Loos British Cemetery
Location
Loos (Loos-en-Gohelle) is a village to the north of the road from Lens to Béthune. From Lens, take the N43 towards Béthune. Arriving at Loos, turn right at CWGC sign post. The cemetery is about 1 kilometre from Loos Church in the southern part of the village.
Loos is pronounced more like Loss than Loose.
| GPS | N | E | OSM |
|---|---|---|---|
| Decimal | 50.451629 | 2.798451 | Map |
Historical Information
The village has given its name to the battle of the 25th September – 8th October 1915, in which it was captured from the Germans by the 15th (Scottish) and 47th (London) Divisions, and defended by French troops on the 8th October.
The main Battle of Loos commemoration was held here in 2015.
The cemetery was begun by the Canadian Corps in July 1917, and the graves then made are contained in Rows A and B of Plot I and Row A of Plot II. The remainder of the cemetery was formed after the Armistice by the concentration of graves from the battlefields and smaller cemeteries over a wide area North and East of the village, including:-
- Barts Alley Cemetery, Vermelles, about 1 kilometre North-East of the village, named from a communication trench in which a Dressing Station was established. It contained the graves of 38 soldiers from the United Kingdom, who fell, for the most part, in the Battle of Loos.
- Caldron Military Cemetery (Red Mill), in the Southern part of the town of Liévin, in which were buried 85 soldiers from the United Kingdom (mainly of the 46th (North Midland) Division), 38 from Canada and one German.
- Cite Calonne Military Cemetery, Liévin, in the middle of a mining village between Grenay and Liévin. The cemetery was begun by French troops and used by the British from March, 1916, onwards. It contained the graves of 207 soldiers from the United Kingdom, five from Canada, 130 French and six German.
- Corkscrew Cemetery, Loos, which was close to the mine known as Fosse II. It contained the graves of 168 soldiers from the United Kingdom and 38 from Canada.
- Courcelles-Les-Lens Communal Cemetery, in which 19 soldiers and one airman from the United Kingdom, mainly of the 12th (Eastern) Division, were buried in October, 1918.
- Liévin Station Cemetery, on the North-West side of the railway station, used in 1917 and containing the graves of 48 soldiers from the United Kingdom (almost all of the 46th (North Midland) Division) and 12 from Canada.
- Loos (Fort Glatz) German Cemetery, named from a German strong point at the North-West corner of the village, and containing the graves of three soldiers from the United Kingdom who fell in the summer of 1915.
The great majority of the soldiers buried here fell in the Battle of Loos.
There are nearly 3,000, 1914-18 and a small number of 1939-45 war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these, two-thirds from the 1914-18 are unidentified and special memorials are erected to two soldiers from the United Kingdom and four from Canada who are known or believed to be buried among them. Other special memorials record the names of 44 soldiers from Canada and 12 from the United Kingdom, buried in other cemeteries, whose graves were destroyed by shell fire.
The cemetery covers an area of 11,364 square metres and is enclosed by a rubble wall.
In 2010 twenty British soldiers were recovered on Hill 70 during excavations. They were laid to rest in this cemetery on 14th March 2014.
Lance Corporal John Brown S/12807
6th Bn Cameron Highlanders
Died on 26th September 1915 aged 20
Son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Brown
of Heathdale, Elvanfoot, Lanarkshire
Grave: XVIII G 29
Our Scottish soldier
At last at rest
Among friends
John Brown’s body was one of two Cameron Highlanders discovered in July 2001 in the area of the Cora Supermarket at Loos. The order of battle showed that it would have been the 6th Bn Cameron Highlanders who had fought in the area in 1915.
Although his ID Tag was not recovered, a fountain pen with the words: Postman’s Gazette embossed on it, was found on his body.
Research revealed that this had been an official publication of the Post Office up until 1919. War time copies had included a Roll of Honour for those ex-postmen who had fallen in combat and a comparison of the Roll of Honour and the 6th Cameron Highlanders’ missing showed a match.
Lance Corporal John Young Brown S/12807, who had, apparently, been a postman at Giffnock, near Glasgow.
It took a lot more than that though to convince the authorities that the body recovered was indeed John Brown — on 20th October 2004 he was finally laid to rest with full military honours alongside his unidentified compatriot.
For more details please the article under Loos Heroes on the web site of “Loos, Sur les traces de la Grande Guerre” an association which also runs the local museum.
Private Peter Flavin 10433
2nd Bn Royal Munster Fusiliers
Died on 13th June 1916 aged 16
Son of Edward and Nora Flavin
of Charles St., Listowel, Co. Kerry
Grave: XVIII D 24
Private Hector Hache 715511
87th Bn Canadian Infantry
Died on 15th August 1917 aged 28
Grave: V F 17