CAMBRAI GERMAN MILITARY CEMETERY
Nord
France
GPS Coordinates: Latitude: 50.17885, Longitude: 3.26084
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 German Military Cemetery on the right hand side of the road.
Historical Information
Cambrai German Military Cemetery contains 10,685 German burials from World War One. The cemetery also contains 192 Russian soldiers and 6 Romanian soldiers.
Situated on the "Route de Solesmes, Cambrai, the cemetery contains 10,685 German war dead, 502 British, 192 Russian and 6 Romanian fallen from the First World War over two burial grounds.
Of the 10,685 German fallen, 7,939 rest in individual graves. 242 of them remained unknown. 2,746 victims are buried in the communal grave. Only 442 are known by name. The 26 graves of fallen Jewish faith received a marker of natural stone instead of the cross for religious reasons.
History
The German military cemetery at Cambrai was established by the German troops in March 1917, after the original cemetery at the Porte-de-Paris was closed. Cambrai was then the centre of military command posts, supplies and a military hospital. Here, wounded Germans, Frenchmen and Englishmen were treated equally. Those who died received a grave in the new war cemetery.
Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Kreis - architect and 1919 co-founder of the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e. V. – designed the monument in 1917, which is still stands overlooking the cemetery today. Other small monuments were also erected.
The number of burials increased with the battles of Arras in April 1917 and the British attack on Cambrai in November with the first mass deployment of armoured fighting vehicles, and the counterattack in December 1917. The German offensive in March 1918 and the defensive battles in September and October 1918 also claimed many victims.
Those resting in Cambrai belonged to troops whose home regiments were in almost all areas and provinces in the then German Empire. Members of the "Jagdstaffel Boelke", which was stationed in Cambrai for some time, also rest in the cemetery. Some of the 1918 fallen belonged to troops that first appeared on the German side at that time: Heavy Battle Waggon-Abt.15, Panzerwagen-Abt.11, Marineinf.-Regimenter 1 to 3.
The French military authorities expanded the cemetery in the years 1921 to 1924 by burying German war dead who had previously been buried in the region in civilian and in temporary field cemeteries or whose remains were later found in the battlefields. As a result, fallen from the years 1914 to 1916 were interred at Cambrai.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission designed the British burial grounds with specially designed headstones and cross of sacrifice.
The Volksbund carried out the first work to improve the condition of the cemetery in the 1930s. The basis was an agreement with the French military authorities of 1926. The problem of permanent identification of the graves due to the lack of agreement and the Second World War from 1939 remained unresolved.
In July 1966, the Volksbund – financially supported by the Federal Government – began with the final design of the German military cemeteries in France. The entire burial area was horticulturally renovated and landscaped..
From 1977, the Volksbund exchanged the previous grave markers made of concrete and wood for crosses made of natural stone with engraved names and dates of death.
In September 2023, UNESCO declared 139 Cemeteries of the First World War World Heritage Sites. 24 German graves are in the care of the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e.V. - Cambrai is one of them.
Above translated from - https://www.volksbund.de/
Cambrai East Military Cemetery is located within the German cemetery and contains 501 Commonwealth burials.
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 German Military Cemetery on the right hand side of the road.
Historical Information
Cambrai German Military Cemetery contains 10,685 German burials from World War One. The cemetery also contains 192 Russian soldiers and 6 Romanian soldiers.
Situated on the "Route de Solesmes, Cambrai, the cemetery contains 10,685 German war dead, 502 British, 192 Russian and 6 Romanian fallen from the First World War over two burial grounds.
Of the 10,685 German fallen, 7,939 rest in individual graves. 242 of them remained unknown. 2,746 victims are buried in the communal grave. Only 442 are known by name. The 26 graves of fallen Jewish faith received a marker of natural stone instead of the cross for religious reasons.
History
The German military cemetery at Cambrai was established by the German troops in March 1917, after the original cemetery at the Porte-de-Paris was closed. Cambrai was then the centre of military command posts, supplies and a military hospital. Here, wounded Germans, Frenchmen and Englishmen were treated equally. Those who died received a grave in the new war cemetery.
Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Kreis - architect and 1919 co-founder of the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e. V. – designed the monument in 1917, which is still stands overlooking the cemetery today. Other small monuments were also erected.
The number of burials increased with the battles of Arras in April 1917 and the British attack on Cambrai in November with the first mass deployment of armoured fighting vehicles, and the counterattack in December 1917. The German offensive in March 1918 and the defensive battles in September and October 1918 also claimed many victims.
Those resting in Cambrai belonged to troops whose home regiments were in almost all areas and provinces in the then German Empire. Members of the "Jagdstaffel Boelke", which was stationed in Cambrai for some time, also rest in the cemetery. Some of the 1918 fallen belonged to troops that first appeared on the German side at that time: Heavy Battle Waggon-Abt.15, Panzerwagen-Abt.11, Marineinf.-Regimenter 1 to 3.
The French military authorities expanded the cemetery in the years 1921 to 1924 by burying German war dead who had previously been buried in the region in civilian and in temporary field cemeteries or whose remains were later found in the battlefields. As a result, fallen from the years 1914 to 1916 were interred at Cambrai.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission designed the British burial grounds with specially designed headstones and cross of sacrifice.
The Volksbund carried out the first work to improve the condition of the cemetery in the 1930s. The basis was an agreement with the French military authorities of 1926. The problem of permanent identification of the graves due to the lack of agreement and the Second World War from 1939 remained unresolved.
In July 1966, the Volksbund – financially supported by the Federal Government – began with the final design of the German military cemeteries in France. The entire burial area was horticulturally renovated and landscaped..
From 1977, the Volksbund exchanged the previous grave markers made of concrete and wood for crosses made of natural stone with engraved names and dates of death.
In September 2023, UNESCO declared 139 Cemeteries of the First World War World Heritage Sites. 24 German graves are in the care of the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e.V. - Cambrai is one of them.
Above translated from - https://www.volksbund.de/
Cambrai East Military Cemetery is located within the German cemetery and contains 501 Commonwealth burials.
Images in this gallery © Johan Pauwels
Knocked out Brititish tanks of C and H Battalions of the Tank Corps in German hands near Cambrai. The tank in the background holds a serial number C53. © IWM (Q 67594)
c.1920 - ©CWGC
c.1920 - ©CWGC
c.1920 - ©CWGC
c.1920 - ©CWGC
c.1920 - ©CWGC
c.1920 - ©CWGC
c.1920 - ©CWGC
c.1920 - ©CWGC
