Maroeuil Military Cemeteries
Location
Maroeuil is a village in the Department of the Pas-de-Calais, six kilometres north-west of Arras, between the roads to Mont St Éloi and Aubigny.
The Communal Cemetery is north of the village on a small road (rue du Fresnoy) leading to the D341. The Commission plot is in the old part of the cemetery, accessible from the road.
Immediately next to it is an important as well as interesting French Military Cemetery.
| GPS | N | E | OSM |
|---|---|---|---|
| Decimal | 50.32877 | 2.70660 | Map |
Historical Information
There are now nearly forty, 1939-45 war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these, a small number are unidentified and three, whose graves in the cemetery could not be precisely located, are commemorated by special memorials inscribed Buried near this spot.
I have photographs of all the graves. I believe that all the burials are from the Northamptonshire Regiment.
Private Hayden Jones 5884711
2nd Bn Northamptonshire Regiment
Died on 23rd May 1940 aged 17
Son of Thomas and Margaret Jones, of St. Neots, Huntingdonshire
Grave: 30
Private George Gamble 5887330
2nd Bn Northamptonshire Regiment
Died between 10th-31st May 1940 aged 21
Son of William and Mary Gamble, of Northampton
Grave: 14
Private Samuel Percival 5884996
2nd Bn Northamptonshire Regiment
Died on 23rd May 1940 aged 21
Grave: 16
Private Cyril Walker 5882955
2nd Bn Northamptonshire Regiment
Died on 23rd May 1940 aged 26
Son of George and Lydia Walker, of
Courtenhall, Northamptonshire
Grave: 26
The French Military Cemetery
The French Military Cemetery and monument
The French Nécropole Nationale de Maroeuil covers an area of 2,200 square metres and contains the remains of 585 French soldiers from the First World War in individual graves.
It was created during the course of the war.
Within the cemetery you will also find the monument erected in honour of the soldiers from the 156e and 160e Régiments d’Infanterie.
It was inaugurated on the 11th May 1919 and financed by the parents of Commandant Georges Lillemann who had been killed at La Targette on the 9th May 1915. (A Commandant is more or less a Major but such a rank would command one of the three battalions in the regiment).
There are approximately 150 officers and men remembered on the monument. Some of them are buried within the cemetery the Commandant Lillemann lies in Row 2 Grave 109.
To the memory of Commandant Lillemann and his companions in arms. Heroes of the fields of honour in Lorraine and Artois
Lillemann, Georges Modèste, Chevalier of the Légion d’honneur, twice mentioned in dispatches. Battalion commander of the 156e Régiment d’Infanterie.
An officer of great valour and uncommon energy. Made his battalion within his six months of command a unit of the highest order. Leading his men against the German trenches on the 9th May he was fatally injured by a head wound at the age of 43.
Official Dispatch 2nd August 1915
Lilleman’s inscription
Two sons of Général Louis d’Armau de Pouydraguin
Sous Lieutenant
Jacques d’Armau de Pouydraguin
37e Régiment d’Infanterie
Born on 27th August 1889
Died on 12th May 1915 aged 25
Killed at Neuville St Vaast
Grave: Row 1 Grave 2
A third brother; Jean, a Lieutenant with the 28e Bataillon de Chasseurs Alpins survived the war — as did the Général himself.
The father commanded the 47e Division d’Infanterie (Known as the Blue Division — because it was made up of Alpine Light Infantry, who wore blue uniforms) between the 26th March 1915 until 1917. One of the houses in the Cité des Mutilés at Neuville St Vaast is named after the family.
Sous Lieutenant
Augustin d’Armau de Pouydraguin
26e Régiment d’Infanterie
Born on the 14th March 1896
Died on 9th May 1915 aged 19
Killed at Neuville St Vaast
Grave: Row 1 Grave 3
It is interesting that the family wished that their two sons remained on the battlefield. The French had the right to recover their war dead if they so wished and a large proportion did so.