Fosse No.7 Military Cemetery, (Quality Street) Pas de Calais, France

FOSSE NO. 7 MILITARY CEMETERY (QUALITY STREET)

Mazingarbe

Pas De Calais

France

GPS Coordinates - Latitude: 50.46525, Longitude: 2.75675

Location Information

Mazingarbe is a village in the Department of the Pas-de-Calais, 10 kilometres south-east of Béthune. From Lens, take the N43 towards Bethune. Arriving at Mazingarbe take the first road on your left. The cemetery is 200 metres on the right.

Visiting Information

Wheelchair access is possible with some difficulty.

Historical Information

Fosse 7 was four kilometres East of Mazingarbe, on the West side of the road from Lens to Béthune and it consisted of a pit-head and an Electric Power Station with a garden suburb of miners' houses (the trench which led into the cemetery was named "Quality Street" during the War). The cemetery was begun by French troops in May, 1915, and carried on by British units from June, 1915, to April, 1917.

There are 129, Commonwealth 1914-18 war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these, 11 are unidentified and 17, destroyed by shell fire, are now represented by special memorials. There are also 12 French burials.

The cemetery covers an area of 1,200 square metres and is enclosed by a rubble wall.

The cemetery was designed by Arthur James Scott Hutton

Total Burials: 141.

World War One Identified Casualties: United Kingdom 118.

World War One Unidentified Casualties: United Kingdom 11.

Other Nationalities: France 12.

A panorama of Loos, showing on the left the road leading to Crucifix Dump. In the centre of the picture is Loos Crassier with Hill 70 in the background is Fosse 121, Cite St. Pierre.

Map of the Loos area

"Tower Bridge" as it was known by the British due to its similarity to the London landmark, was a set of double towers housing lift winding machinery for the Loos colliery, it stood over 150 feet high and was used by the Germans as an observation post. One of the main problems faced by the British during their attack here was that they had failed to destroy the tower with their artillery thus their every move was being watched by the enemy. When the Germans eventually relinquished control of the tower later in the war, they immediately set about destroying it with their artillery, successfully completing the task. Tower Bridge was destroyed in 1918, it was rebuilt after the war and once again used for its original purpose; mining. It was de-commissioned in the early 1960's and demolished sometime in the late 1970's. The structure stood roughly on the edge of Loos in between the cemetery and the town as viewed from the war stone in the cemetery.

Image above © Werner Van Caneghem

Although many observers view the British successes at the Battle of Loos with cynicism, Major-General Richard Hilton, at that time a Forward Observation Officer, said of the battle in Philip Warner's 1976 book, The Battle of Loos (Wordsworth):

"A great deal of nonsense has been written about Loos. The real tragedy of that battle was its nearness to complete success. Most of us who reached the crest of Hill 70, and survived, were firmly convinced that we had broken through on that Sunday, 25th September 1915. There seemed to be nothing ahead of us, but an unoccupied and incomplete trench system. The only two things that prevented our advancing into the suburbs of Lens were, firstly, the exhaustion of the "Jocks" themselves (for they had undergone a bellyfull of marching and fighting that day) and, secondly, the flanking fire of numerous German machine-guns, which swept that bare hill from some factory buildings in Cite St. Auguste to the south of us. All that we needed was more artillery ammunition to blast those clearly-located machine-guns, plus some fresh infantry to take over from the weary and depleted "Jocks." But, alas, neither ammunition nor reinforcements were immediately available, and the great opportunity passed."

3/6864 Private
Hugh Dillon
"L" Coy. 10th Bn. Gordon Highlanders
23rd September 1915, aged 23.
Plot I. B. 2.

Son of Mr. and Mrs. John Dillon, of Bellerophon, Carfin, Motherwell. Enlisted Sept., 1914.

His headstone bears the inscription; "Sweetest Heart Of Jesus Have Mercy On Him, May He Rest In Peace. Amen."

Second Lieutenant
Douglas Joseph Geere
"D" Bty. 71st Bde. Royal Field Artillery
23rd February 1916, aged 21.
Plot II. G. 2.

Son of Thomas Henry and Dorothy Tickell Geere, of "Keswick," Mornington Rd., Woodford Green. Essex.

His headstone bears the inscription; "Beloved By All Who Knew Him."

Captain
Richard Ernest Harvey
Adjt. 9th Bn. Black Watch, (Royal Highlanders)
25th September 1915, aged 24.
Plot I. B. 9.

Son of Prebendary and Mrs. F. Clyde Harvey, of Hailsham Vicarage. Sussex.

Picture courtesy of Dave Donatelli

Second Lieutenant
Kenneth Robert Beresford Kershaw
9th Bn. Gordon Highlanders
25th September 1915
Plot II. B. 11.

His headstone bears the inscription; "He Who Dies For King & Country Leaves Naught Undone That Man Can Do."

S/14339 Private
Donald MacLean
"A" Coy. 7th Bn. Cameron Highlanders
10th September 1915, aged 26.
Plot II. B. 8.

Son of Donald and Christina Maclean, of Stornoway.

His headstone bears the inscription; "Till We Meet Again."

Image above © Werner Van Caneghem

1142 Private
Arthur Millen
22nd Bn. London Regiment.
8th July 1915, aged 19.
Plot II. G. 1

Image courtesy of Alan Affleck, Arthur Millen was his Great Uncle.

3/6825 Sergeant
Alexander Mitchell
10th Bn. Gordon Highlanders
23rd September 1915.
Plot I. B. 7.

1511 Private
Edward Gwinn Powley
20th Bn. London Regiment
19th July 1915, aged 21.
Plot II. C. 7.

Son of Edward and Clara Powley, of High St., Ewell, Surrey.

3446 Gunner
Edward Spencer
21st Bty. 2nd Bde. Royal Field Artillery
21st April 1917, aged 32.
Sp. Mem. 13.

Husband of Mrs Spencer, 32 Eastham Street, Burnley.

His headstone bears the inscription "There Glory Shall Not Be Blotted Out"

Killed by a shell whilst at his signalling post in a dug-out. Edward was a miner prior to enlisting.

Image above © Werner Van Caneghem

12th April 1918; Plotting reference: 36B L 17 Mazingarbe N. Key feature: Mazingarbe. © IWM (BOX 403-242-18JC-36B-1918)

A view of the wire entanglements behind Loos Tower Bridge, with Fosse 15 and Loos Crassier in the background. The 3rd Australian Tunnelling Company (3ATC) were engaged on trench shelter construction and repair in this area after the battle of Hill 70, in August 1917. The wire entanglements formed part of a reserve line of defence across Crucifix Dump road through the old German lines to Hulluch. Identified: Lieutenant T. Taylor, 3ATC (left), and an unidentified sergeant, who is an assistant photographer with Captain Wilkins (right).