MILLENCOURT COMMUNAL CEMETERY EXTENSION
Somme
France
Location Information
Millencourt is a village which lies approximately 2 kilometres west of Albert on the D91. Millencourt Communal Cemetery Extension lies to the north of the village on the road to Henencourt.
Historical Information
The communal cemetery was used by units and field ambulances from August 1915 to May 1916, and again in April 1918, but after the Armistice the 64 burials were moved into the extension. The extension was used by units, field ambulances, and the III Corps Main Dressing Station in 1916, and by the 4th Australian Division and other units in March and April 1918.
Millencourt Communal Cemetery Extension now contains 340 Commonwealth burials of the First World War, and five German burials.
Casualty Details: UK 275, Canada 7, Australia 50, New Zealand 7, South Africa 1, Germany 5, Total Burials: 345.
The extension was designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield
Millencourt is a village which lies approximately 2 kilometres west of Albert on the D91. Millencourt Communal Cemetery Extension lies to the north of the village on the road to Henencourt.
Historical Information
The communal cemetery was used by units and field ambulances from August 1915 to May 1916, and again in April 1918, but after the Armistice the 64 burials were moved into the extension. The extension was used by units, field ambulances, and the III Corps Main Dressing Station in 1916, and by the 4th Australian Division and other units in March and April 1918.
Millencourt Communal Cemetery Extension now contains 340 Commonwealth burials of the First World War, and five German burials.
Casualty Details: UK 275, Canada 7, Australia 50, New Zealand 7, South Africa 1, Germany 5, Total Burials: 345.
The extension was designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield
2288A Private
Ernest John Henry Berryman, M. M.
46th Bn. Australian Infantry, A. I. F.
5th April 1918, aged 26.
Row B. 59.
Son of Alfred Caleb and Matilda Berryman, of Pine Grove, Glen Forbes, Victoria, Australia. Native of Tasmania.
Originally a member of the 29th Battalion, of Glen Forbes, Vic. Pte Berryman enlisted on 24 November 1915 and embarked aboard HMAT Anchises in Melbourne on 14 March 1916. He was serving with the 46th Battalion when he was killed in action at Millencourt Farm, France, on 5 April 1918. On 16 July 1918 he was posthumously awarded a Military Medal.
Ernest John Henry Berryman, M. M.
46th Bn. Australian Infantry, A. I. F.
5th April 1918, aged 26.
Row B. 59.
Son of Alfred Caleb and Matilda Berryman, of Pine Grove, Glen Forbes, Victoria, Australia. Native of Tasmania.
Originally a member of the 29th Battalion, of Glen Forbes, Vic. Pte Berryman enlisted on 24 November 1915 and embarked aboard HMAT Anchises in Melbourne on 14 March 1916. He was serving with the 46th Battalion when he was killed in action at Millencourt Farm, France, on 5 April 1918. On 16 July 1918 he was posthumously awarded a Military Medal.
Lieutenant
William Harold Jennings
46th Bn. Australian Infantry, A. I. F.
3rd April 1918, aged 27.
Row B. 49.
Son of William and Alice Hawthorn Jennings, of Newbridge, Victoria, Australia.
From Newbridge-on-Lodden, Victoria. A civil servant prior to enlisting, he embarked from Melbourne aboard HMAT Ceramic (A40) on 23 November 1915 as 3792 Private Jennings, 14th Battalion. On 3 April 1918, he was killed in action near Dernancourt, France, aged 27, by this time he was a Lieutenant in the 46th Battalion.
William Harold Jennings
46th Bn. Australian Infantry, A. I. F.
3rd April 1918, aged 27.
Row B. 49.
Son of William and Alice Hawthorn Jennings, of Newbridge, Victoria, Australia.
From Newbridge-on-Lodden, Victoria. A civil servant prior to enlisting, he embarked from Melbourne aboard HMAT Ceramic (A40) on 23 November 1915 as 3792 Private Jennings, 14th Battalion. On 3 April 1918, he was killed in action near Dernancourt, France, aged 27, by this time he was a Lieutenant in the 46th Battalion.
10064 Private
Harry Lucas
1st Bn. Wiltshire Regiment
14th July 1916, aged 22.
Row C. 9.
Son of Eli J. and Mary Lucas, of 74, Park Lane, Chippenham.
Harry was born in 1894 at Chippenham, Wiltshire. Harry was the seventh of ten children to Eli Lucas and Mary Poole. Harry's six elder siblings were Leonard, William Adelleh, Gilbert, Francis and Maud and the three younger were Kathleen, Stanley and Wilfred.
The 1901 census has Harry living with his family at 89, Woodlands in Chippenham. By the time of the Great War the family had moved to 74, Park Lane.
Not much is known about Harry's life but it is known that he was a keen footballer and Played for Chippenham Rovers FC and worked as a postman. Harry signed up with the Wiltshire Regiment early on in the 1914-18 war with Germany. Harry was wounded during the Dardanelles campaign. In 1916 Harry had recovered and was sent across to northern France for the British assault on the Somme. Harry was sadly killed in the first fortnight of the Somme battle.
The following is a short extract from Lyn MacDonald’s book ‘Somme’ which describes the attack in which Harry Lucas was fatally wounded:
Description of the assault on La Boiselle in July 1914.
Private Roy Bealing, MM No3457, 6th Battalion, The Wiltshire regiment, 19th (Western) Division.
"Captain Reid came along the top of the trench – right out in the open! – I suppose it was the only way he could pass the word along the company and he must have had a couple of machine-gun bullets through his water bottle because the water was spouting out of it. He yelled down 'Fix your bayonets and get ready to go over when you hear the whistle.' I was beside a chap called Lucas and he was a bundle of nerves. He was shaking, yes. He was simply shivering and shaking like a leaf. He could hardly hold his rifle, never mind fix his bayonet, the state he was in! So I fixed mine and then I said 'Here you are Lucas,' and I fixed his for him. It would have taken him a week to fix his bayonet the state he was in! He wasn't one of a new draft. He was one of the older ones, and I was right sorry for him"
"When the whistle went, I threw my rifle on top of the trench and clambered out of it, grabbed the rifle and started going forward. There were shell-holes everywhere. I hadn't gone far before I fell in one of them. There were so many shell-holes you couldn't get round them. But you had to go on so, every time I stumbled and fell in a shell-hole, I just waited a quarter of a minute, had another breath, then out of it and on again. I must of fallen half a dozen times before I got to the first line, and there were lads falling all over the place. You didn't know whether they were tripping up like me or whether they were going down with bullets in them, because it wasn't just the shells exploding round about, it was the machine guns hammering out like hell from the third German line because it was on slightly higher ground. Lucas went down. He was killed before he even got to the first trench – the one that was partly in our hands."
Harry was not killed as Roy Bealing thought but died days later at the field hospital at Millencourt on the 14th July 1916.
Picture and text courtesy of Duncan Cook and Tony Brown
Harry Lucas
1st Bn. Wiltshire Regiment
14th July 1916, aged 22.
Row C. 9.
Son of Eli J. and Mary Lucas, of 74, Park Lane, Chippenham.
Harry was born in 1894 at Chippenham, Wiltshire. Harry was the seventh of ten children to Eli Lucas and Mary Poole. Harry's six elder siblings were Leonard, William Adelleh, Gilbert, Francis and Maud and the three younger were Kathleen, Stanley and Wilfred.
The 1901 census has Harry living with his family at 89, Woodlands in Chippenham. By the time of the Great War the family had moved to 74, Park Lane.
Not much is known about Harry's life but it is known that he was a keen footballer and Played for Chippenham Rovers FC and worked as a postman. Harry signed up with the Wiltshire Regiment early on in the 1914-18 war with Germany. Harry was wounded during the Dardanelles campaign. In 1916 Harry had recovered and was sent across to northern France for the British assault on the Somme. Harry was sadly killed in the first fortnight of the Somme battle.
The following is a short extract from Lyn MacDonald’s book ‘Somme’ which describes the attack in which Harry Lucas was fatally wounded:
Description of the assault on La Boiselle in July 1914.
Private Roy Bealing, MM No3457, 6th Battalion, The Wiltshire regiment, 19th (Western) Division.
"Captain Reid came along the top of the trench – right out in the open! – I suppose it was the only way he could pass the word along the company and he must have had a couple of machine-gun bullets through his water bottle because the water was spouting out of it. He yelled down 'Fix your bayonets and get ready to go over when you hear the whistle.' I was beside a chap called Lucas and he was a bundle of nerves. He was shaking, yes. He was simply shivering and shaking like a leaf. He could hardly hold his rifle, never mind fix his bayonet, the state he was in! So I fixed mine and then I said 'Here you are Lucas,' and I fixed his for him. It would have taken him a week to fix his bayonet the state he was in! He wasn't one of a new draft. He was one of the older ones, and I was right sorry for him"
"When the whistle went, I threw my rifle on top of the trench and clambered out of it, grabbed the rifle and started going forward. There were shell-holes everywhere. I hadn't gone far before I fell in one of them. There were so many shell-holes you couldn't get round them. But you had to go on so, every time I stumbled and fell in a shell-hole, I just waited a quarter of a minute, had another breath, then out of it and on again. I must of fallen half a dozen times before I got to the first line, and there were lads falling all over the place. You didn't know whether they were tripping up like me or whether they were going down with bullets in them, because it wasn't just the shells exploding round about, it was the machine guns hammering out like hell from the third German line because it was on slightly higher ground. Lucas went down. He was killed before he even got to the first trench – the one that was partly in our hands."
Harry was not killed as Roy Bealing thought but died days later at the field hospital at Millencourt on the 14th July 1916.
Picture and text courtesy of Duncan Cook and Tony Brown
Lieutenant
Theophilus William Perry
45th Bn. Australian Infantry, A. I. F.
5th April 1918, aged 22.
Row C. 26.
Son of John William and Louisa Michell Perry, of Dartbrook Rd., Auburn, New South Wales.
Private (later Lieutenant) Theophilus William Perry, originally 1st (later 45th) Battalion of Auburn, NSW. A wood machinist prior to enlisting, he embarked from Sydney aboard HMAT Aeneas (A60) on 20 December 1915. He was killed in action on 5 April 1918 at Dernancourt, France, aged 22.
Theophilus William Perry
45th Bn. Australian Infantry, A. I. F.
5th April 1918, aged 22.
Row C. 26.
Son of John William and Louisa Michell Perry, of Dartbrook Rd., Auburn, New South Wales.
Private (later Lieutenant) Theophilus William Perry, originally 1st (later 45th) Battalion of Auburn, NSW. A wood machinist prior to enlisting, he embarked from Sydney aboard HMAT Aeneas (A60) on 20 December 1915. He was killed in action on 5 April 1918 at Dernancourt, France, aged 22.
3128 Private
Roy Montgomery Robertson, M. M.
46th Bn. Australian Infantry, A. I. F.
3rd April 1918, aged 22.
Row B. 51.
Son of the late David Jeffrey Robertson and Mary Robertson, Native of Alberton, Victoria, Australia.
Roy Montgomery Robertson, 10th Reinforcements, 6th Battalion, of Bena, Vic. Pte Robertson enlisted on 17 July 1915 and embarked from Melbourne aboard HMAT Osterley on 29 September 1915. He was awarded the Military Medal (MM) by General Birdwood in October 1917 (gazetted on 28 January 1918), ...'for gallantry in rescuing unaided, a wounded comrade under heavy fire'. Pte Robertson was killed in action on 3 April 1918 near Albert, France, while serving with the 46th Battalion.
Roy Montgomery Robertson, M. M.
46th Bn. Australian Infantry, A. I. F.
3rd April 1918, aged 22.
Row B. 51.
Son of the late David Jeffrey Robertson and Mary Robertson, Native of Alberton, Victoria, Australia.
Roy Montgomery Robertson, 10th Reinforcements, 6th Battalion, of Bena, Vic. Pte Robertson enlisted on 17 July 1915 and embarked from Melbourne aboard HMAT Osterley on 29 September 1915. He was awarded the Military Medal (MM) by General Birdwood in October 1917 (gazetted on 28 January 1918), ...'for gallantry in rescuing unaided, a wounded comrade under heavy fire'. Pte Robertson was killed in action on 3 April 1918 near Albert, France, while serving with the 46th Battalion.
