Contalmaison Chateau Cemetery, Somme, France (CWGC)

CONTALMAISON CHATEAU CEMETERY

Somme

France

GPS Coordinates - Latitude: 50.02437, Longitude: 2.73026

Location Information

Contalmaison is a village about 6 kilometres north-east of the town of Albert and south of the main road from Albert to Bapaume. The Cemetery is on the northern side of the village.

Visiting Information

Wheelchair access is possible with some difficulty.

Historical Information

The village was reached on the 1st July, 1916, by small parties of the 34th Division. It was stormed by the 23rd Division on the 7th July, and some men of the Northumberland Fusiliers taken four days earlier were released; but it was lost the same afternoon. It was not finally captured until the 8th and 9th Yorkshire Regiment cleared it on the 10th. However, it was lost again in March, 1918, and recaptured by the 38th (Welsh) Division on the evening of the following 24th August. The underground fortifications made by the enemy before 1916 played an important part in the defence of the village.

The cemetery was begun by fighting units on the evening of the 14th July, 1916, and used from September, 1916 to March, 1917 by Field Ambulances. A few burials were made in Plot I, Rows B and C, in August and September, 1918. Graves were added after the Armistice by concentrations from the battlefields of the Somme and the Ancre. 18 German graves and one French were removed to other burial grounds.

There are 244, 1914-18 war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these, 44 are unidentified and a special memorial is erected to one soldier from Australia known to be buried among them.

The cemetery covers an area of 1,349 square metres and is enclosed by a flint and rubble wall.

Total Burials: 289.

Identified Casualties: United Kingdom 220, Australia 21, Canada 3. Total 244.

12067 Private William Henry Short, V. C.

"C" Company, 8th Bn. Yorkshire Regiment, died of wounds 7th August 1916, aged 31 years, plot II. B. 16.

Son of James and Anne Short, of 35, Vaughan St., Grangetown, Yorks. Born at Eston, Yorks.

Citation: An extract from "The London Gazette," No. 29740, dated 8th Sept., 1916, records the following:- "For most conspicuous bravery. He was foremost in the attack, bombing the enemy with great gallantry, when he was severely wounded in the foot. He was urged to go back, but refused and continued to throw bombs. Later his leg was shattered by a shell, and he was unable to stand, so he lay in the trench adjusting detonators and straightening the pins of bombs for his comrades. He died before he could be carried out of the trench. For the last eleven months he had always volunteered for dangerous enterprises, and has always set a magnificent example of bravery and devotion to duty."

Picture © Geerhard Joos

This British steel helmet is believed to have been worn by Private William Short, VC. © IWM (UNI 11312)

The ruins of Contalmaison Chateau, War graves in the foreground, which were tended and supplied with flowers by the French inhabitants; 2nd September 1917. © IWM (Q 2793)

16820 Private
Albert Bridge
10th Bn. Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)
9th August 1916, aged 22.
Plot II. A. 28.

Son of Mr and Mrs Bridge, 8 Fielding Street, Burnley

Prior to enlisting, Albert worked as a weaver at the Wood Top Mill Co., Burnley

61038 Private
Roger Feeley
14th Bn. Welsh Regiment
28th August 1918, aged 19.
Plot I. B. 37.

Son of Mr and Mrs Feeley, 10 Thursfield Road, Burnley.

Roger enlisted on March 5th, 1917, prior to this he was employed at the Burnley Corporation Gas works as a labourer.

1722 Private
Samuel Leslie
19th Bn. Australian Infantry, A. I. F.
9th February 1917, aged 36.
Plot I. B. 27.

Son of Joseph and Eliza Jane Leslie, of Tullintrain, Co. Derry, Ireland.

A labourer prior to enlisting, he embarked from Sydney aboard HMAT Kanowna (A61) on 19 June 1915. He died of alcoholic poisoning on 9 February 1917 while in camp, France, aged 36.

Second Lieutenant
Terence Hargreaves Mitchell
2nd/5th Bn. Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, attd. 145th Coy. (48th Div.). Machine Gun Corps
5th November 1916, aged 20.
Plot I. C. 19.

Son of Arthur Foster Mitchell and Edith Mitchell, of 56, Carshalton Park Rd., Carshalton, Surrey.

889 Rifleman
James Smyth Qua
"A" Coy. 15th Bn. Royal Irish Rifles
1st July 1916, aged 21.
Plot II. B. 27.

Son of the late James and Susan Qua, of The Island, Bolton, Loughgilly, Co. Armagh.

40347 Private
William Buchanan Robertson
12th Bn. Highland Light Infantry
16th September 1916, aged 21.
Plot I. B. 24.

Son of William and Rosalie Robertson, of 49, Dundonald St., Port of Spain, Trinidad.

Lieutenant
Charles Henry Ruddle
9th Bn. Australian Infantry, A. I. F.
23rd July 1916, aged 31.
Plot II. B. 7.

Son of Newman and Ellen S. Ruddle. Born at Fiji.

2482/B Private
Lindsay Steer
27th Bn. Australian Infantry, A. I. F.
Died of wounds on 27th February 1917, aged 23.
Plot I. A. 26.

Son of George and Alice Steer, of Bordertown, South Australia. Native of Cannawigra, South Australia.

Inscription "In Memory Of The Dearly Loved Son Of G. & A. Steer"

Second Lieutenant
Robert Brown Strang
6th Bn. attd. 7th Bn. Royal Scots Fusiliers
12th August 1916, aged 23.
Plot II. C. 12.

Son of Mr. and Mrs. R. B. Strang, of South Mount Vernon, Glasgow.

Second Lieutenant
Andrew Craig Struthers
10th Bn. Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)
14th September 1916, aged 21.
Plot II. A. 5.

Son of the late Andrew Struthers and of Mary Struthers, of Edinburgh.

Group portrait including 729 Private (Pte) Wesley George Wade (identified in centre, back row), B Company, 17th Battalion, of Artarmon, NSW. A carpenter of Liverpool, NSW prior to enlistment he claimed to be, 18 but was only 16 years of age. He embarked from Sydney, NSW, aboard HMAT Themistocles (A32) on 12 May 1915. Pte Wade died of wounds in Pozieres, France on 3 August 1916. He was 17 years of age at the time of his death. Son of Mrs. Agnes Wade. Native of Sydney, New South Wales. Plot II. D. 1. Inscription "A Young Life Gone To Rest Fighting For His King And Country"

The Chateau at Contalmaison before the war and in 1917. Note the staircase.

September 1916: Two soldiers bringing up hot food to the trenches, in containers carried in double shoulder-yokes, through the ruins of Contalmaison. They are probably troops of the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles). © IWM (Q 4134)