ROSSIGNOL WOOD CEMETERY
Hébuterne
Pas De Calais
France
GPS Coordinates - Latitude: 50.12957, Longitude: 2.66549
© Johan Pauwels
Location Information
Hébuterne is a village which lies about 20 kilometres south-west of Arras. Rossignol Wood Cemetery lies approximately one kilometre north-east of the village, on the road between Gommecourt and Puisieux (D6).
Visiting Information
Wheelchair access with some difficulty.
Historical Information
Hébuterne village remained in Allied hands from March 1915, to the Armistice, although during the German advances in the summer of 1918, it was practically on the front line.
Rossignol Wood was taken by the Germans at the end of March 1918 and recovered in the following July. The cemetery was begun in March 1917, by the 46th Division Burial Officer, about 350 metres to the west of the wood. The German plot was added after the Armistice when graves were brought in from the battlefields immediately to the south and south-west.
The cemetery contains 41 Commonwealth burials of the First World War, two of them are unidentified. There are also 70 German war graves, 42 being unidentified.
Total Burials: 111.
World War One Identified Casualties: Germany 38, United Kingdom 32. New Zealand 7. Total 67.
World War One Unidentified Casualties: Germany 42, United Kingdom 2. Total 44.
The cemetery was designed by Noel Ackroyd Rew
Hébuterne is a village which lies about 20 kilometres south-west of Arras. Rossignol Wood Cemetery lies approximately one kilometre north-east of the village, on the road between Gommecourt and Puisieux (D6).
Visiting Information
Wheelchair access with some difficulty.
Historical Information
Hébuterne village remained in Allied hands from March 1915, to the Armistice, although during the German advances in the summer of 1918, it was practically on the front line.
Rossignol Wood was taken by the Germans at the end of March 1918 and recovered in the following July. The cemetery was begun in March 1917, by the 46th Division Burial Officer, about 350 metres to the west of the wood. The German plot was added after the Armistice when graves were brought in from the battlefields immediately to the south and south-west.
The cemetery contains 41 Commonwealth burials of the First World War, two of them are unidentified. There are also 70 German war graves, 42 being unidentified.
Total Burials: 111.
World War One Identified Casualties: Germany 38, United Kingdom 32. New Zealand 7. Total 67.
World War One Unidentified Casualties: Germany 42, United Kingdom 2. Total 44.
The cemetery was designed by Noel Ackroyd Rew
Cemetery images in gallery below © Johan Pauwels
15327 Rifleman
Norman Barrow
1st Bn. 3rd New Zealand Rifle Brigade
6th August 1918, aged 27.
Row B. 17.
Son of Charles and Catherine Barrow, of Taranaki, New Zealand.
Norman Barrow
1st Bn. 3rd New Zealand Rifle Brigade
6th August 1918, aged 27.
Row B. 17.
Son of Charles and Catherine Barrow, of Taranaki, New Zealand.
69758 Private
Ben Broadhead
2nd Bn. Wellington Regiment, N.Z.E.F.
13th August 1918, aged 21.
Row B. 21.
Son of Joseph and Martha Broahead, of Gisborne, New Zealand, formerly of Bolton, England.
Ben Broadhead
2nd Bn. Wellington Regiment, N.Z.E.F.
13th August 1918, aged 21.
Row B. 21.
Son of Joseph and Martha Broahead, of Gisborne, New Zealand, formerly of Bolton, England.
59326 Private
William Leonard Collier
2nd Bn. Wellington Regiment, N.Z.E.F.
11th August 1918.
Row B. 19.
William Leonard Collier
2nd Bn. Wellington Regiment, N.Z.E.F.
11th August 1918.
Row B. 19.
62021 Rifleman
Eric Coulson
1st Bn. 3rd New Zealand Rifle Brigade
6th August 1918, aged 21.
Row B. 16.
Son of Jesse and Anne Coulson, of North Botany, New South Wales, Australia.
Eric Coulson
1st Bn. 3rd New Zealand Rifle Brigade
6th August 1918, aged 21.
Row B. 16.
Son of Jesse and Anne Coulson, of North Botany, New South Wales, Australia.
51363 Rifleman
Rudolph Bernard Joseph Feil
1st Bn. 3rd New Zealand Rifle Brigade
8th August 1918, aged 32.
Row B. 18.
Son of the late Mr. and Mrs. J. O. Feil, of Wain St., Kensington, Dunedin, New Zealand; husband of Isabel A. Feil, of Morningside, Auckland.
Rudolph Bernard Joseph Feil
1st Bn. 3rd New Zealand Rifle Brigade
8th August 1918, aged 32.
Row B. 18.
Son of the late Mr. and Mrs. J. O. Feil, of Wain St., Kensington, Dunedin, New Zealand; husband of Isabel A. Feil, of Morningside, Auckland.
200088 Corporal
Joseph Handy
1st/5th Bn. South Staffordshire Regiment
14th March 1917.
Row B. 3.
Joseph Handy
1st/5th Bn. South Staffordshire Regiment
14th March 1917.
Row B. 3.
50028 Rifleman
Frank George Moore
1st Bn. 3rd New Zealand Rifle Brigade
6th August 1918, aged 23.
Row B. 15.
Son of John and Alice Moore, of Parnell, Auckland, New Zealand.
Frank George Moore
1st Bn. 3rd New Zealand Rifle Brigade
6th August 1918, aged 23.
Row B. 15.
Son of John and Alice Moore, of Parnell, Auckland, New Zealand.
203120 Private
Charles Mycock
1st/5th Bn. North Staffordshire Regiment
14th March 1917, aged 36.
Row A. 14.
Son of Edwin and Elizabeth Mycock. Born at Buxton, Derbyshire.
His headstone bears the inscription; "Thy Will Be Done."
Charles Mycock
1st/5th Bn. North Staffordshire Regiment
14th March 1917, aged 36.
Row A. 14.
Son of Edwin and Elizabeth Mycock. Born at Buxton, Derbyshire.
His headstone bears the inscription; "Thy Will Be Done."
203385 Private
John Nicklin
1st/5th Bn. South Staffordshire Regiment
14th March 1917, aged 23.
Row B. 11.
Son of John and Annie Nicklin. Born at Kidderminster.
John Nicklin
1st/5th Bn. South Staffordshire Regiment
14th March 1917, aged 23.
Row B. 11.
Son of John and Annie Nicklin. Born at Kidderminster.
300675 Private
Charles Pointon
1st/5th Bn. North Staffordshire Regiment
14th March 1917.
Row A. 16.
Charles Pointon
1st/5th Bn. North Staffordshire Regiment
14th March 1917.
Row A. 16.
55868 Private
Frank Forbes Reid
2nd Bn. Wellington Regiment, N.Z.E.F.
16th August 1918, aged 21.
Row B. 20.
Son of Charles and Margaret Reid. Born at Clareville.
Frank Forbes Reid
2nd Bn. Wellington Regiment, N.Z.E.F.
16th August 1918, aged 21.
Row B. 20.
Son of Charles and Margaret Reid. Born at Clareville.
203282 Private
Sidney Toon
1st/5th Bn. South Staffordshire Regiment
14th March 1917.
Row B. 1.
Sidney Toon
1st/5th Bn. South Staffordshire Regiment
14th March 1917.
Row B. 1.
Captain
Arthur Felix Wedgwood
1st/5th Bn. North Staffordshire Regiment
14th March 1917, aged 39.
Row A. 5.
Son of Clement Francis and Emily Catherine Wedgwood, of Barlaston, Staffs; husband of Katharine Longstaff Wedgwood, of The Grange, Ightham, Kent.
His headstone bears the inscription; "Until The Day Break And The Shadows Flee Away."
Arthur Felix Wedgwood
1st/5th Bn. North Staffordshire Regiment
14th March 1917, aged 39.
Row A. 5.
Son of Clement Francis and Emily Catherine Wedgwood, of Barlaston, Staffs; husband of Katharine Longstaff Wedgwood, of The Grange, Ightham, Kent.
His headstone bears the inscription; "Until The Day Break And The Shadows Flee Away."
Captain
Samuel Brammer Wilton
"C" Coy. 1st/5th Bn. North Staffordshire Regiment
14th March 1917, aged 25.
Row A. 4.
Son of Samuel and Mary Emmie Wilton, of The Nook, Albany Rd., Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffs.
His headstone bears the inscription; "Nobly He Lived And Bravely He Died."
Samuel Brammer Wilton
"C" Coy. 1st/5th Bn. North Staffordshire Regiment
14th March 1917, aged 25.
Row A. 4.
Son of Samuel and Mary Emmie Wilton, of The Nook, Albany Rd., Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffs.
His headstone bears the inscription; "Nobly He Lived And Bravely He Died."
April 1918; Unidentified members of a raiding party of "A" Company, 16th Battalion, A. I. F., after a successful raid. The three men in the foreground are wearing bags containing gas masks around their necks. Attached to the bags are replacement carbon cylinders for the masks. An improvised light is on a pole behind the men.
A view of Nameless Trench, a scene of severe fighting and heavy casualties at the end of March 1918, when the 4th Australian Infantry Brigade was detached from the Australian Corps and hurriedly thrown in with a British Division to check the German advance on this sector.
Shell hole in the wall of a house at Hebuterne, 1916. © IWM (Q 1635)
A makeshift YMCA centre near Rossignol Wood. Courtesy;
Auckland Museum
A New Zealand soldier carries water to the front line through the newly captured Rossignol Wood. 10 August 1918. Courtesy;
Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington. Ref: 1/2-013462-G.
1961 - ©CWGC
