VILLERS-BRETONNEUX COMMUNAL CEMETERY
Somme
France
Location Information
Villers-Bretonneux is a village 16 kilometres east of Amiens on the straight main road to St. Quentin. The Cemetery is about 2 kilometres north of the village on the east side of the road to Fouilloy.
Historical Information
Villers-Bretonneux became famous in 1918, when the German advance on Amiens ended in the capture of the village by their tanks and infantry on 23 April. On the following day, the 4th and 5th Australian Divisions, with units of the 8th and 18th Divisions, recaptured the whole of the village and on 8 August 1918, the 2nd and 5th Australian Divisions advanced from its eastern outskirts in the Battle of Amiens.
Villers-Bretonneux Communal Cemetery was used by Commonwealth forces in March-August 1918 and contains 12 First World War burials.
Pictures © Jean-Claude Graux unless stated otherwise
Villers-Bretonneux is a village 16 kilometres east of Amiens on the straight main road to St. Quentin. The Cemetery is about 2 kilometres north of the village on the east side of the road to Fouilloy.
Historical Information
Villers-Bretonneux became famous in 1918, when the German advance on Amiens ended in the capture of the village by their tanks and infantry on 23 April. On the following day, the 4th and 5th Australian Divisions, with units of the 8th and 18th Divisions, recaptured the whole of the village and on 8 August 1918, the 2nd and 5th Australian Divisions advanced from its eastern outskirts in the Battle of Amiens.
Villers-Bretonneux Communal Cemetery was used by Commonwealth forces in March-August 1918 and contains 12 First World War burials.
Pictures © Jean-Claude Graux unless stated otherwise
4776 Lance Corporal
William James Connaughton, M. M.
48th Bn. Australian Infantry, A, I, F.
14th May 1918.
Son of James and Mary Jane Connaughton, of Hubert St., Guildford, Western Australia. Born at Lion Mill, Western Australia.
Studio portrait of 4776 Gunner (later Lance Corporal (L Cpl)) William James Connaughton, Field Artillery Brigade Reinforcements, of Lion Mill, Western Australia. A mill hand prior to enlistment, he embarked from Melbourne on 9 November 1917 on HMAT Port Sydney and was later assigned to the 48th Battalion. L Cpl Connaughton was killed in action on 14 May 1918 at Villers Bretonneux.
William James Connaughton, M. M.
48th Bn. Australian Infantry, A, I, F.
14th May 1918.
Son of James and Mary Jane Connaughton, of Hubert St., Guildford, Western Australia. Born at Lion Mill, Western Australia.
Studio portrait of 4776 Gunner (later Lance Corporal (L Cpl)) William James Connaughton, Field Artillery Brigade Reinforcements, of Lion Mill, Western Australia. A mill hand prior to enlistment, he embarked from Melbourne on 9 November 1917 on HMAT Port Sydney and was later assigned to the 48th Battalion. L Cpl Connaughton was killed in action on 14 May 1918 at Villers Bretonneux.
Click on the Individual Headstone for Details
The graves of 4776 Lance Corporal (L Cpl) William James Connaughton MM and 3667 Private (Pte) Edward Keefe, members of the 48th Battalion, located in the Villers-Bretonneux Communal Cemetery. Both men were killed in action at Villers-Bretonneux, L Cpl W J Connaughton on 14 May 1918 and Pte E Keefe on 12 May 1918. Note the shell damage to the surrounding stone graves.
Pictures in gallery below © Johan Pauwels
