LIÉVIN COMMUNAL CEMETERY EXTENSION
Pas De Calais
France
GPS Coordinates: Latitude: 50.41206, Longitude: 2.77659
Location Information
Liévin is a small town in the Department of the Pas-de-Calais, 3.5 kilometres west of Lens.
The Communal Cemetery is on the south-west side of the town on the road to Givenchy-en-Gohelle.
Visiting Information
Wheelchair access is possible with some difficulty.
Historical Information
Liévin was captured by the Canadian Corps on the 14th April 1917, and remained in British hands until the end of the War.
The Extension was made after the Armistice by the concentration of graves from the battlefields North and South of Lens and from certain smaller cemeteries, including:-
ACHEVILLE ROAD CEMETERY, VIMY, 800 metres East of the village, in which were buried 30 soldiers from Canada and three from the United Kingdom who fell in April and May 1917.
ANGRES CHURCHYARD, in which 26 soldiers from the United Kingdom, nine men of the Canadian Garrison Artillery and five German prisoners were buried in April-September 1917.
BOIS-DE-NOULETTE ROAD CEMETERY, on the North-East side of the hamlet of Noulette, begun by the French and containing the graves of eleven soldiers from the United Kingdom who fell in 1916.
EMMERIN GERMAN CEMETERY, between Emmerin and Haubourdin, containing the graves of two Flying Officers killed in September 1918.
HARNES COMMUNAL CEMETERY GERMAN EXTENSION, in which eight soldiers from the United Kingdom were buried in 1917.
KING'S CROSS MILITARY CEMETERY, SOUCHEZ, on the side of the ridge between Souchez and Givenchy, begun by French troops and containing the graves of six Canadian soldiers who fell in April 1917.
LA FOSSE-AUX-LOUPS FRENCH MILITARY CEMETERY, AIX NOULETTE, 460 metres East of the hamlet of Noulette, containing the graves of three men of the Royal Naval Division who fell in July 1916.
LORETTE FRENCH MILITARY CEMETERY No.5, between Noulette and the Chapel of Notre Dame, containing the graves of 48 French soldiers and those of eleven from the United Kingdom who fell in 1916. The present French National Cemetery of Notre Dame-de-Lorette is on the summit of the plateau between Noulette and Ablain-St. Nazaire, and it contains the graves of 34,000 French and Russian soldiers; the Chapel which marked the site was captured by French troops on the 12th May 1915, and a tall beacon or lighthouse is now erected on the spot as a French War Memorial.
NOULETTE ORCHARD CEMETERY, on the North-West side of the hamlet of Noulette, begun by the French and containing the graves of nine soldiers from the United Kingdom who fell in 1916.
RIAUMONT CEMETERY, LIÉVIN, on the East side of the Bois-de Riaumont, containing the graves of 19 Canadian soldiers who fell in August 1917.
The majority of the soldiers buried here fell in April 1917, but others were killed as early as January 1915, and as late as October 1918.
There are now 688, 1914-18 and 1, 1939-45 war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these, over half from the 1914-18 War are unidentified and special memorials are erected to ten soldiers from the United Kingdom and one from Canada who are believed to be buried in the Extension. Other special memorials record the names of three men of the 46th Canadian Infantry Battalion, buried at King's Cross Military Cemetery, Souchez, whose graves were destroyed by shell fire.
The cemetery covers an area of 2,294 square metres and is enclosed by a brick wall.
The Extension was designed by Arthur James Scott Hutton
Total Burials: 689.
Identified World War One Casualties: United Kingdom 199, Canada 100. Total 299.
Unidentified World War One Casualties: United Kingdom 332, Canada 56, 1 Unknown. Total 389.
Identified World War Two Burial. United Kingdom 1.
Images in gallery below © Werner Van Caneghem
Image above © Werner Van Caneghem
A gas sentry of the 20th Division in the ruins of Liévin, 13 June 1918. © IWM (Q 6699)
Two men of the King's Royal Rifle Corps (20th Division) at the entrance to their dug out under a ruined house in Liévin, 14 May 1918. © IWM (Q 6625)
Image above © Werner Van Caneghem
Two British Generals (59th Brigade of the 20th Light Division) in a trench in front of Liévin, 14 May 1918. One of them might be Major General C. G. S. Carey, the Commander of the Division. © IWM (Q 6623)
Men of the 2nd Battalion, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) washing themselves in a ruined house in Liévin, 16 May 1918. © IWM (Q 6620)
