"Y" RAVINE CEMETERY
Beaumont Hamel
Somme
France
GPS Coordinates: Latitude: 50.07609, Longitude: 2.65213
Picture Johan Pauwels
Location Information
Using the D919 from Arras to Amiens you will drive through the villages of Bucquoy, Puisieux then Serre Les Puisieux (approximately 20 kilometres south of Arras). On leaving Serre Les Puisieux, 3 kilometres further along the D919, turn left following the signs for Auchonvillers. At the crossroads in the village centre, follow the signs for 'Newfoundland Park, Beaumont Hamel'. "Y" Ravine Cemetery is located within the Park.
Historical Information
"Y" Ravine runs East and West about 800 metres South of the village, from "Station Road" to the front line of July 1916. It was a deep ravine with steep sides, lined with dug-outs, with extending two short arms at the West end.
The village of Beaumont-Hamel was attacked and reached on 1 July, 1916, by units of the 29th Division (which included the Royal Newfoundland Regiment), but it could not be held. It was attacked again and captured, with the Ravine, by the 51st (Highland) Division on 13 November 1916. The Newfoundland Memorial Park, and the 29th and 51st Divisional Memorials within it, commemorate these engagements, and "Y" Ravine Cemetery is within the Park. The village was later "adopted", with three others in the Somme, by the City of Winchester.
The cemetery was made by the V Corps in the spring of 1917, when these battlefields were cleared. It was called originally "Y" Ravine Cemetery No.1. No.2 cemetery was concentrated after the Armistice into Ancre British Cemetery, Beaumont-Hamel.
There are 428, 1914-18 war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these, 92 are unidentified and special memorials are erected to 53 soldiers (or sailors or Marines) from the United Kingdom and eight from Newfoundland, known or believed to be buried among them.
The cemetery covers an area of 1,166 square metres and is enclosed by a rubble wall.
The cemetery was designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield and Captain Wilfred Clement Von Berg, M. C.
Total Burials: 428.
Identified Casualties: United Kingdom 239, Canada 36. Total 275.
Unidentified Casualties: 153.
Using the D919 from Arras to Amiens you will drive through the villages of Bucquoy, Puisieux then Serre Les Puisieux (approximately 20 kilometres south of Arras). On leaving Serre Les Puisieux, 3 kilometres further along the D919, turn left following the signs for Auchonvillers. At the crossroads in the village centre, follow the signs for 'Newfoundland Park, Beaumont Hamel'. "Y" Ravine Cemetery is located within the Park.
Historical Information
"Y" Ravine runs East and West about 800 metres South of the village, from "Station Road" to the front line of July 1916. It was a deep ravine with steep sides, lined with dug-outs, with extending two short arms at the West end.
The village of Beaumont-Hamel was attacked and reached on 1 July, 1916, by units of the 29th Division (which included the Royal Newfoundland Regiment), but it could not be held. It was attacked again and captured, with the Ravine, by the 51st (Highland) Division on 13 November 1916. The Newfoundland Memorial Park, and the 29th and 51st Divisional Memorials within it, commemorate these engagements, and "Y" Ravine Cemetery is within the Park. The village was later "adopted", with three others in the Somme, by the City of Winchester.
The cemetery was made by the V Corps in the spring of 1917, when these battlefields were cleared. It was called originally "Y" Ravine Cemetery No.1. No.2 cemetery was concentrated after the Armistice into Ancre British Cemetery, Beaumont-Hamel.
There are 428, 1914-18 war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these, 92 are unidentified and special memorials are erected to 53 soldiers (or sailors or Marines) from the United Kingdom and eight from Newfoundland, known or believed to be buried among them.
The cemetery covers an area of 1,166 square metres and is enclosed by a rubble wall.
The cemetery was designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield and Captain Wilfred Clement Von Berg, M. C.
Total Burials: 428.
Identified Casualties: United Kingdom 239, Canada 36. Total 275.
Unidentified Casualties: 153.
9214 Private
Robert Irwin, M. M.
1st Bn. Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
1st July 1916
Row C. 50
Robert Irwin, M. M.
1st Bn. Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
1st July 1916
Row C. 50
Images in gallery below © Johan Pauwels
1373 Private
William Brown McDonald 1st/5th Bn. Gordon Higlanders 15th November 1916. * Special Memorial B. 7. Son of Mrs. Jane McDonald, of 14, Wallace St., Peterhead, Aberdeenshire. |
Click on image to enlarge
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Son of Jane Isabella McDonald of 17 Longate, Peterhead, Aberdeenshire. Youngest brother of my Grandma Catherine Jane Forbes (formerly McDonald
* The date of his death on the certificate is noted as 13th, yet all other documents record the 15th while the War Diary for the regiment has "Died of Wounds" on the 16th.
Submitted by his Great Niece Valerie Porter (formerly Forbes) and family. Always remembered.
* The date of his death on the certificate is noted as 13th, yet all other documents record the 15th while the War Diary for the regiment has "Died of Wounds" on the 16th.
Submitted by his Great Niece Valerie Porter (formerly Forbes) and family. Always remembered.
Second Lieutenant
Cuthbert Anthony Stonor
1st Bn. Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
1st July 1916.
Plot D. 99.
Cuthbert Anthony Stonor
1st Bn. Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
1st July 1916.
Plot D. 99.
Images in gallery below © Werner Van Caneghem
Image above © Carl Liversage @carl_liversage
