cemetery was begun later that month and it remained in use until April 1917.
Two further burials were made in August 1918 and after the Armistice, more than 1,100 graves were brought in from the neighbouring battlefields and from smaller cemeteries, including :
- Caterpillar Cemetery, Montauban, in Caterpillar Wood. It contained the graves of 21 soldiers from the United Kingdom who fell in July 1916, and of whom 12 belonged to the 6th and 7th Gordons.
- Cross Roads Cemetery, Bazentin, near the cross-roads at the North end of Bazentin-le-Grand. Here were buried 15 soldiers from the United Kingdom and four from New Zealand, who fell in 1916-1917.
- Mametz Wood Cemetery, outside the Western edge of Mametz Wood, in which 18 soldiers from the United Kingdom were buried in 1916.
- Quadrangle Cemetery, Bazentin, between Bottom Wood and Mametz Wood, named from a small rectangular copse. Here were buried, in 1916, 32 soldiers from the United Kingdom and three from Australia, of whom 22 were artillerymen.
- Valley Cemetery, Montauban, between the Briqueterie and Maltzhorn Farm, in which 72 soldiers from the United Kingdom were buried in August and September 1916.
- Villa Wood Cemeteries No.1 and No.2, Contalmaison, near a small copse North of Mametz Wood. They contained the graves of 62 soldiers from the United Kingdom who fell in 1916.
Almost all the concentrated graves are those of men who died in the summer and autumn of 1916. There are now 1,572 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated in this cemetery. 420 of the burials are unidentified but there are special memorials to 36 casualties known or believed to be buried among them, and nine buried in Mametz Wood Cemetery whose graves were destroyed by shell fire.
The cemetery was designed by Sir Herbert Baker.
10523 Corporal Edward Dwyer VC
1st Bn East Surrey Regiment
Died on 3rd September 1916 aged 20
Holder of the Cross of St George (Russia)
Grave: III J 3
The London Gazette
21st May 1915
For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty at Hill 60 [In Belgium] on the 20th April 1915.
When his trench was heavily attacked by German grenade throwers he climbed on to the parapet, and, although subjected to a hail of bombs at close quarters, succeeded in dispersing the enemy by the effective use of his hand grenades.
Private Dwyer displayed great gallantry earlier on this day in leaving his trench, under heavy shell fire, to bandage his wounded comrades.
Private John Burns 17432
12th Bn West Yorkshire Regiment
Died on 15th July 1916 aged 31
Husband of Dora Burns
of 15, Inkerman, Tow Law, Co. Durham
Grave: XI H 4
Brothers within the cemetery
Rather unusually, there are three sets of brothers buried in the cemetery:
Henry and Thomas Hardwidge, Graves VIII F 5 and VIII F 6
Ernest and Herbert Philby, Graves I D 35 and I D 36
Arthur and Leonard Tregaskis, Graves VI G 1 and VI G 2
The Harwidge Brothers
Lance Corporal Henry Hardwidge 20649 and Corporal Thomas Hardwidge 26634
15th Bn Welch Regiment, both died on 11th July 1916