LE TOURET MILITARY CEMETERY
Richebourg-L'Avoue
Pas De Calais
France
GPS Coordinates: Latitude: 50.56041, Longitude: 2.72301
Picture © Werner Van Caneghem
Location Information
From Bethune follow the signs for Armentieres until you are on the D171. Continue on this road through Essars and Le Touret village. Approximately 1 kilometre after Le Touret village and about 5 kilometres before you reach the intersection with the D947, Estaires to La Bassee road, the Cemetery lies on the right hand side of the road.
Located at the east end of the cemetery is Le Touret Memorial, which commemorates 13,479 servicemen who fell in this area before 25 September 1915 and who have no known grave.
Commemorated on Memorial: United Kingdom 13,478, India 1. Total 13,479.
Historical Information
The Cemetery was begun by the Indian Corps (and in particular by the 2nd Leicesters) in November, 1914, and it was used continuously by Field Ambulances and fighting units until March, 1918. It passed into German hands in April, 1918, and after its recapture a few further burials were made in Plot IV in September and October. The grave of one Officer of the London Regiment was brought in in 1925 from a position on the Estaires-La Bassee road near "Port Arthur", and the 264 Portuguese graves of March, 1917 and April, 1919 were removed to Richebourg-L'Avoue Portuguese National Cemetery after the Armistice.
There are 915, 1914-18 war casualties commemorated in this site. The graves of three men of the King's Liverpool Regiment, which were destroyed by shell fire, are now represented by special headstones.
The Cemetery covers an area of 7,036 square metres and is enclosed by a low brick wall.
Identified Casualties: United Kingdom 889, Canada 11, India 9, Germany 4. Total 913.
The cemetery and memorial were designed by John Reginald Truelove
From Bethune follow the signs for Armentieres until you are on the D171. Continue on this road through Essars and Le Touret village. Approximately 1 kilometre after Le Touret village and about 5 kilometres before you reach the intersection with the D947, Estaires to La Bassee road, the Cemetery lies on the right hand side of the road.
Located at the east end of the cemetery is Le Touret Memorial, which commemorates 13,479 servicemen who fell in this area before 25 September 1915 and who have no known grave.
Commemorated on Memorial: United Kingdom 13,478, India 1. Total 13,479.
Historical Information
The Cemetery was begun by the Indian Corps (and in particular by the 2nd Leicesters) in November, 1914, and it was used continuously by Field Ambulances and fighting units until March, 1918. It passed into German hands in April, 1918, and after its recapture a few further burials were made in Plot IV in September and October. The grave of one Officer of the London Regiment was brought in in 1925 from a position on the Estaires-La Bassee road near "Port Arthur", and the 264 Portuguese graves of March, 1917 and April, 1919 were removed to Richebourg-L'Avoue Portuguese National Cemetery after the Armistice.
There are 915, 1914-18 war casualties commemorated in this site. The graves of three men of the King's Liverpool Regiment, which were destroyed by shell fire, are now represented by special headstones.
The Cemetery covers an area of 7,036 square metres and is enclosed by a low brick wall.
Identified Casualties: United Kingdom 889, Canada 11, India 9, Germany 4. Total 913.
The cemetery and memorial were designed by John Reginald Truelove
16503 Private
Arthur Blackburn
9th Bn. Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)
14th August 1915, aged 27.
Plot II. D. 29.
Son of Mr. and Mrs Blackburn, of 3, Emily St., Burnley.
Arthur Blackburn
9th Bn. Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)
14th August 1915, aged 27.
Plot II. D. 29.
Son of Mr. and Mrs Blackburn, of 3, Emily St., Burnley.
1418 Corporal
Christopher Noel Borrett
4th Bn. Suffolk Regiment
5th February 1915, aged 19.
Plot I. A. 13.
Much loved son of Charles Edgar and Esther Borrett.
Died of wounds received near Neuve-Chapelle while serving alongside his brother Private Stanley Borrett.
Picture courtesy of niece, Marjorie Wrightson and great, great nephew Keith Robson
Christopher Noel Borrett
4th Bn. Suffolk Regiment
5th February 1915, aged 19.
Plot I. A. 13.
Much loved son of Charles Edgar and Esther Borrett.
Died of wounds received near Neuve-Chapelle while serving alongside his brother Private Stanley Borrett.
Picture courtesy of niece, Marjorie Wrightson and great, great nephew Keith Robson
17493 Bombardier
Herbert Edmondson
"Z" 31st Trench Mortar Bty. Royal Field Artillery
12th August 1916, aged 28.
Plot IV. A. 24.
Lived at 63 Coal Clough Lane, Burnley.
Herbert Edmondson
"Z" 31st Trench Mortar Bty. Royal Field Artillery
12th August 1916, aged 28.
Plot IV. A. 24.
Lived at 63 Coal Clough Lane, Burnley.
7960 Private
John Thomas Emmett
2nd Bn. Border Regiment
25th November 1915, aged 29.
Plot III. C. 9.
Husband of Hannah Caroline Flood (formerly Emmett), of 5, Globe Court, Ethelred St., Kennington, London.
My grandfather John Thomas Emmett who was known as Jack Emmett served as a regular soldier in the Boer Wars and eventually retired after serving his full term of service. He was recalled to the colours at the outbreak of the Great War and was in the Border Regiment when he was killed during the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915.
He had a fine singing voice and played the concertina. It was while entertaining his comrades that he was shot by a sniper and died shortly afterwards.
He was very popular and my grandmother was told his death - and the circumstances in which it occurred - had devastated morale.
I still have some of his things including the blood-stained cord and identity tag that he was wearing when shot in the throat.
Picture courtesy of Stephen May, grandson of this soldier.
John Thomas Emmett
2nd Bn. Border Regiment
25th November 1915, aged 29.
Plot III. C. 9.
Husband of Hannah Caroline Flood (formerly Emmett), of 5, Globe Court, Ethelred St., Kennington, London.
My grandfather John Thomas Emmett who was known as Jack Emmett served as a regular soldier in the Boer Wars and eventually retired after serving his full term of service. He was recalled to the colours at the outbreak of the Great War and was in the Border Regiment when he was killed during the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915.
He had a fine singing voice and played the concertina. It was while entertaining his comrades that he was shot by a sniper and died shortly afterwards.
He was very popular and my grandmother was told his death - and the circumstances in which it occurred - had devastated morale.
I still have some of his things including the blood-stained cord and identity tag that he was wearing when shot in the throat.
Picture courtesy of Stephen May, grandson of this soldier.
16629 Private
James Fairburn
9th Bn. Scottish Rifles (Cameronians)
20th July 1915, aged 27.
Plot II. D. 23.
Lived at 13 Clay Street, Burnley.
James Fairburn
9th Bn. Scottish Rifles (Cameronians)
20th July 1915, aged 27.
Plot II. D. 23.
Lived at 13 Clay Street, Burnley.
83554 Gunner
Samuel Floyd
88th Bde. Royal Field Artillery.
3rd October 1915, aged 28.
Plot II. H. 23.
Son of Richard Floyd and Mary Floyd, nee Capel. Born in Llansamlet, South Wales.
Picture courtesy of Stacey O'Brien, Great, great granddaughter of this soldier
Samuel Floyd
88th Bde. Royal Field Artillery.
3rd October 1915, aged 28.
Plot II. H. 23.
Son of Richard Floyd and Mary Floyd, nee Capel. Born in Llansamlet, South Wales.
Picture courtesy of Stacey O'Brien, Great, great granddaughter of this soldier
4569 Lance Corporal
Walter Gordon
3rd Bn. Coldstream Guards
31st December 1914, aged 30.
Plot I. B. 20.
Walter was born in Little Torrington, North Devon 05/03/1884 the son of William and Elizabeth Gordon. He joined the Coldstream Guards in 1902 and served for a number of years before leaving and becoming a Police Officer with the Devon Constabulary. He remained on the Army Reserve and was recalled to his Regiment in August 1914. He married in 1911 to Ethel Minnie Emmett and they had a daughter (my mother) in August 1912. At the time of Walter’s death, the family was living in Brixham, South Devon where he had been stationed with the Police. Walter was one of 11 Devon Police Officers killed in action in WW1 and his name appears on the Devon Police War Memorial at their Headquarters in Exeter, Devon.
Picture courtesy of grandson, David Mills
Walter Gordon
3rd Bn. Coldstream Guards
31st December 1914, aged 30.
Plot I. B. 20.
Walter was born in Little Torrington, North Devon 05/03/1884 the son of William and Elizabeth Gordon. He joined the Coldstream Guards in 1902 and served for a number of years before leaving and becoming a Police Officer with the Devon Constabulary. He remained on the Army Reserve and was recalled to his Regiment in August 1914. He married in 1911 to Ethel Minnie Emmett and they had a daughter (my mother) in August 1912. At the time of Walter’s death, the family was living in Brixham, South Devon where he had been stationed with the Police. Walter was one of 11 Devon Police Officers killed in action in WW1 and his name appears on the Devon Police War Memorial at their Headquarters in Exeter, Devon.
Picture courtesy of grandson, David Mills
12633 Private
Henry Ian Grimshaw
7th Bn. East Lancashire Regiment
20th October 1915, aged 21.
Plot III. B. 1.
He lived at 18 Stanworth Street, Worsthorne, Burnley.
Henry Ian Grimshaw
7th Bn. East Lancashire Regiment
20th October 1915, aged 21.
Plot III. B. 1.
He lived at 18 Stanworth Street, Worsthorne, Burnley.
Major
Hubert Wallace Thelwall
1st Bn. West India Regiment, attd. 15th Bn. Sherwood Foresters (Notts and Derby Regiment)
23rd April 1916.
Plot III. E. 27.
He was holding this appointment when he was killed by a sniper on 23rd April, 1916 on the ‘Lorgies/Festubert’ road where it crosses the ‘La Bassee/Neuve Chapelle’ road. He was the Son of Lieut-Colonel Eubule Dayshe Thelwall & Mary Elizabeth Dorothea, of Berkhamsted.
There is, in fact, a memorial in Northchurch, Co Hertford as follows :
To the Glory of God and in Memory of Bevis Alfred Thelwall Died in India 28 August 1898 aged 32 Ernest Adair Thelwall Died in India 17 February 1909 aged 32 Hubert Wallace Thelwall Major West India Regiment attached Sherwood Foresters Killed in action in France 23 April 1916 aged 40. Sons of Lieut-Colonel Eubule D Thelwall Royal Marine Artillery.
We actually have a very detailed Family History, which our Father Gerald Eubule Hastings Thelwall compiled. Hubert Wallace was his Father. We are able to trace our Paternal Family Tree back 18 generations directly through the Male Line to1282.
With the Centenary of the Battle of The Somme next year, we felt it fitting that we should visit Northern France, to pay our respects to the Grandfather we never met. But because of my Father’s History, and photographic records, going back to the1890’s, we feel we know him quite well.
Hubert’s military career actually began in 1894, when he enlisted in the Ranks of The 95th Derbyshire Regiment. He served for 5 years rising to the Rank of Sergeant. He went to India with the Regiment, where he was bought out of The Army by his Brother, Ernest Adair Thelwall, who was then Tea-planting. Hubert Wallace also took up Tea-planting at Doars. At the outbreak of the of the South African War he volunteered, as a Trooper, in Lumsden’s Horse, a force of Mounted Infantry. He was posted to No 1 Section ‘B’ Co. He was eventually invalided home with sickness in August 1900. (there is a very detailed book on Lumsden’s Horse, and ‘Trooper Thelwall’ gets a mention. Later the same year, he was commissioned into The West India Regiment. In 1902 he was attached to the West African Regiment. He later became Adjutant of the West India Regiment, serving in Sierra Leone and Jamaica. While in Jamaica, he met Angel May Holland Hastings & they married in 1910. They returned to England, & Our Father, Gerald, was born on 28th November 1914 in Southsea.
Our Father, Gerald, also joined the Army, and in 1935 was gazetted into The Sherwood Foresters. He served in Jamaica & Palestine before WW2, and was serving in Cyprus during 1940, where he met & married our Mother, Joy. He was in Cairo, up until 1942, then Quetta in India. Returning to England late ’43, he went across to France D Day + 6 and fought through France & Germany where he wounded in late April ’45. After the war he served in Germany, where I was` born in ’51. He served as Military Attache in Israel from ’55 to 58. In 1960 he took early retirement from the army at the age of 46, to commence a career in ‘The City’ until he retired at 65 in 1980. He started the family History in 1946, and presented the completed task in 1991 to us 3 sons. He died on October 10th 2000, almost 87!
Picture and text courtesy of Simon Thelwall.
Hubert Wallace Thelwall
1st Bn. West India Regiment, attd. 15th Bn. Sherwood Foresters (Notts and Derby Regiment)
23rd April 1916.
Plot III. E. 27.
He was holding this appointment when he was killed by a sniper on 23rd April, 1916 on the ‘Lorgies/Festubert’ road where it crosses the ‘La Bassee/Neuve Chapelle’ road. He was the Son of Lieut-Colonel Eubule Dayshe Thelwall & Mary Elizabeth Dorothea, of Berkhamsted.
There is, in fact, a memorial in Northchurch, Co Hertford as follows :
To the Glory of God and in Memory of Bevis Alfred Thelwall Died in India 28 August 1898 aged 32 Ernest Adair Thelwall Died in India 17 February 1909 aged 32 Hubert Wallace Thelwall Major West India Regiment attached Sherwood Foresters Killed in action in France 23 April 1916 aged 40. Sons of Lieut-Colonel Eubule D Thelwall Royal Marine Artillery.
We actually have a very detailed Family History, which our Father Gerald Eubule Hastings Thelwall compiled. Hubert Wallace was his Father. We are able to trace our Paternal Family Tree back 18 generations directly through the Male Line to1282.
With the Centenary of the Battle of The Somme next year, we felt it fitting that we should visit Northern France, to pay our respects to the Grandfather we never met. But because of my Father’s History, and photographic records, going back to the1890’s, we feel we know him quite well.
Hubert’s military career actually began in 1894, when he enlisted in the Ranks of The 95th Derbyshire Regiment. He served for 5 years rising to the Rank of Sergeant. He went to India with the Regiment, where he was bought out of The Army by his Brother, Ernest Adair Thelwall, who was then Tea-planting. Hubert Wallace also took up Tea-planting at Doars. At the outbreak of the of the South African War he volunteered, as a Trooper, in Lumsden’s Horse, a force of Mounted Infantry. He was posted to No 1 Section ‘B’ Co. He was eventually invalided home with sickness in August 1900. (there is a very detailed book on Lumsden’s Horse, and ‘Trooper Thelwall’ gets a mention. Later the same year, he was commissioned into The West India Regiment. In 1902 he was attached to the West African Regiment. He later became Adjutant of the West India Regiment, serving in Sierra Leone and Jamaica. While in Jamaica, he met Angel May Holland Hastings & they married in 1910. They returned to England, & Our Father, Gerald, was born on 28th November 1914 in Southsea.
Our Father, Gerald, also joined the Army, and in 1935 was gazetted into The Sherwood Foresters. He served in Jamaica & Palestine before WW2, and was serving in Cyprus during 1940, where he met & married our Mother, Joy. He was in Cairo, up until 1942, then Quetta in India. Returning to England late ’43, he went across to France D Day + 6 and fought through France & Germany where he wounded in late April ’45. After the war he served in Germany, where I was` born in ’51. He served as Military Attache in Israel from ’55 to 58. In 1960 he took early retirement from the army at the age of 46, to commence a career in ‘The City’ until he retired at 65 in 1980. He started the family History in 1946, and presented the completed task in 1991 to us 3 sons. He died on October 10th 2000, almost 87!
Picture and text courtesy of Simon Thelwall.
12578 Private
Frederick Waring
7th Bn. South Lancashire Regiment
2nd October 1915, aged 20.
Plot II. H. 21.
Son of Eliza Jane Waring, of 10, Tay St., Burnley, and the late John Waring.
Frederick Waring
7th Bn. South Lancashire Regiment
2nd October 1915, aged 20.
Plot II. H. 21.
Son of Eliza Jane Waring, of 10, Tay St., Burnley, and the late John Waring.
15912 Private
Harold Stanley Willans
8th Bn. East Lancashire Regiment
22nd December 1916, aged 26.
Plot IV. B. 43.
Son of Mary Willans, of 29, Headingley Mount, Leeds, and the late William B. Willans.
Harold Stanley Willans
8th Bn. East Lancashire Regiment
22nd December 1916, aged 26.
Plot IV. B. 43.
Son of Mary Willans, of 29, Headingley Mount, Leeds, and the late William B. Willans.
Images in this gallery © Geerhard Joos
Ruined church at Richebourg-Saint-Vaast, wrecked by the Germans, probably 1915. © IWM (Q 81621)
Plotting reference: 36S 2. Key feature: Richebourg. © IWM (BOX 310-3-18JD-36S-1918)
