ST. ACHEUL FRENCH NATIONAL CEMETERY
Amiens
Somme
France
GPS Coordinates: Latitude: 49.87764, Longitude: 2.31672
Image above © Thierry Grier
Location Information
St. Acheul is one of the town cemeteries, on a side road a little south of the main road to Longueau. It is on the south-east quarter of the city, near the church of St. Acheul. Twelve British graves make up the British plot in the French National Cemetery on the left hand side of the entrance.
History Information
During part of August 1914, Amiens was the British Advanced Base. It was captured by the Germans on 31 August, and retaken by the French on the following 13 September. The German offensive which began in March 1918 had Amiens for at least one of its objectives but the Battle of Amiens (8 - 11 August 1918) is the Allied name for the action by which the counter-offensive, the Advance to Victory, was begun. The 7th General Hospital was at Amiens in August 1914; the 56th (South Midland) Casualty Clearing Station from April to July 1916; the New Zealand Stationary Hospital from July 1916 to May 1917; the 42nd Stationary Hospital from October 1917 to March 1919; and the 41st Stationary Hospital in March 1918, and again in December 1918 and January 1919. From August 1914 to August 1915, Commonwealth servicemen were buried in the town cemetery and in 1918, one other was buried in the extension which became the French National Cemetery. These graves were regrouped in 1921 in the present Commonwealth Plot of the French National Cemetery, on the left hand side of the entrance.
The Commonwealth plot contains 12 U. K. First World War burials.
Commonwealth and Belgian plot
1877 Private
John Kennedy Cameron
1st/6th Bn. Black Watch (Royal Highlanders)
11th August 1915, aged 29.
Son of Robina Tulloch Cameron, of Glenbruach Lodge, Trossachs, Callander, Perthshire, and the late Thomas Cameron.
His headstone bears the inscription "His Task Is Done Heaven Is Won"
John Kennedy Cameron
1st/6th Bn. Black Watch (Royal Highlanders)
11th August 1915, aged 29.
Son of Robina Tulloch Cameron, of Glenbruach Lodge, Trossachs, Callander, Perthshire, and the late Thomas Cameron.
His headstone bears the inscription "His Task Is Done Heaven Is Won"
3363 Rifleman
John Percy Rice Cooke
9th Bn. London Regiment (Queen Victoria's Rifles)
11th September 1915, aged 21.
Son of Percy and Esther Cooke, of 101, Church Rd., Richmond, Surrey.
His headstone bears the inscription "The Lord Upholdeth All That Fall Psalm 145 Verse 14"
John Percy Rice Cooke
9th Bn. London Regiment (Queen Victoria's Rifles)
11th September 1915, aged 21.
Son of Percy and Esther Cooke, of 101, Church Rd., Richmond, Surrey.
His headstone bears the inscription "The Lord Upholdeth All That Fall Psalm 145 Verse 14"
725 Air Mechanic 2nd Class
Herbert Edward Parfitt
Royal Flying Corps
16th August 1914, aged 21.
Son of William James and Clara Parfitt, of 48, St. John's Hill Grove, Clapham Junction, London. Native of Goydon.
Click on image to enlarge
Herbert Edward Parfitt
Royal Flying Corps
16th August 1914, aged 21.
Son of William James and Clara Parfitt, of 48, St. John's Hill Grove, Clapham Junction, London. Native of Goydon.
Click on image to enlarge
Second Lieutenant
Evelyn Walter Copland Perry
Royal Flying Corps
16th August 1914, aged 23.
Son of Walter Copland Perry, M.A., Ph.D., Barrister-at-Law, and Evelyn F. Perry (nee Stopford), of 29, Thurloe Square, South Kensington, London. The first British Officer killed on active service in France during the Great War.
His headstone bears the inscription" First On The Roll Of Honour All Glory To His Name"
Evelyn Walter Copland Perry
Royal Flying Corps
16th August 1914, aged 23.
Son of Walter Copland Perry, M.A., Ph.D., Barrister-at-Law, and Evelyn F. Perry (nee Stopford), of 29, Thurloe Square, South Kensington, London. The first British Officer killed on active service in France during the Great War.
His headstone bears the inscription" First On The Roll Of Honour All Glory To His Name"
Other Burial Details
2211 Private Ernest Brightman, 1st/1st Bucks Bn. Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry, died 31st August 1915, aged 23. Son of William and Emily Brightman, of Great Linford, Bucks; husband of Margaret Brightman, of Acacia Cottage, Felbridge, East Grinstead, Sussex. His headstone bears the inscription "His Soul To Him Who Gave It Rose God Lead It To Its Long Repose"
8977 Private William John Dobson, "A" Company, 1st Bn. Wiltshire Regiment, died 24th December 1914, aged 19. Son of Samuel Dobson, of "South View," Axford, Marlborough, Wilts, and the late Emily Dobson. His headstone bears the inscription "Be Thou Faithful Unto Death And I Will Give Thee A Crown Of Life"
16826 Private W. Dunford, 1st Bn. Hampshire Regiment, died 1st September 1915.
277 Armament Staff Sergeant Frederic Daniel Hill, 5th Company, Army Ordnance Corps, attached to 118th Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery, died 5th September 1915, aged 35. Youngest son of J. J. and E. Hill, of Dover; husband of Ethel Hill, of 19, Buckland Avenue, Dover.
9157 Private W. R. Mayes, 2nd Bn. King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, died 4th December 1914.
2421 Private J. Mellor, 1st Bn. King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment), died 9th August 1915.
1050 Lance Corporal Evan Richards, "A" Company, 2nd Bn. Welsh Regiment, died 11th December 1914, aged 23. Son of Daniel and Sarah Richards, of Merthyr Tydfil, Glam. His headstone bears the inscription "The Great War For The World's Freedom He Gave His Life For An Early Grave"
72387 Gunner W. M. Smith, 14th Division Ammunition Col. Royal Field Artillery, died 6th April 1918.
14th Div. Ammunition Col.
St. Acheul French National Cemetery
Located northeast of Amiens, the Amiens Saint-Acheul National Cemetery contains the remains of soldiers who died for France during the First World War, and more specifically those killed in the fighting that took place in the Somme department. This cemetery holds 2,774 bodies, including 2,740 French soldiers, twelve British, nine Belgians, one Russian, one Chinese laborer, as well as Indochinese and Malagasy soldiers, for the period 1914-1918, and ten French soldiers for 1939-1945. Established in 1921 and then again in 1935, this cemetery incorporates remains exhumed from the cemeteries of Boves, Cagny, Conty, and Thoix.
In the cemetery, a war memorial, financed by the Souvenir Français (French Remembrance Society), was created by the Amiens sculptor Albert Roze. It was inaugurated on July 27, 1924, during the Congress of the National Union of Reserve Officers, in the presence of Marshal Joffre. The limestone monument is in the form of an obelisk, surmounted by a flaming urn and adorned with two figurative representations in high relief. A statue of a woman representing an allegory of mourning was added in front of the monument in 1925.
In the cemetery, a war memorial, financed by the Souvenir Français (French Remembrance Society), was created by the Amiens sculptor Albert Roze. It was inaugurated on July 27, 1924, during the Congress of the National Union of Reserve Officers, in the presence of Marshal Joffre. The limestone monument is in the form of an obelisk, surmounted by a flaming urn and adorned with two figurative representations in high relief. A statue of a woman representing an allegory of mourning was added in front of the monument in 1925.
