AUBIGNY COMMUNAL CEMETERY EXTENSION
Pas De Calais
France
GPS Coordinates: Latitude: 50.34827, Longitude: 2.58997
Roll of Honour
Listed by Surname
Location Information
Aubigny-en-Artois is a village approximately 15 Kms north-west of Arras on the road (N39) to St. Pol.
From the N39 turn onto the D75 towards the village of Aubigny-en-Artois. The Cemetery lies south on a road leading from the centre of the village, and the Extension is behind it.
Visiting Information
Wheelchair access through the main entrance to this cemetery is not possible. However, alternative access is by means of an alternative entrance. This entrance is found at the side, towards the back of the cemetery, however, visitors should be aware that this entrance is via a slope.
Historical Information
Before March, 1916, Aubigny was in the area of the French Tenth Army, and 327 French soldiers were buried in the Extension to the West of what is now Plot IV. From March 1916 to the Armistice, Aubigny was held by Commonwealth troops and burials were made in the Extension until September 1918. The 42nd Casualty Clearing Station buried in it during the whole period, the 30th in 1916 and 1917, the 24th and 1st Canadian in 1917 (during the capture of Vimy Ridge by the Canadian Corps) and the 57th in 1918.
The Extension now contains 2,771 Commonwealth burials of the First World War and seven from the Second World War. There are also 227 French burials made prior to March 1916, and 64 German war graves.
Total Burials: 3,067.
Commonwealth World War One Identified Casualties: United Kingdom 2049, Canada 666, South Africa 50, Australia 4, New Zealand 2. Total 2,771.
Other Casualties: France 227, Germany 64.
World War Two Identified Casualties: United Kingdom 7. Total 7.
The extension was designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield and Arthur James Scott Hutton
Dedications
15287 Lance Corporal Alfred James Moffatt, 7th/8th Bn. King's Own Scottish Borderers, 30th June 1918 aged 23. Son of Mr & Mrs Robert Moffatt, of Carlisle, Cumberland
Remembered by Glynis Tuke
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410935 Private, Claude Joseph Patrick Nunney, V. C., D. C. M., M. M.
38th Bn. Canadian Infantry (Eastern Ontario Regiment).
Died of wounds 18th September 1918, aged 25.
Plot IV. B. 39.
Citation:
An extract from the "London Gazette" Supplement (No. 31067, of 13th Dec., 1918) records the following:-"For most conspicuous bravery during the operations against the Drocourt-Queant line on Sept. 1st and 2nd, 1918. On Sept. 1st, when his battalion was in the vicinity of Vis-en-Artois, preparatory to the advance, the enemy laid down a heavy barrage and counter-attacked. Pte. Nunney, who was at this time at company headquarters, immediately on his own initiative proceeded through the barrage to the company outpost lines, going from post to post and encouraging the men by his own fearless example. The enemy were repulsed and a critical situation was saved. During the attack on Sept. 2nd, his dash continually placed him in advance of his companions, and his fearless example undoubtedly helped greatly to carry the company forward to its objectives."
Who was Claude Nunney?
There has been some debate as to Nunney's origins. Whilst Nunney himself stated he was born in Dublin, Ireland, it is claimed he was actually born in Hastings, England as Stephen Sargent Claude Nunney. Also it is claimed that Nunney did not become a Canadian citizen by naturalization process, but by becoming part of a child emigration scheme known as British Home Children.
Dave Lorente, (Homechildren Canada,) wrote the following article on Claude:
"It is interesting to speculate how Claude Nunney would answer, were he alive today and asked to give his first names, DOB and birthplace, because for some unknown reason or reasons he knowingly or unwittingly gave false information when he joined up in World War I. Perhaps it was because, like so many other Home Children, he had lost his baptismal record and/or birth certificate. His birth certificate shows he was actually born in Hastings, England - not in Dublin as his military Attestation papers show. Nor was he Irish...and his name was not Claude Joseph Patrick Nunney as he stated but Stephen Sargent Claude Nunney' - the 'Sargent' being his mother's maiden name. His birth date was also wrong and he came to Canada as Stephen - not Claude. All that said, none of it detracts in any way from the brave things he did during World War I when he became one of 'Canada's Magnificent Seven' and won the former Empire and Commonwealth's highest award for bravery in the ranks."
