THÉLUS MILITARY CEMETERY
Pas De Calais
France
GPS Coordinates: Latitude: 50.36131, Longitude: 2.78845
Location Information
Thelus is a village in the Department of the Pas-de-Calais, west of the N17 Arras-Lens main road and 6.5 kilometres north of Arras. Thelus Military Cemetery is approximately 300 metres west of the N17, located in the open country, about 50 metres north of Thelus village.
Visiting Information
Wheelchair access is possible with some difficulty.
Historical Information
The village, which stands on the Vimy Ridge, was captured by the Canadian Corps on the 9th April 1917, and it remained in British hands until the end of the War.
The oldest part of Thelus Military Cemetery is a large grave, originally called "CB 8"* and now forming Plot II, which was made after the capture of the Ridge. The remaining Plots were made by fighting units from June 1917 to September 1918, except for Plot IV and part of Plot V, which were brought in from the battlefields of Vimy and Thelus after the Armistice.
There are 296, 1914-18 war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these, 33 are unidentified.
The cemetery covers an area of 1,459 square metres and the access path an additional area of 357 square metres. It is enclosed by a red brick wall.
*The numerous groups of graves made about this time by the Canadian Corps Burial Officer were, as a rule, not named, but serially lettered and numbered.
The cemetery was designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield and William Harrison Cowlishaw
Total Burials: 296.
Identified Casualties: Canada 213, United Kingdom 49, Germany 1. Total 263.
Unidentified Casualties: 33.
Lieutenant
Edwin Austin Abbey
4th Canadian Mounted Rifles Battalion
10th April 1917, aged 28.
Plot IV. E. 9.
Son of William Burling Abbey and Katharine Eleanor Abbey, of 1606, Mifflin St., Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.A.
His headstone bears the inscription "Thanks Be to God Who Giveth Us The Victory"
Edwin Austin Abbey
4th Canadian Mounted Rifles Battalion
10th April 1917, aged 28.
Plot IV. E. 9.
Son of William Burling Abbey and Katharine Eleanor Abbey, of 1606, Mifflin St., Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.A.
His headstone bears the inscription "Thanks Be to God Who Giveth Us The Victory"
Lieutenant
Roy Warren Biggar
116th Bn. Canadian Infantry
3rd March 1918, aged 21.
Plot III. E. 6.
Son of Sanford Dennis Biggar, K.C., and Charlotte E. Biggar, of 252, Park St., South Hamilton, Ontario.
His headstone bears the inscription "Greater Love Hath No Man Than This"
Roy Warren Biggar
116th Bn. Canadian Infantry
3rd March 1918, aged 21.
Plot III. E. 6.
Son of Sanford Dennis Biggar, K.C., and Charlotte E. Biggar, of 252, Park St., South Hamilton, Ontario.
His headstone bears the inscription "Greater Love Hath No Man Than This"
715917 Private
Wilfred Jordan
Royal Canadian Regiment
1st March 1918, aged 21.
Plot III. B. 4.
Son of George A. Jordan, of Pictou, Nova Scotia.
His headstone bears the inscription "Gone But Not Forgotten"
Wilfred Jordan
Royal Canadian Regiment
1st March 1918, aged 21.
Plot III. B. 4.
Son of George A. Jordan, of Pictou, Nova Scotia.
His headstone bears the inscription "Gone But Not Forgotten"
838355 Private
Harold Falconer McConnell
4th Canadian Mounted Rifles Battalion
9th April 1917, aged 22.
Plot IV. E. 4.
Son of Duncan and Mary Ann McConnell, of Hillsburg, Wellington, Ontario.
Harold Falconer McConnell
4th Canadian Mounted Rifles Battalion
9th April 1917, aged 22.
Plot IV. E. 4.
Son of Duncan and Mary Ann McConnell, of Hillsburg, Wellington, Ontario.
58010 Private
Frank Frederick Walker
2nd Bn. Middlesex Regiment
18th August 1918, aged 19.
Plot V. C. 5.
Son of Frank and Elizabeth Walker, of 96, Third Avenue, Queen's Park, Paddington, London.
His headstone bears the inscription "Gone From Us But Not Forgotten"
Frank Frederick Walker
2nd Bn. Middlesex Regiment
18th August 1918, aged 19.
Plot V. C. 5.
Son of Frank and Elizabeth Walker, of 96, Third Avenue, Queen's Park, Paddington, London.
His headstone bears the inscription "Gone From Us But Not Forgotten"
Images in this gallery © Werner Van Caneghem
Two Canadian Brothers who fell on the same day
(Headstone images © Werner Van Caneghem)
61330 Private Joseph Jules Albert Denis, aged 27 and his brother 416566 Private Joseph Ludger Henri Denis, aged 22 from 22nd Battalion, Canadian Infantry were both signallers and were sleeping in a dugout next to the orderly room at the battalion Headquarters on the 22nd September 1917 when a heavy shell struck. It was believed they had been asphyxiated by the fumes of the explosion. They are buried next to each other in plots I. E. 4 & I. E. 5.
Sons of Adolphe-Ludger Denis and Adèle Deguire of Montréal, Québec.
Canadian machine gunners dig themselves in on Vimy Ridge. (Library and Archive Canada)
July 1951 - ©CWGC
