CAMBRAI EAST MILITARY CEMETERY
Nord
France
GPS Coordinates: Latitude: 50.17885, Longitude: 3.26084
Picture © Johan Pauwels
Location Information
Cambrai is a town about 32 kilometres south-east of Arras on the main straight road to Le Cateau.
From the Cambrai inner ring road take the D942, Solesmes road, for approximately 1.5 kilometres to find the Cemetery on the right hand side of the road.
Historical Information
Cambrai was occupied by German forces on 26 August 1914 and it remained in German hands until 9 October 1918.
The 1917 Battle of Cambrai (20 November to 3 December) left the Allied line still eight kilometres from the city on the south-west side, and the German offensive of March 1918, drove it far to the west, but the 1918 Battle of Cambrai, the last of the Battles of the Hindenburg Line, delivered the city into the hands of Commonwealth forces, though it was very severely damaged and the main square was still burning two days after the fight. Two Casualty Clearing Stations were later posted to the town, 30 CCS in October 1918 and 22 CCS in November 1918.
Cambrai East Military Cemetery was made by the Germans during their occupation and laid out with the greatest care, with monuments erected in it to the French, Commonwealth and German dead. On 11 August 1918, as an inscription in the cemetery records, the Bavarian Commandant handed over to the city the care and maintenance of the cemetery.
The graves have now been regrouped. The Commonwealth Plots are numbered I to VI, in the south-east corner, and Plot VII, near the north side, on the left of the entrance. Plots I to IV were made by Commonwealth troops after the capture of Cambrai. Plots V and VI contain 69 graves brought from the battlefields east and south of the city, and Plot VII contains the graves of Commonwealth prisoners.
The cemetery now contains 501 Commonwealth burials and commemorations of the First World War. 28 of the graves are unidentified but special memorials are erected to seven soldiers kown to be buried among them. Another special memorial commemorates a soldier buried by the Germans in CAUROIR COMMUNAL CEMETERY, whose grave could not be found.
Cambrai German Military Cemetery contains 10,685 German burials from World War One. The cemetery also contains 192 Russian soldiers and 6 Romanian soldiers.
Total Burials: 501.
Identified Casualties: United Kingdom 456, Canada 14, New Zealand 3, Germany 1. Total 474.
The Commonwealth plots were designed by Charles Holden and W. C. Von Berg,
Images in this gallery © Johan Pauwels
43583 Private
Harry Buck
1st Bn. North Staffordshire Regiment
15th October 1918, aged 33.
Plot I. A. 8.
Son of Mr & Mrs Buck, 6 Back Halifax Road, Haggate, Burnley.
Harry was a part-time carter and also worked at Catlow Quarry. He was a widower and his death left his 11 year old daughter, Doris, an orphan.
Harry Buck
1st Bn. North Staffordshire Regiment
15th October 1918, aged 33.
Plot I. A. 8.
Son of Mr & Mrs Buck, 6 Back Halifax Road, Haggate, Burnley.
Harry was a part-time carter and also worked at Catlow Quarry. He was a widower and his death left his 11 year old daughter, Doris, an orphan.
Lieutenant
Lloyd Elsley
Canadian Infantry Regimental Depot, (Central Ontario). attd. 23rd Sqdn. Royal Flying Corps
5th April 1917, aged 21.
Plot VII. A. 48.
Son of David W. and Helen W. Elsley, of Stony Creek, Ontario. Born at Galt, Ontario.
Lloyd Elsley
Canadian Infantry Regimental Depot, (Central Ontario). attd. 23rd Sqdn. Royal Flying Corps
5th April 1917, aged 21.
Plot VII. A. 48.
Son of David W. and Helen W. Elsley, of Stony Creek, Ontario. Born at Galt, Ontario.
341064 Bombardier
Harold Gilray Hunter
9th Heavy Bty. Canadian Field Artillery
3rd November 1918, aged 20.
Plot II. A.32.
Son of William James and Josephine Hunter, of Brampton, Ontario.
Harold Gilray Hunter
9th Heavy Bty. Canadian Field Artillery
3rd November 1918, aged 20.
Plot II. A.32.
Son of William James and Josephine Hunter, of Brampton, Ontario.
10370 Serjeant
Herbert Latimer Midgley, M. M.
New Zealand Cyclist Battalion
7th November 1918, aged 23.
Plot II. B. 20.
Son of Edmund Sage Midgley and Ellen Midgley, of Hobsonville, Auckland, New Zealand. Also served in Egypt.
Herbert Latimer Midgley, M. M.
New Zealand Cyclist Battalion
7th November 1918, aged 23.
Plot II. B. 20.
Son of Edmund Sage Midgley and Ellen Midgley, of Hobsonville, Auckland, New Zealand. Also served in Egypt.
13761 Private
Walter Scott
2nd Bn. East Lancashire Regiment
25th August 1918, aged 39.
Plot VII. B. 19.
Son of Frederick Scott; Husband of Elizabeth Scott, of 10, Foulridge St., Burnley.
Newspaper reports give Walter's age at death as 40 and the CWGC lists it as 38, he was born in March 1879, so was actually 39. He was my 1st cousin, 3 times removed, the son of Frederick and Esther Scott originally of St. Clement, Truro, Cornwall but who moved to Burnley in the 1870's to find work. Walter and his wife, Elizabeth had 5 girls, Esther, Lily, Maria, Lizzie and Janet, they also had 2 children stillborn.
A member of the Militia, he volunteered on September 9th 1914. He had worked at the Burnley Brick & Lime Company prior to enlisting.
Remembered by Brent Whittam, 1st cousin, 3 times removed
Walter Scott
2nd Bn. East Lancashire Regiment
25th August 1918, aged 39.
Plot VII. B. 19.
Son of Frederick Scott; Husband of Elizabeth Scott, of 10, Foulridge St., Burnley.
Newspaper reports give Walter's age at death as 40 and the CWGC lists it as 38, he was born in March 1879, so was actually 39. He was my 1st cousin, 3 times removed, the son of Frederick and Esther Scott originally of St. Clement, Truro, Cornwall but who moved to Burnley in the 1870's to find work. Walter and his wife, Elizabeth had 5 girls, Esther, Lily, Maria, Lizzie and Janet, they also had 2 children stillborn.
A member of the Militia, he volunteered on September 9th 1914. He had worked at the Burnley Brick & Lime Company prior to enlisting.
Remembered by Brent Whittam, 1st cousin, 3 times removed
21067 Private
Edward Shiel
2nd Bn. Royal Dublin Fusiliers
3rd July 1918, aged 29.
Plot VII. A. 12.
Son of John Shiel, of Castleroe, Maganey, Co. Kildare.
Edward Shiel
2nd Bn. Royal Dublin Fusiliers
3rd July 1918, aged 29.
Plot VII. A. 12.
Son of John Shiel, of Castleroe, Maganey, Co. Kildare.
276315 Private
Byron Wilfred Walker
46th Bn. Canadian Infantry
3rd November 1918, aged 21.
Plot I. B. 32.
Son of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas A. Walker, of Bellamy, Ontario.
Byron Wilfred Walker
46th Bn. Canadian Infantry
3rd November 1918, aged 21.
Plot I. B. 32.
Son of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas A. Walker, of Bellamy, Ontario.
Captain
Herman James Lindale Willink
1st/6th Bn. Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment)
5th November 1918, aged 32.
Plot II. B. 4.
Son of Arthur and Margaret Willink; husband of Mary E. Willink, of Endmoor, Kendal.
Herman James Lindale Willink
1st/6th Bn. Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment)
5th November 1918, aged 32.
Plot II. B. 4.
Son of Arthur and Margaret Willink; husband of Mary E. Willink, of Endmoor, Kendal.
200576 Serjeant
George William Winter
1st/5th Bn. West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own)
3rd November 1918, aged 23.
Plot I. B. 48.
Husband of Florence Winter, of 41, Dixon Terrace, Harrogate.
George William Winter
1st/5th Bn. West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own)
3rd November 1918, aged 23.
Plot I. B. 48.
Husband of Florence Winter, of 41, Dixon Terrace, Harrogate.
Lieutenant
Leslie Young
25th Sqn. Royal Air Force
4th October 1918, aged 19.
Plot I. A. 4.
Son of Laura Young, of "Cashbrook," 4, Richmond Gardens, Highfield, Southampton, and the late Christopher Young.
Leslie Young
25th Sqn. Royal Air Force
4th October 1918, aged 19.
Plot I. A. 4.
Son of Laura Young, of "Cashbrook," 4, Richmond Gardens, Highfield, Southampton, and the late Christopher Young.
Capture of Cambrai by the British 57th Division. Soldiers of the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment wearing pickelhaubes which they found whilst on patrol in Cambrai, 9 October 1918. © IWM (Q 11367)
