Contay British Cemetery, Somme, France (CWGC)

CONTAY BRITISH CEMETERY

Somme

France

GPS Coordinates - Latitude: 49.99871, Longitude: 2.48277

Location Information

Contay is a village on the main road, Amiens to Arras. The Cemetery lies on the left (north east) side of the road to Franvillers. There is a CWGC road sign next to the church and square of the village and next to the D23, Franvillers - Corbie, sign. The distance from the CWGC sign to the Cemetery is approximately 650 metres.

Visiting Information

Wheelchair access to this cemetery with some difficulty.

Historical Information

The site was chosen in August 1916 for burials from the 49th Casualty Clearing Station, which arrived at Contay at the end of August. It was joined by the 9th CCS in September. All the burials in Plots I to IV and the majority of those in Plots VII and VIII (the plot numbers V and VI were not used) cover the period August 1916 to March 1917. Most of them were made from these two clearing stations.

The German withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line in the spring of 1917 brought the medical units further east and it was not until April 1918, when the Germans advanced to Albert, that the 38th and other Divisions used the cemetery again, completing Plots VII and VIII and forming the two rows in Plot IX. The last burial took place in August 1918.

Contay British Cemetery contains 1,133 First World War burials.

Identified Casualties: United Kingdom 686, Canada 414, Australia 29, South Africa 1. Total 1,130.

Unidentified Casualties: United Kingdom 3.

The cemetery was designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield and John Reginald Truelove

November 1916: Panoramic group photograph, a Brigade Signal Unit comprised principally of Royal Engineers near Contay, November 1916. © IWM (Q 1549)

Images in this gallery © Werner Van Caneghem

3459 Sapper
Thomas William Albury
6th Field Coy. Australian Engineers
9th April 1918.
Plot VII. E. 10.

Son of Thomas William and Edith Amelia Albury. Native of Hobart, Tasmania.

420592 Private
Alexander Angus
16th Bn. Canadian Infantry
11th September 1916, aged 32.
Plot I. B. 26.

Son of Mrs. Rose Ann Angus, of 28, Carmelite Street, Banff, Scotland. Served in the South African Campaign.

437276 Private
William Arnold
1st Bn. Canadian Infantry
10th September 1916
Plot I. B. 29.

3756 Private
Thomas Perriam Arthur
24th Bn. Australian Infantry, A. I. F.
29th August 1916.
Plot I. A. 6.

Son of Georgina and the late Thomas Perriam Arthur, of 43, Tranmere Avenue, Murrumbeena, Victoria. Native of Traralgon, Victoria. His brother Charles Edmund Perriam Arthur also fell and is buried at Beach Cemetery, Anzac.

Captain
Jack Best
34th Coy. Machine Gun Corps
15th May 1918.
Plot VIII. A. 19.

21545 Private
John Binns
9th Bn. West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own)
2nd October 1916.
Plot I. F. 12.

Husband of Katie Binns.

86246 Driver
Frederick William Blackmore
2nd Div. Ammunition Col., Canadian Field Artillery
27th October 1916, aged 40.
Plot III. D. 20.

Son of Robert Blackmore, of 27, Church Rd., Upper Weston, Bath.

152294 Private
James E. Blatchley
1st Canadian Mounted Rifles Battalion
16th September 1916.
Plot II. B. 4.

436231 Private
Lorne Alexander Clark
46th Bn. Canadian Infantry
12th November 1916, aged 33.
Plot IV. D. 5.

Son of Neil and Emma Victoria Clark, of Cannington, Ontario.

46308 Private
Jos Alyre Garon
14th Bn. Canadian Infantry
11th October 1916.
Plot IV. B. 17.

Pictures courtesy of Gilles Desy

Images in this gallery © Johan Pauwels

4553 Private
George Henry Albert Mazey
52nd Bn. Australian Infantry, A. I. F.
4th September 1916, aged 19.
Plot I. A. 22.

Son of George Finn Mazey and Agnes Mazey. Native of Tasmania.

Picture courtesy of Carole Allie, great niece of this soldier

G. Chapman, the Chaplain of 49th Casualty Clearing Station wrote;

"He was admitted here on 3rd September and died on 4th September and buried the same day. There was no operation and he must have died from the sheer shock of his serious wound (Gun Shot Wound Right Arm) and would therefore have very little pain and would be scarcely conscious. His grave is in the British Military Cemetery at Contay and the number is 22A, Plot 1. The cemetery is beautifully situated on the slope of a small hill and a cross has been erected at the head of the grave with his name and other items of identification."

12665 Private
Stephen Parkinson
7th Bn. King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment)
17th November 1916, aged 21.
Plot IV. D. 30.

Son of William and Mary Hannah Parkinson, of 35, Charles St., Blackpool.

Picture courtesy of nephew, Frank and Penny Parkinson

3846 Private
Edgar Hogben Smith
7th Bn. Black Watch, (Royal Highlanders)
3rd December 1916, aged 24.
Plot VIII. C. 24.

Son of John and Christina Smith, Lochore Fife.

Picture courtesy of nephew, Robert Smith

3466 Private
John William Sparrow
13th Bn. Australian Infantry, A. I. F.
2nd September 1916, aged 27.
Plot I. A. 17.

Son of John and Honora Sparrow, of Bungendore, New South Wales.

A blacksmith prior to enlisting, he embarked from Sydney aboard HMAT Port Lincoln (A17) on 13 October 1915. He died of wounds on 2 September 1916 in France, aged 27.

John Sparrow was in the trenches at Mouquet Farm when he was caught by a shell blast, he was badly wounded in the arm, knee and right foot.

He was taken to 49th Casualty Clearing Station at Contay where the Chaplain, G. Chapman wrote;

"He was severely wounded in the leg and arm, an operation was necessary on the leg. The wound had, however, been poisoned and he succumbed to gas gangrene, i.e. accuse blood poisoning on 2nd September and buried the following day. He is buried in the British Military Cemetery at Contay and the number of his grave is 17A, plot 8. I went to the cemetery this morning and verified the number of the grave, a cross has been erected at the head and I found a small vessel at the foot of the cross with a few flowers in, evidently the love token of some friend.

Those who die of gas gangrene have practically no pain as it produces a kind of stupor. His friends may therefore be sure there was little pain."

72108 Sergeant
Arthur Tripp
"A" Company, 27th Bn. pCanadian Infantry
27th September 1916, aged 38.
Plot II. D. 13.

Son of Robert Henry and Eliza Ann Tripp; husband of E. Anne Tripp, of 16, Southernhay East, Exeter, England. Born at Melksham, Wilts, England. Enlisted at Winnipeg, in September, 1914, and went to France, September,1915.

His headstone bears the inscription "In Proud And Loving Memoru Of My Husband "Nan" Love Never Dies"

The information below supplied by 'The Ellesmerian Club', the alumni organisation for Ellesmere College where Arthur was a pupil.

Arthur Reginald Tripp, the second youngest of ten children of the Reverend Robert Henry Tripp and his wife, Eliza Ann, was born on 21st December 1877 at Melksham, Wiltshire. Such is the life of members of the clergy, by the time of the 1881 Census, the family had moved north to Langham, Rutland. Ten years later, when Arthur was thirteen years old, his father was incumbent at Weare Vicarage, Somerset.

Forty-three new boys were admitted to Ellesmere College at the start of 1893, the majority joined in the January but it was not until February that Arthur crossed the threshold. Where he had been educated previously is not known but it would not have been unusual, as the son of a clergyman, for him to have been home tutored. Arthur was just past his 15th birthday, was allocated a bed in the ‘Heywood’ dormitory and placed in the ‘Special Form’ under the tutelage of Reverend G. A. Till. There were one hundred and eighty-seven boys on the nominal roll. A fellow entrant to the same dormitory the following May, Basil Blakeman, also lost his life on active service.

In his very first summer, Arthur was out on the cricket wicket representing his dormitory in a game against the ‘Conqueror’ dormitory. It was a very low scoring game, which the ‘Heywood’ won, and the match report recorded that “Tripp was the top scorer with six runs”. The following year, in the match against the ‘Gordon’ dormitory, it was noted that he “bowled well”. Whilst he also represented his dormitory as a forward on the rugby pitch and played tennis doubles, cricket was his tour de force. He became a member of the college 2ndXI team for the summer 1894 season and his performance was summarised in The Ellesmerian; “Has, so far, succeeded in hiding his light under a bushel when playing in public, but need not despair. Constant practice will do wonders and better results may be expected next year”. Unfortunately, that never happened as Arthur left Ellesmere at the end of December that year. He was seventeen years old and it is not known if he went on to continue his education elsewhere or started work.

On 17th March 1900 Arthur, accompanied by his brother, Frederick, arrived at Halifax, Nova Scotia on the “Vancouver”. Like many thousands of others they had decided to make a new life for themselves across the Atlantic. Where they lived or worked initially is not known but the 1901 Canadian Census records that they were both living at Selkirk, Kildonan, Manitoba – some fourteen miles northeast of Winnipeg. The Winnipeg Tribune edition for 25th April 1901 recorded that Arthur was amongst the “large crowds of young, able-bodied men who gathered at Fort Osborne this morning long before the recruiting office was open”. It seems that Arthur, who was listed as having no previous service experience, was not selected as a recruit to serve in the Boer War in South Africa .

Ten years later, Arthur, a 34-year-old bachelor, was still in Manitoba boarding in District 18, MacDonald.

When Arthur signed his Attestation Papers on 23rd October 1914, in Winnipeg, he was still single, 35 years old and employed as a farmer. He was just under 1.80 metres tall, weighed in at 78 kg. and stated his previous military experience to be 2 ½ years’ service with the Canadian Mounted Rifles. His nominated next of kin was his brother Frederick who was at Erinview, Manitoba. Interestingly, he stated his year of birth to be 1879

Private Tripp, Service No: 72108 was posted to ‘A’ Company, 27th Battalion, 6th Infantry Brigade the Canadian Expeditionary Force. His previous military experience would have been very beneficial but it was still over six months before he embarked on ss Carpathian on 17th May 1915 at Quebec. Three years previously the ship had rescued the survivors of the Titanic disaster.

By the end of the month Arthur was established at Otterpool Camp in the south of England. The majority of the occupants of the camp were soldiers of the Canadian 2nd Division and they would have continued their training to familiarise themselves with conditions on the Front.

On 22nd August, for reasons unknown, Arthur was absent between the hours of 1130 to 0840 – this cost him an admonishment and a day’s pay.

Arthur obviously knew that he was soon to be posted abroad and so, on 11th September, he married Anne Bosson at St. Michael’s Church, Basingstoke. The same day he wrote his will and had it witnessed.

A week later, on 17th September 1915, he embarked for service in France. Fortuitously, this meant he was not at the camp on the evening of 13th October when Zeppelin L14 bombed it – fifteen men died and many were injured.

The War Diaries for the 27th Battalion have survived and they detail the battalions movements in France on a day to day basis. On 6th January 1916, the day that Arthur was promoted to Lance-Corporal ‘in the field’ the battalion were at Kemmel Shelters. It was “Clear sky. Reveille 6.00am. ‘A’ coy paraded to the Divisional Baths in the morning. Officers of the battalion completed their grenade course at the Brigade Grenade School. The usual working party of 300 men was furnished the C.E’s at 7.30pm)”.

On 18th June 1916, Arthur was promoted Corporal. The battalion had been relieved by the 1st Coldstream Guards on the night of 16th June and were ‘resting’ behind the lines until the night of 20th June when they relieved the 8th Battalion, the East Yorkshire Regiment at St. Eloi. Arthur’s company was instructed to take up position at Dead Dog Farm. This was one of the most extensive and devastating bombardments periods of the whole war from artillery barrages and tunnelling operations undertaken by both sides.

On 21st September Arthur was promoted Sergeant. Arthur died of multiple gunshot wounds in No. 49 Casualty Clearing Station on 27th September.

Arthur was buried in Contay British Cemetery, Department de la Somme, Picardie, France. He was 38 years old and had been married for just over a year. For his wartime service he was awarded the 1914-1915 Star, the Victory Medal and the British War Medal.

One thousand, one hundred and sixty one Allied servicemen died that day.

121288 Gunner
Joseph Charles Trull
160th Siege Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery
9th April 1918, aged 34.
Plot VII. E. 13.

Husband of Bessie Trull, of Elcombe Valley, nr. Dursley, Glos.

Picture courtesy of great nephew, John Eeley