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OVILLERS MILITARY CEMETERY
​​​
Somme

​France


Picture
Image above © Carl Liversage  @carl_liversage
Location Information

Ovillers is a village about 5 kilometres north-east of the town of Albert off the D929 road to Bapaume. The Military Cemetery is approximately 500 metres west of the village on the D20 road to Aveluy. The Cemetery is signposted in the village. 


Visiting Information

Wheelchair access to this site is possible with some difficulty. 


Historical Information

On 1 July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme, the 8th Division attacked Ovillers and the 34th Division La Boisselle. The villages were not captured, but ground was won between them and to the south of La Boisselle. On 4 July, the 19th (Western) Division cleared La Boisselle and on 7 July the 12th (Eastern) and 25th Divisions gained part of Ovillers, the village being cleared by the 48th (South Midland) Division on 17 July. The two villages were lost during the German advance in March 1918, but they were retaken on the following 24 August by the 38th (Welsh) Division. 

Ovillers Military Cemetery was begun before the capture of Ovillers, as a battle cemetery behind a dressing station. It was used until March 1917, by which time it contained 143 graves, about half the present Plot I. The cemetery was increased after the Armistice when Commonwealth and French graves where brought in, mainly from the battlefields of Pozieres, Ovillers, La Boisselle and Contalmaison, and from the following two cemeteries:-

MASH VALLEY CEMETERY, OVILLERS-LA BOISSELLE, was about 200 metres North of Ovillers Military Cemetery. It was named from one of two valleys (Mash and Sausage) which run from South-West to North-East on either side of La Boisselle. It contained the graves of 76 soldiers from the United Kingdom who fell in July-September 1916.

RED DRAGON CEMETERY, OVILLERS-LA BOISSELLE, was midway between Ovillers and La Boisselle. It was made by the 16th and 17th Royal Welch Fusiliers, and named from their badge. It contained the graves of 25 soldiers who fell in August 1918, all of whom belonged to the 38th (Welsh) Division, and all but three to the Royal Welch Fusiliers.

There are now 3,440 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated in the cemetery. 2,480 of the burials are unidentified but there are special memorials to 24 casualties believed to be buried among them. Other special memorials record the names of 35 casualties, buried in Mash Valley Cemetery, whose graves were destroyed in later fighting. The cemetery also contains 120 French war graves.

Total Burials: 3561.

Identified Casualties: United Kingdom 913, Canada 27, Australia 17, South Africa 7, New Zealand 1. Total 965.

The cemetery was designed by
Sir Herbert Baker.

Click on an image to enlarge

Picture
17410 Private
Horace Angier
2nd Bn. Royal Berkshire Regiment
1st July 1916, aged 21.
Plot XVII. G. 6.

Horace Angier was born on the 23rd October 1894 at 12 Vansittart Street, Deptford, south-east London. He was the third child of Frederick William Angier and Keziah Jane Angier -'Holly', as he was known, had various jobs on leaving school and at one time worked a a kitchen porter. His family, originally from London's East End, lived at 4 Walker Street, Limehouse. They then moved via Bermondsey to 23 Wellfield road, Streatham, where Holly attended Wellfield Infants School. He went on to attend Sunnyville School and was a regular at the Band of Hope Sunday School. 
Sometime after the turn of the century the Angier family moved once more, to 58 Corsehill Street, Streatham, and it remained an Angier household until 1998. It was from this home that Holly left for the Great War in 1914, enlisting at the age of twenty at Lambeth into the 2nd Battalion Royal Berkshires. On joining the battalion he was placed into A Company, where he became the company runner, and it was while carrying out this duty he lost his life. 
On July 1st 1916 in Mash Valley, he was sent with a message to the Machine Gun Team at the Glory Hole at La Boisselle. On reaching his destination a shell exploded amongst them killing him and the entire machine gun team. Almost a year later, the Red Cross found an eye-witness who gave a true account of what happened to Private Angier and the Machine Gun Team. 19937 Private Hubert Hemmings, 2nd Royal Berkshires, gave a statement to the British Red Cross from his bed in the Red Cross Hospital at Torquay: On July 1st, at La Boisselle, in the Glory Hole, Private Angier was killed by a shell which came over and killed all the machine gun team. Private Angier had only been there a few minutes, having been a runner with a message to the team. "I was doing sentry duty and saw it all happen and afterwards heard enquiries made for the runner. It was in the middle of a summer morning. The 2nd Royal Berks had a terrible time from the Germans and when they were relieved that night, only 36 left the trenches." 

Picture and text courtesy of Harry Angier

Picture
Second Lieutenant 
Thomas Eyre Barton
14th Bn. attd. 2nd Bn. Royal Irish Rifles
16th July 1916.
Plot IX. K. 8.


Picture
Second Lieutenant
Arthur Horace Mortimer Brown
27th Bn. Manchester Regiment
10th July 1916, aged 29.
Plot XVII. O. 9.

​
Son of Arthur Mortimer and Susanah Kate Brown of 2 Wilkinson St., South Lambeth, London.


Picture
101123 Private
James Graham Brown
31st Bn. Canadian Infantry
15th September 1916, aged 28.
Plot XI. U. 8.

Son of Mrs. Ina Brown, of Gorebridge, Midlothian, Scotland; husband of Carrie Evelyn Emrick (formerly Brown), of Osoyoos, British Columbia, Canada.


PictureAdam Burrell 1916
12952 Private
Adam Burrell
103rd Company, Machine Gun Corps (Infantry)
1st July 1916, aged 20.
XV. W. 8.




​

Inscription "Ever Remembered"


Son of Mrs. Burrell, of Craigs, Polmont, Stirlingshire.

Picture
Adam Burrel 1915 standing with swagger stick and kilt protector. (Click on image to enlarge)
Adam Burrell; Born 1896 Channelkirk near Lauder son of Adam and Agnes Burrell, family moved to Polmont, near Falkirk,  late 1914 Adam enlisted into the Gordons Highlanders, sent to France Feb 1915 took part in the battle of Neuve Chapelle, 12th march 1915 discharged with Debility  ( Shell shock)  Late 1915 re-enlisted into Machine Gun Corp killed in action aged 20 1st July 1916 at Mash Valley Ovillers ( the Somme).

The pictures and text relating to Adam are courtesy of Iain Jamieson (Great Nephew). Iain also had another two  Great Uncles who died in the war. Daniel Mason who is buried in Athies Communal Cemetery Extension and is brother Neil who is buried in Duhallow A. D. S. Cemetery in Belgium.
Picture
21997 Private
James Cordall
1st Bn. Sherwood Foresters (Notts and Derby Regiment)
5th July 1916.
Plot XI. S. 6.


Picture
4475 Private
Cecil Augustus Dean
45th Bn. Australian Infantry, A. I. F.
8th August 1916, aged 22.
Plot XIV. O. 7

Son of Charles A Dean, of Sandringham, NSW. A commercial traveller prior to enlisting, he embarked from Sydney aboard HMAT Wandilla (A62) on 3 February 1916. He was killed in action on 8 August 1916 near Pozieres, France, aged 22. His name was originally recorded on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, France, but in 1936 his remains were discovered and re-interred in Ovillers Military Cemetery, Ovillers-La Boiselle, France.

Picture
20575 Lance Corporal
Thomas Dunn
10th Bn. Worcestershire Regiment
3rd July 1916
Plot XIII. H. 6.


Picture courtesy of Jon Dunn


Picture
14106 Private
E. Fines
9th Bn. Sherwood Foresters, (Notts and Derby Regiment)
19th September 1916, aged 26.
Plot I. C. 17.


Son of Mrs. Catherine Fines, of 20, Butler St., Radford, Nottingham.


Picture
Second Lieutenant
John Leslie Fish
7th Bn. Suffolk Regiment
3rd July 1916, aged 23.
Plot VII. K. 3.

Son of Ellen Maria Fish, of Belmont, Chigwell, Essex, and the late Frank Fish.


Picture
The men of the Worcestershire Regiment in the trenches at Ovillers with a trench-bridge at the background. August 1916. © IWM (Q 4099)
Picture
2652B Private
Sydney Leo Greenham
7th Bn. Australian Infantry, A. I. F.
18th August 1916, aged 23.
Plot XII. X. 9.

Son of Alfred Greenham, of Balranald, New South Wales.

4191 Private, A. V. Elliott reported that he saw Sydney Greenham "Wounded in the head at Pozieres about the middle of August." It was thought that he may have been taken prisoner, this was not the case and his body was later found and buried at Ovillers.


Picture
1685 Private
Ernest Henry Gregor
50th Bn. Australian Infantry, A. I. F.
16th August 1916, aged 19.
Plot XI. U. 6.

A farm hand from Quorn, South Australia, prior to enlistment, he embarked with the 2nd Reinforcements from Adelaide on 11 April 1916 aboard HMAT Aeneas for Suez. The 50th Battalion relocated to the Western Front, France, in early June 1916. Pte. Gregor was reported missing in action on 16 August 1916 during the Battle of Pozieres and was subsequently confirmed as being killed in action on that date and is buried in the Ovillers Military Cemetery, France. He was aged 19 years.

Picture
Second Lieutenant
William Christie Hickman
175th Bde. Royal Field Artillery
1st July 1916.
Plot II. A. 1.

Picture
Lieutenant 
John Baldwin Hoyle, M. C.
7th Bn. South Lancashire Regiment 
1st July 1916, aged 23.
Plot I. B. 15.

Son of Edward Lascelles Hoyle and Margaret Hoyle, of Holme Hall, Bakewell, Derbyshire. Born at Knutsford, Cheshire.

​His headstone bears the inscription; "He Asked Life of Thee And Thou Gavest It Him."


Picture
Captain
John Lauder
1st/8th Bn. Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
28th December 1916, aged 25.
Plot I. A. 6.


Son of Sir Harry Lauder and Dame Annie Lauder, of "Laudervale," Dunoon, Argyll.

His headstone bears the inscription; "Ever Loved Lauder, Never Forgotten, Father And Mother."


Picture
Captain
John Charles Thomas Leigh
6th Bn. The Buffs, (East Kent Regiment)
3rd July 1916, aged 22.
Plot IX. D. 4.

Son of Canon J. R. Leigh and Mrs. M. L. Leigh, of Yalding Vicarage, Maidstone. His brother Roland Llewellyn Leigh fell in the 1939-1945 War.

His headstone bears the inscription; "One Of The Best."
​



Picture
17353 Serjeant
Simon Jacklin
11th Bn. Suffolk Regiment
1st July 1916.
Plot V. A. 4.


Picture
7435 Private
Fred Moffatt
20th Bn. Royal Fusiliers
20th July 1916, aged 20.
Plot I. H. 20.

​
Son of Buckley Frederick and Mary Moffatt of "Burnside", Lyme Avenue, London Rd., Macclesfield.


Picture
Major
George Paterson Nunneley, M. C.
4th Bn. Bedfordshire Regiment
27th March 1918, aged 36.
Plot I. C. 30.

Son of Rev. F. B. Nunneley, M.A., M.D.

His headstone bears the inscription; "Requiescat In Pace "They Loved Not Their Lives Unto The Death" Rev. XII.12."



Picture
2431 Private
William George Lewis Perriman
23rd Bn. Australian Infantry, A. I. F.
15th February 1917, aged 30.
Plot I. E. 12.

Son of Elijah and Susan Perriman, of 72, Market St., Newport, Victoria, Australia.

His headstone bears the inscription; "Dearly Loved And Sadly Missed."

Picture
The picture on the right shows two brothers; 2489 Private (Pte) Robert Perriman (L), 5th Reinforcements, 23rd Battalion, of Newport, Vic, aged 26; and 2431 Private (Pte) William George Lewis Perriman, 5th Reinforcements, 23rd Battalion, of Newport, Vic, aged 29. Robert enlisted on 5 July 1915 and William enlisted on 12 July 1915. They both embarked from Melbourne aboard HMAT Osterley on 29 September 1915. Robert returned to Australia on 25 August 1917 as a member of the 17th Field Ambulance. William died of wounds on 15 February 1917 in France. 
Picture
Captain
Gerald Edmund Adair Rawlins
9th Bn. Royal Fusiliers
7th July 1916, aged 26.
Plot VII. Q. 8.


Son of Henry Adair Rawlins and Annie Rawlins, of 10, Old Jewry Chambers, London. B.A. (Oxon.), Barrister-at-Law.

​
His headstone bears the inscription; "Res Non Verba. Gone But Not Forgotten."


Picture
A chaplain conducting a burial service on the battlefield near Ovillers, middle of July 1916. © IWM (Q 820)
Picture
G/6040 Private
Frank Pafford Sharples
8th Bn. Royal Fusiliers
7th July 1916, aged 20.
Plot XIV. E. 2.
​

Son of James Thomas and Mary Helena Sharples, of The Manse, Evington, Leicester. Born at Newcastle-on-Tyne.

His headstone bears the inscription; "Underneath Are The Everlasting Arms."



Picture
G/16387 Private
W. G. Smith
2nd Bn. Royal Fusiliers
3rd July 1916, aged 23.
Plot VI. D. 9.

Son of Robert Guisford Smith, and Mary Jane Smith, of "Woodlands," Bowes Rd., New Southgate, London.

His headstone bears the inscription; "He Gave His Life."



Picture
Captain 
Richard Greaves Tasker
10th Bn. Worcestershire Regiment
3rd July 1916, aged 27.
Plot XI. P. 10.


Son of Greaves and Julia Tasker; husband of Vera Raymond (formerly Tasker), of Buntings, Cobham, Surrey. Born at Worcester.

His headstone bears the inscription; "God Is Our Refuge And Strength A Very Present Help In Trouble."

Picture
Captain
A. Thompson
24th (Tyneside Irish Bn.) Northumberland Fusiliers
1st July 1916
Plot V. B. 2.

Picture
Major
John Walsh, Mentioned In Despatches
22nd Bn. Royal Fusiliers
19th February 1917, aged 34.
Sp. Mem. 23.
​

Son of Mr. M. and Mrs. B. Walsh.

His headstone bears the inscription; "Died With His Face To The Foe."



Images in this gallery © Geerhard Joos

Picture
Unexploded German shell, Ovillers, 7 August 1916. © IWM (Q 1140)
Picture
Old German trench occupied by British troops. View from Albert-Pozieres road over Ovillers, September 1916. © IWM (Q 4123)
Picture

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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.

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  • Gallipoli
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