GUISE (LA DÉSOLATION) FRENCH NATIONAL CEMETERY
Aisne
France
GPS Coordinates: Latitude: 49.87619, Longitude: 3.6293
Picture © Johan Pauwels
Location Information
Guise is a small and historic town in the Department of the Aisne, on the River Oise, 27 kilometres north-east of St Quentin.
The Cemetery (Cimetiere National Mixte de la Desolation) is approximately 4 kilometres south of the town on the Marle road in the neighbouring commune of Flavigny-le-Petit.
Historical Information
Guise has given its name to the battle of the 29th-30th August, 1914, between the French Fifth Army and the Germans. It was retaken by French troops on the 4th November, 1918.
The National Cemetery was begun by the Germans in 1914, and, enlarged after the Armistice.
There are 48, Commonwealth 1914-18 war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these, 6 are unidentified and three special memorials are erected to soldiers known or believed to be buried among them and another to a United Kingdom soldier buried in Guise Communal Cemetery whose grave could not be found.
Total Commonwealth Burials: 48.
Identified Casualties: United Kingdom 41, Canada 1. Total 42.
Unidentified Casualties: 6.
Flavigny-le-Petit French National Cemetery
Flavigny German Military Cemetery
Total Burials in Cemetery: 5,497.
French World War One Casualties: 2,643.
French World War Two Casualties: 428.
German World War One Casualties: 2,332.
Other World War One Casualties: United Kingdom 48, Belgium 31, Russia 13, Romania 1. Total 93.
Other World War Two Casualty: Russia 1.
Battle of the Lys, April 1918. A Portuguese prisoner being examined by a German Intelligence Officer at Fourmies prison camp. © IWM (Q 55260)
