Sains les Marquion British Cemetery
Location
Sains-lès-Marquion is a village about 12 km north-west of Cambrai and 2 km south of the D939, Arras to Cambrai road. Sains-les-Marquion British Cemetery lies at the junction of the D15 and D16 roads, about 1.5 km from the centre of the village.
| GPS | N | E | OSM |
|---|---|---|---|
| Decimal | 50.19137 | 3.07775 | Map |
Historical Information
The village of Sains-lès-Marquion was captured by the 1st Canadian Division on 27th September 1918, and the cemetery was begun on the following day by the 3rd Canadian Infantry Brigade. It was used until the middle of October and was enlarged after the Armistice when graves were brought in from the surrounding battlefields and from Marquion Churchyard.
Sains-les-Marquion British Cemetery now contains 255 burials of the First World War.
The cemetery was designed by W C Von Berg.
Almost all of the burials are Canadians
Private James Young 2020825
7th Bn Canadian Infantry
Died on 27th September 1918
Grave: I D 19
Jim Vallance – song writer
In the early 1900’s my great-uncle Jim Young operated a grocery store at the corner of 22nd Avenue and Slocan Street in Vancouver. The store was a big responsibility, a one-man operation, so Jim didn’t enlist voluntarily when war broke out in 1914.
As the war dragged on and hundreds of thousands of allied soldiers perished in France, the need for replacements became desperate. In 1917 the Canadian government passed the Conscription Act, thus guaranteeing an uninterrupted supply of cannon fodder for the remainder of the war. Jim was drafted in January 1918. His younger sister Ethel (my grandmother) took over the store.
In February 1918 Jim Young left Vancouver by train, travelling across Canada to Halifax harbour. From there he sailed to England for training.
In June 1918 he joined the British Expeditionary Force in France and participated in some of the last great battles of the First World War.
On September 27, 1918, just a few weeks before the war ended, Jim Young was killed by German machine-gun fire during the crossing of the Canal du Nord.
In 1986 Jim Vallance collaborated with the Canadian singer Bryan Adams in writing a song entitled Remembrance Day which commemorates both James Young and Bryan Adams’s own grandfather.
In 1988 they were approached by the Canadian Ministry of National Defence, requesting permission to use their song in a video production to be played in schools across Canada each November 11th.
Remembrance Day
By October of ’18 Cambrai had fallen
Soon the war would be over and we’d be returnin’
Don’t forget me while I’m gone far away
Well it won’t be long ‘til I’m back there in your arms again
The guns will be silent
On Remembrance Day
There’ll be no more fighting
On Remembrance Day
Private Alvie Shepard 841865
14th Bn Canadian Infantry
Royal Montreal Regiment
Died on 28th September 1918 aged 20
Son of Elvira Carter
of Knowlton, P.Q.
Grave: I C 30
Private Ralph Reading 51376
11th Bn Manchester Regiment
Died on 27th September 1918 aged 34
Son of Frederick and Agnes Reading
Husband of May Reading
of 21, Freshfield Place, Brighton
Grave: I D 23
Private Percy Slade 407071
15th Bn Canadian Infantry
48th Highlanders of Canada
Died on 27th September 1918 aged 22
Grave: I C 13
Private John Brett 1045296
15th Bn Canadian Infantry
48th Highlanders of Canada
Died on 27th September 1918 aged 27
Son of William and Etta Brett
of 609, Chatham St. West, Windsor, Ontario.
Grave: I B 24
Private James Barker 678098
15th Bn Canadian Infantry
48th Highlanders of Canada
Died on 27th September 1918 aged 22
Son of Elizabeth Barker,
of 112 Durie Street, Toronto, Canada
Grave: I B 24
Lieutenant William Pearson
15th Bn Canadian Infantry
48th Highlanders of Canada
Died on 27th September 1918 aged 24
Son of Margaret Pearson
of 113, Hazelton Avenue, Toronto
and the late Elletson Pearson.
Grave: I B 3