HIGH TREE CEMETERY
Montbrehain
Aisne
France
GPS Coordinates: Latitude: 49.96254, Longitude: 3.36811
Location Information
Montbrehain is a village situated in the north-western sector of the Department of the Aisne, 10 kilometres south-west of Bohain on the D28.
High Tree Cemetery is 1 kilometre west of Montbrehain and is first signposted at the lower part of the village at the junction of the D28 and D283.
Proceed some 100 metres after this first signpost along the D28 in the direction of Bohain before being directed along the D705, Fresnoy Le Grand. 500 metres along this road the third and final signpost will point directly towards the cemetery, which is invisible from the road as it lies at the bottom of a rough farm track.
Visiting Information
The location or design of this cemetery makes wheelchair access impossible.
Historical Information
The village of Montbrehain was taken on the 3rd October, 1918, by three battalions of the Sherwood Foresters of the 46th Division, but it could not be held at the time; it was finally captured by the 21st and 24th Australian Infantry Battalions two days later.
This cemetery contains the graves of 48 casualties of the First World War, three of which are unidentified.
Total Burials: 48.
Identified Casualties: United Kingdom 43, Australia 2. Total 45.
Unidentified Casualties: 3.
The cemetery was designed by W H Cowlishaw.
Montbrehain is a village situated in the north-western sector of the Department of the Aisne, 10 kilometres south-west of Bohain on the D28.
High Tree Cemetery is 1 kilometre west of Montbrehain and is first signposted at the lower part of the village at the junction of the D28 and D283.
Proceed some 100 metres after this first signpost along the D28 in the direction of Bohain before being directed along the D705, Fresnoy Le Grand. 500 metres along this road the third and final signpost will point directly towards the cemetery, which is invisible from the road as it lies at the bottom of a rough farm track.
Visiting Information
The location or design of this cemetery makes wheelchair access impossible.
Historical Information
The village of Montbrehain was taken on the 3rd October, 1918, by three battalions of the Sherwood Foresters of the 46th Division, but it could not be held at the time; it was finally captured by the 21st and 24th Australian Infantry Battalions two days later.
This cemetery contains the graves of 48 casualties of the First World War, three of which are unidentified.
Total Burials: 48.
Identified Casualties: United Kingdom 43, Australia 2. Total 45.
Unidentified Casualties: 3.
The cemetery was designed by W H Cowlishaw.
1672 Private
Charles Edmund Bateman
2nd Australian Pioneers
5th October 1918, aged 42.
Row A. 45.
Son of William George and Ann Bateman. Native of London, England.
A farmer of East Brookton, WA, he enlisted on 17 June 1915 and embarked on the HMAT Demosthenes from Fremantle, with the 28th Battalion.
3698 Private Alfred Preston gave these details of Charles Bateman's final moments;
"During the morning of October 5th 1918. Capt. Olsen advised Bateman not to go up to the lines on this occasion as he wanted him to stay back for other duties but he was most anxious to be with his mates and he persuaded the Capt. to allow him to go, which he did.
Bateman was killed on the tape by a shell which fell short by one of own guns. He would be buried on the field where he fell at Montbrehain."
Charles Edmund Bateman
2nd Australian Pioneers
5th October 1918, aged 42.
Row A. 45.
Son of William George and Ann Bateman. Native of London, England.
A farmer of East Brookton, WA, he enlisted on 17 June 1915 and embarked on the HMAT Demosthenes from Fremantle, with the 28th Battalion.
3698 Private Alfred Preston gave these details of Charles Bateman's final moments;
"During the morning of October 5th 1918. Capt. Olsen advised Bateman not to go up to the lines on this occasion as he wanted him to stay back for other duties but he was most anxious to be with his mates and he persuaded the Capt. to allow him to go, which he did.
Bateman was killed on the tape by a shell which fell short by one of own guns. He would be buried on the field where he fell at Montbrehain."
42553 Private
Richard Brunt
9th Bn. Norfolk Regiment
8th October 1918
Row A. 34.
Richard Brunt
9th Bn. Norfolk Regiment
8th October 1918
Row A. 34.
58319 Private
William Henry Harrison
1st Bn. Leicestershire Regiment
8th October 1918, aged 21.
Row A. 17.
Son of Herbert and Louisa Harrison, of The Woods Farm, Beckingham, Doncaster.
His headstone bears the inscription; "And With The Morn Those Angel Faces Smile." (From the hymn; "Lead, Kindly Light, Amid The Encircling Gloom," by John Henry Newman.
William Henry Harrison
1st Bn. Leicestershire Regiment
8th October 1918, aged 21.
Row A. 17.
Son of Herbert and Louisa Harrison, of The Woods Farm, Beckingham, Doncaster.
His headstone bears the inscription; "And With The Morn Those Angel Faces Smile." (From the hymn; "Lead, Kindly Light, Amid The Encircling Gloom," by John Henry Newman.
3656 Private
Joseph Henry Taylor
2nd Australian Pioneers
5th October 1918, aged 32.
Row A. 1.
Son of John and Clara Jane Taylor. Native of Isis, Queensland.
His headstone bears the inscription; "The Great White Soul That Was You Lives On."
The circumstances of Joseph Taylor's death are still quite sketchy, a court of enquiry was set up on 8th November 1918 to give an official version of events. The court concluded that Joseph Taylor had been wounded and taken prisoner.
Later interviews with other members of his Pioneer section made it clear that Joseph had been killed in action on 5th October.
2186 Private S. R. Williams gave these details; "I did not see Taylor of "C" Company wounded (I think through body by bullet) at Montbrehain in the morning. He started out and must have been killed on the way, as I afterwards met a D. A. C. (Divisional Ammunition Column) man I know named Private Leo Elliott, he told me that he had found and buried a man of my company named Taylor. He knew all about him and I feel sure it must have been him."
In April 1919, Leo Elliott himself gave these details; "I saw him lying dead at a cemetery just outside of Montbrehain, just alongside of the light railway line that was there in October. To look at his wounds, it looked very much like one of his own bombs which he was carrying in his pocket, went off and blew half his side out, that is all I can say about him."
Corporal H. E. Barrett later discovered Joe Taylor's grave when he returned to Montbrehain and re-visited the battlefield, the grave being marked by a rough cross with Joe Taylor's details on it.
Eventually he was buried in High Tree Cemetery, Montbrehain, close to where he fell.
Joseph Henry Taylor
2nd Australian Pioneers
5th October 1918, aged 32.
Row A. 1.
Son of John and Clara Jane Taylor. Native of Isis, Queensland.
His headstone bears the inscription; "The Great White Soul That Was You Lives On."
The circumstances of Joseph Taylor's death are still quite sketchy, a court of enquiry was set up on 8th November 1918 to give an official version of events. The court concluded that Joseph Taylor had been wounded and taken prisoner.
Later interviews with other members of his Pioneer section made it clear that Joseph had been killed in action on 5th October.
2186 Private S. R. Williams gave these details; "I did not see Taylor of "C" Company wounded (I think through body by bullet) at Montbrehain in the morning. He started out and must have been killed on the way, as I afterwards met a D. A. C. (Divisional Ammunition Column) man I know named Private Leo Elliott, he told me that he had found and buried a man of my company named Taylor. He knew all about him and I feel sure it must have been him."
In April 1919, Leo Elliott himself gave these details; "I saw him lying dead at a cemetery just outside of Montbrehain, just alongside of the light railway line that was there in October. To look at his wounds, it looked very much like one of his own bombs which he was carrying in his pocket, went off and blew half his side out, that is all I can say about him."
Corporal H. E. Barrett later discovered Joe Taylor's grave when he returned to Montbrehain and re-visited the battlefield, the grave being marked by a rough cross with Joe Taylor's details on it.
Eventually he was buried in High Tree Cemetery, Montbrehain, close to where he fell.
British heavy artillery guns passing through Montbrehain, France © IWM (Q 70268)
