Adelaide Cemetery
Location
Villers-Bretonneux is a town 16 km east of Amiens and the Cemetery is situated west of the village on the north side of the main road from Amiens to St. Quentin.
| GPS | N | E | OSM |
|---|---|---|---|
| Decimal | 49.87106 | 2.49806 | Map |
Historical Information
Villers-Bretonneux became famous in 1918, when the German advance on Amiens ended in the capture of the village by their tanks and infantry on 23rd April.
On the following day, the 4th and 5th Australian Divisions, with units of the 8th and 18th Divisions, recaptured the whole of the village and on 8th August 1918, the 2nd and 5th Australian Divisions advanced from its eastern outskirts in the Battle of Amiens.
Adelaide Cemetery was begun early in June 1918 and used by the 2nd and 3rd Australian Divisions. It continued in use until the Allies began their advance in mid August, by which time it contained 90 graves (the greater part of the present Plot I, Rows A to E).
After the Armistice a large number of graves were brought into the cemetery from small graveyards and isolated positions on the north, west and south of Villers-Bretonneux and they were, without exception, those of men who died in the months from March to September 1918.
They included:-
Cachy British Cemetery, on the North-Western outskirts of the village of Cachy, contained the graves of 2 British soldiers who fell in March, 1918, and 10 Canadians who fell in August.
Chalk Lane Cemetery, Villers-Bretonneux, 100 metres from Adelaide Cemetery, used in April and May, 1918, and contained the graves of 14 soldiers from the United Kingdom and 10 from Australia.
Embankment Cemetery, Villers-Bretonneux, which was used by the 4th Australian and 2nd Australian Divisions from the end of April to July, 1918. It contained the graves of 37 Australian soldiers and 1 British airman. It was a little West of Adelaide Cemetery, beside the railway and behind a Dressing Station.
White Château Cemetery, Cachy, between L’Abbé Wood and the railway, 500 metres West of Adelaide Cemetery. It was used from April to August, 1918, and it contained the graves of 23 soldiers from Australia, 9 from the United Kingdom and 2 from Canada.
Plot I was filled, Plot II was made almost entirely with graves from United Kingdom units, and Plot III almost entirely with Australian.
There are now 955 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated in this cemetery. 261 of the burials are unidentified but there are special memorials to four casualties known, or believed to be buried among them.
The cemetery was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.
Australia’s Unknown Soldier
On 2nd November 1993, following a request by the government of Australia, an unknown Australian soldier killed in the First World War was exhumed and is now buried in the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
Grave: III M 13
Private Laurance Harrison 928754
18th Bn Canadian Infantry
Died on 8th August 1918 aged 18
Son of Mr and Mrs H Harrison
of Acton, Ontario
Grave: II G 18
John Corfian
Served as
Private Frank Smith 3377
33rd Bn Australian Infantry
Died on 31st March 1918 aged 17
Son of Speer and Mary Corfian
of 24, Kiaman St., Coogee, New South Wales
Born Strathfield, New South Wales
Grave: III M 22
Private Charles Harrison 3876
51st Bn Australian Infantry
Died on 24th April 1918 aged 17
Son of William and Rebecca Harrison
of 132, Moray St., South Melbourne, Victoria.
Born Horsham, Victoria, Australia
Grave: III J 9
Lt Colonel Stephen Latham DSO, MC and Bar
2nd Bn Northamptonshire Regiment
Died on 24th April 1918 aged 46
Son of William Latham, K.C.
Husband of Florence Latham
of 11, Rue de la Prefecture, Nice
Grave: II G 13