Aubers Ridge British Cemetery
Location
Aubers is a village about 8 Km north of La Bassée and 3 Km north-west of the main road from La Bassée to Lille. From Aubers take the RD173 at the ‘T’ junction. Turn left towards Fromelles and continue 500 metres to the next junction. Turn right towards Herlies and follow the road for 500 metres when the Cemetery can be found on the left hand side.
| GPS | N | E | OSM |
|---|---|---|---|
| Decimal | 50.58934 | 2.83641 | Map |
Historical Information
Aubers village was taken by the 9th Brigade on the 17th October 1914, with Herlies and part of the Ridge, and on the 19th the 2nd Royal Irish took Le Pilly. These gains, however, were lost within a few days, and the Ridge, in spite of repeated attacks, was not captured by British forces for three years.
Early in October 1918, it was secured by the 47th (London) Division.
The cemetery was made after the Armistice, by the concentration of graves from the battlefields on all sides of Aubers and the following smaller burial grounds.
Château-du-Flandre British Cemetery, Beaucamps, at the Eastern exit of the great park between Beaucamps and Radinghem. Here were buried 17 men of the 47th (London) Division, who fell in the occupation of Beaucamps on the 4th October 1918, or immediately after it.
Winchester Post Military Cemetery, Rue-du-Bacquerot, Laventie, on the East side of Winchester Road, which lead from the Rue-du-Bacquerot to Mauquissart. This was one of the many cemeteries made by Indian Corps behind the line from Neuve-Chapelle North-Eastwards. It stood in front of a farm building (Winchester Post) used as a Dressing Station and Battalion Headquarters. It contained the graves of 120 soldiers from the United Kingdom and one German prisoner, in two plots. It was begun by the 2nd Devons in November 1914, and used until February 1916; and three graves were added in 1918.
Plot I of Aubers Ridge British Cemetery consists almost entirely of the graves of unidentified Australian soldiers, killed in the Attack at Fromelles on the 19th-20th July 1916, and Plot II almost entirely of the graves of soldiers of the 61st (South Midland) Division, killed in the same engagement.
The succeeding Plots cover also the fighting in October 1914 (the Battles of La Bassée and Armentières); the Battle of Neuve-Chapelle (March 1915); the Battles of Aubers Ridge and Festubert (May 1915); and the final advance in October 1916.
The last graves (from Winchester Post Military Cemetery) were brought here in 1925.
There are now over 700, 1914-18 and a small number of 1939-45 war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these, nearly 450 from the 1914-18 War are unidentified and a special memorial is erected to one soldier from the United Kingdom who is believed to be buried among them.
The cemetery covers an area of 2 476 square metres and is enclosed by a low curb.
Private A Quick 8601
2nd Bn Devonshire Regiment
Died on 27th November 1914
Grave: VII A 4
Guardsman John Sullivan 7574
2nd Bn Irish Guards
Died on 14th February 1916 aged 31
Son of Cornelius Sullivan
of Dromlickacrue, Kealkill, Bantry, Co. Cork
Grave: VII A 7
Rifleman T Lawrence S/13201
12th Bn Rifle Brigade
Died on 4th November 1915 aged 17
Son of G and Harriet Lawrence
of 6, Moorland Terrace, Delph, Oldham
Grave: VIII B 5
Rifleman E Pearce 2778
7th Bn West Yorkshire Regiment
Prince of Wales’s Own
Died on 7th May 1915 aged 17
Son of Edward and Rosa Pearce
of 13, Canvas St., Holbeck, Leeds
Native of Norfolk
Grave: V C 18
Private James Thomas 3482
58th Bn Australian Infantry
Died on 19th July 1916 aged 17
Son of William and Annie Thomas
of 88, Yarra St, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
Grave: IV B 9
Private J Pomery 2118
1/5th Bn Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry
Died on 19th July 1916 aged 20
Nephew of Mrs T Sweet
of Poole Cottage, Mount, Bodmin, Cornwall
Grave: III C 19
Pilot Officer Jozef Bondar
303 (Kosciuszko) Squadron
Royal Air Force
Died on 28th June 1941 aged 24
Grave: VI G 2
There is a memorial plaque at the scene of his crash near Neuve Chapelle