LEBUCQUIÈRE COMMUNAL CEMETERY EXTENSION
Pas De Calais
France
GPS Coordinates: Latitude: 50.11181, Longitude: 2.96925
Location Information
Lebucquière is a village 8 kilometres east of Bapaume and about 2 kilometres south of the main straight road from Bapaume to Cambrai.
From Bapaume take the N30 in the direction of Cambrai. After passing the village of Beugny continue for approximately 1 kilometre. Turn right onto the D18 and continue for 1.7 kilometres. Turn left at the CWGC signpost, then right following the second CWGC signpost into a lane. 300 metres down the lane, Lebucquière Communal Cemetery Extension will be found situated behind the old communal cemetery.
Visiting Information
Wheelchair access to this cemetery is possible with some difficulty.
Historical Information
Lebucquière village was occupied by Commonwealth forces on 19 March 1917, following the German withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line. It was recaptured by the Germans on 23 March 1918, after fierce resistance by the 19th (Western) Division, and was finally reoccupied by the 5th Division on 3 September 1918.
The communal cemetery extension was begun on 24 March 1917 and was used by the 1st Australian Division and other units for almost a year. After the reoccupation of the village in September 1918, it was used again for a fortnight. At the Armistice, the cemetery contained 150 burials, but it was then greatly enlarged when graves were brought in from the surrounding battlefields.
The extension now contains 776 Commonwealth burials and commemorations of the First World War. 266 of the burials are unidentified but there are special memorials 20 casualties known or believed to be buried among them and to one soldier buried in Bertincourt German Military Cemetery, whose remains could not be found on concentration.
Recent research has shown that Lance Corporal Charles Madgwick and Serjeant James Gration D. C. M. are buried here.
Total Burials: 781.
Commonwealth Identified Casualties: United Kingdom 424, Australia 63, New Zealand 21, Canada 1, South Africa 1. Total 510.
Commonwealth Unidentified Casualties: United Kingdom 264, Australia 2. Total 266.
Other Nationalities: Germany 5.
The cemetery was designed by Sir Herbert Baker and Noel Ackroyd Rew
Images in gallery below © Johan Pauwels
March 1917: A view through a shell hole in a house in the main square, of the ruins of Bapaume. Note the horse and wagon on the left and the horse and soldiers in the foreground.
