WW1 Cemeteries.com - A photographic guide to over 4000 military cemeteries and memorials
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LONDON CEMETERY

​Neuville-Vitasse

​​​
Pas De Calais

​France


Location Information

Neuville-Vitasse is a village in the department of the Pas-de-Calais, 5 kilometres south-east of Arras on the D5. London Cemetery stands on the west side of the road to Arras in a shallow valley.


Visiting Information

Wheelchair access to the cemetery is possible, but may be by an alternative entrance.


Historical Information

Neuville-Vitasse was attacked by the 56th (London) Division on 7 April 1917 and captured by the same Division on 9 April. The village was almost entirely lost at the end of March 1918 but regained at the end of the following August. It was later "adopted" by the Metropolitan Borough of Paddington. 

The London Cemetery was made by the 56th Division in April 1917 and greatly extended after the Armistice when graves were brought in from other burial grounds and from the battlefields between Arras, Vis-en-Artois and Croisilles.

London Cemetery contains 747 burials and commemorations of the First World War. 318 of the burials are unidentified and on a screen wall are panels bearing the names of casualties buried in the following four cemeteries, whose graves were destroyed by shell fire:-

WANCOURT ROAD CEMETERY No.2, just East of NEUVILLE-VITASSE; NEUVILLE0-VITASSE MILL CEMETERY, close to a German strong point on the road to Mercatel; BEAURAINS ROAD CEMETERY No.2, just North-West of NEUVILLE-VITASSE; BEAURAINS GERMAN CEMETERY; and ERCHIN GERMAN CEMETERY (Nord).

Total Burials: 747.

Identified Casualties: United Kingdom 414, Canada 13, Australia 2. Total 429.


The cemetery was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and George Hartley Goldsmith


Shot at Dawn

Private Samuel H. Cunnington, 2nd Bn. Royal Warwickshire Regiment, executed for desertion 19th May 1917, aged 20. Plot 1. C. 1. Son of Mrs. Mary Ann Cunnington, of 25, Pope Street, Birmingham. His brother, David John also fell and he is commemorated on the Loos Memorial. In June 1916, he was sentenced to 28 days’ detention for desertion, and 6 months later went absent again as his battalion moved up for operations on the Somme.  Cunnington seems to have been at large till the end of the year, but was tried only in late April 1917 — on 2 charges of desertion, perhaps because another escape precluded an earlier trial.  His final court martial was notable for the appearance as a prosecution witness of a French woman, near whose house the accused had lodged — until she finally became suspicious and reported him to the authorities. (Putkowski, pp.173-174)

Images in this gallery © Johan Pauwels

Picture
​Second Lieutenant
Cyril Horace Askew
1st/8th Bn. Middlesex Regiment
9th April 1917.
Wancourt Road Cem. No. 2 Mem., Panel 2.​

Picture
Second Lieutenant
Rowland Edward Ernest Chaplin
7th Field Coy. Royal Engineers
22nd April 1917, aged 21.
Plot III. B. 1.

Son of Ernest M. and Gertrude Alys Chaplin, of 5, Upper Park Rd., Hampstead, London.

His headstone bears the inscription; "Of Winchester And Clare Coll. Camb. Manners Makyth Man."


Picture
Second Lieutenant
Sydney Bailey Hurst
5th Bn. Royal Scots Fusiliers
26th August 1918, aged 20.
Plot III. F. 15.

Son of Walter and Sarah Ann Hurst, of 20, Moorfield Grove, Heaton Moor, Stockport.


Picture
66255 Sergeant
Robert Ewart Gauldie Kydd
24th Bn. Canadian Infantry
11th April 1918, aged 37.
Plot II. B. 3.

Son of James and Jean Laken Guild Kydd, of Letham Mill, St. Vigeans, Arbroath, Scotland. Also served for 8 years in The Scots Guards.


Picture
5474 Private
Albert Richard Kyle
22nd Bn. Australian Infantry, A. I. F.
3rd May 1917, aged 38.
Plot II. L. 15.

Son of James William Kyle and Ellen Kyle; husband of Isabella M. Kyle, of Frances St., Bairnsdale, Victoria, Australia. Native of Woods Point, Victoria.

​His headstone bears the inscription; "For Ever With The Lord, A Noble Sacrifice."

Picture
R/11731 Rifleman
Harry Lee
7th Bn. King's Royal Rifle Corps
11th May 1917.
Wancourt Road Cem. No. 2 Mem. Panel 2.

Picture
Field kitchens and British troops resting on the road between Neuville and Wancourt, 29 April 1917. © IWM (Q 5269)
Picture
472578 Rifleman
Charles Frederick Marchant Blizard
12th Bn. London Regiment (The Rangers)
9th April 1917, aged 25.
Plot I. A. 34.

Son of Frederick William B. and Emily A. Blizard Marchant, of 386, Grove Green Rd., Leytonstone, London.

His headstone bears the inscription; "A New Commandment I Give Unto You That Ye Love One Another." (Biblical; John 13:34)


Picture
Second Lieutenant
James Alexander Masson
38th Heavy Bty. Royal Garrison Artillery
8th May 1917, aged 25.
Neuville-Vitasse Mill Cem. Mem., Panel 3.

Son of James and Elizabeth Masson, of 83, Charlotte St., Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire.

His headstone bears the inscription; "The Morning Shall Awaken."

Picture
30915 Private
Frederick William Pestell
7th Bn. Bedfordshire Regiment
28th April 1917.
Wancourt Road Cem. No. 2 Mem. Panel 2.​


Picture
Aerial reconnaissance photograph taken in the Neuville Vitasse area, and map showing precise area covered by the photograph. © IWM (HU 53508)

Screen Wall bearing the names of casualties buried in the following four cemeteries, whose graves were destroyed by shell fire:-

Wancourt Road Cemetery No. 2

Neuville-Vitasse Mill Cemetery

Beaurains Road Cemetery No. 2

Erchin German Cemetery

Pictures © Johan Pauwels

NEARBY CWGC CEMETERIES & MEMORIALS
​

Tilloy British Cemetery
Beaurains Road Cemetery

World War Two Cemeteries
​

Please ask permission if you wish to use any of our images by using the contact tab above
​

Picture
Commonwealth War Graves
​Commission
Picture
Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Picture
Australian War Memorial
Picture
New Zealand Online Cenotaph

​© COPYRIGHT TERENCE HEARD AND BRENT WHITTAM
​ 2005-2023 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
.​
Disclaimer 

The casualty numbers for each cemetery and G. P. S. Coordinates are taken from the C. W. G. C. site. We are aware that there can be discrepancies in the burial numbers quoted due to rededication burials.

  • Home
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  • Belgium
    • Commonwealth Cemeteries in Belgium in Alphabetical Order
    • Commonwealth Cemeteries in Belgium >
      • HAINAUT
      • WEST-VLAANDEREN
      • OTHER BELGIAN DEPARTMENTS
    • BELGIAN MILITARY CEMETERIES
    • BELGIAN MEMORIALS
  • France
    • Commonwealth Cemeteries in France in Alphabetical Order
    • Commonwealth Cemeteries in France >
      • AISNE
      • MARNE
      • NORD
      • OISE
      • PAS DE CALAIS
      • SEINE-ET-MARNE
      • SEINE-MARITIME
      • SOMME
      • OTHER FRENCH DEPARTMENTS
    • FRENCH CEMETERIES WORLDWIDE
    • French Memorials
  • Gallipoli
  • Other CWGC Countries
  • GERMAN CEMETERIES
  • OTHER WAR AND MILITARY CEMETERIES
  • Architects
  • Shot at Dawn
  • Victoria Cross
  • Miscellaneous
  • Regimental Badges
  • "Silent Cities" Revisited