Yorkshire Regiment War Graves, - Becourt Military Cemetery, Becordel-Becourt

Becourt Military Cemetery, Becordel-Becourt (1)
Photo : Christopher Weekes,( <weebex12@hotmail.com>)

The Military Cemetery was begun in August, 1915, by the 51st (Highland) Division, and carried on by the 18th and other Divisions in the line until the Battles of the Somme, 1916. It continued in use, chiefly by Field Ambulances, until April, 1917; and Plot II was made by the 18th Division at the end of August, 1918. There are now over 700, 1914-18 war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these, a small number are unidentified and a special memorial is erected to a soldier from the United Kingdom buried among them.

Amongst the graves are 18 soldiers who served with the Yorkshire Regiment, 12 of whom were officers.

We are extremely grateful to Chris Weekes (<weebex12@hotmail.com>) for photographing the cemetery and the graves of the soldiers who served with the Yorkshire Regiment.

Click on a thumbnail image of a headstone for a larger version of the photo which opens in a new window.

Captain Freeman Archibald Haynes Atkey. 9th Battalion Yorkshire Regiment. Son of Frederick Walter and Ellen Louisa Atkey. Killed 5 July 1916. Aged 33.

Private Richard Bennett. 13041. 9th Battalion Yorkshire Regiment. Son of John and Priscilla Bennett, of 61, Railway Terrace, Willington, Co. Durham. Killed 8 October 1916. Aged 20. Born Wigan (Lancs), Enlisted Durham, Resided Willington (Durham)

2nd Lieutenant Raymond Louis Binns. 8th Battalion Yorkshire Regiment. Son of Dr. William Binns and Mrs. Binns, of The Cedars, East Bergholt, Suffolk. Educated Stonyhurst College, Lancs. Married 1913 Maud only daughter of the late Rev. J. and Mrs. Cartman, of Bonby Vicarage, Hull. Killed 10 July 1916. Aged 32. "GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS"

2nd Lieutenant Alan Heppell Darling. 8th Battalion Yorkshire Regiment. Son of Henry Darling, of Belmont, Westoe, South Shields; husband of Elizabeth Darling. Killed 10 July 1916. Aged 27.

Private Jacob Dowell. 13513. 8th Battalion Yorkshire Regiment. Son of John George and Mary Dowell, of 5, Chapel Row, Philadelphia, Co. Durham. Killed 4 October 1916. Aged 20. Born Newbottle (Houghton-le-Spring - Durham), Enlisted Shiney Row, Resided Fencehouses "IN THE MIDST OF LIFE WE ARE IN DEATH"

Private William Durkin, 6149. 5th Battalion Yorkshire Regiment. Killed on 25 October 1916. Enlisted Northallerton, Resided Thornaby.

Lieutenant Maurice Gabriel Hume-Wright. 8th Battalion Yorkshire Regiment. Son of Maj. Gerald Hume-Wright and Elizabeth Winefred Hume-Wright, of "Elleray," Ash Vale, Aldershot. Native of Ireland. Killed 10 July 1916. Aged 21. "R.I.P."

Private Joseph Johnson. 45928. 13th Battalion Durham Light Infantry, formerly 22851 the Yorkshire Regiment. Killed 5 October 1916. Born Crook, Enlisted Durham. Photo : len of the Find a Grave website (Research by Tony Young <a.a.young@btinternet.com> and Glenys Coote <glenys.coote@durham.ac.uk> showed that Joseph Johnson married in St. Oswald's Church in January 1915, and that he and his wife lived nearby in Durham thereafter. His Army Service Record is one of the surviving Service Records).

2nd Lieutenant Eric Loftus Perris. 4th Battalion Yorkshire Regiment. Killed 27 September 1916.

Captain Eric Noel Player. 8th Battalion Yorkshire Regiment. Son of Mrs. C. E. Player, of Osborne House, Clevedon, Somerset. Born at Winlaton, Blaydon-on-Tyne. B.A. (Camb.). Killed 6 August 1916. Aged 28. "WHEN HE WAS PROVED HE WAS FOUND FAITHFUL ALSO HIS SERVANT IRA WILSON R.I.P."

Captain John Cecil Rix. Royal Army Medical Corps, attached 9th Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment. Son of the late William H. and Rosalie J. Rix, of Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Killed 6 July 1916. Aged 40. Photo : chris(tine) eaton of the Find a Grave website. Biographical information on Captain Rix can be found on the Find a Grave website, provided by Lest We Forget.

Private Bertie Robinson, 18858. 9th Battalion Yorkshire Regiment. Adopted son of Mr. C. Smith, of 39, Chapel Houses, Copley Lane, Butter Knowle, Co. Durham. Killed on 4 October 1916. Aged 23. Born Lynesack (Durham), Enlisted Barnard Castle, Resided Butterknowle. "GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN"

Captain Thomas Sowerby Rowlandson, MC. 4th Battalion Yorkshire Regiment. Son of Samuel and Isabel Rowlandson, of Newton Morrell, Darlington. Killed 15 September 1916. Aged 36. (Thomas Sowerby Rowlandson was born in Newton Morrell in June 1880. He was Baptised at Holy Trinity, Darlington on 21 June 1880. In the 1881 Census his father ran a 1030 acre farm, employing 20 men and 3 boys. 5 domestics were employed in the house. Bob Coulson stated that he was at Cambridge University, entering Trinity Hall in 1901. He also played football as a goalkeeper with Newcastle United in the 1905/6 season and had spells with Sunderland and the Corinthian Casuals. On the Newcastle United fan's website there are further details of Thomas Rowlandson's football playing career.)

2nd Lieutenant Newton Rowley. 8th Battalion Yorkshire Regiment. Son of Jasper and Louisa Rowley; husband of Doris Mary Rowley, of "Strathyre," Tudor Rd., New Barnet, Herts. Killed 10 July 1916. Aged 26. "BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART FOR THEY SHALL SEE GOD"

Captain Clifford Sandford Simpson. 8th Battalion Yorkshire Regiment. Killed 10 July 1916.

2nd Lieutenant William Swain. 14th Battalion, attached 8th Battalion Yorkshire Regiment. Killed 22 September 1916.

Private Harry Webster. 2152. 5th Battalion Yorkshire Regiment. Son of Mr. W. H. and Mrs. M. E. Webster, of 35, Rothbury St., Scarborough. Killed 28 October 1916. Aged 21. Born Scarborough, Enlisted Scarborough. "PEACE PERFECT PEACE"

Captain William Thomas Wilkinson. 9th Battalion Yorkshire Regiment. Son of John R. and Jane Wilkinson, of Sidney, British Columbia, Canada. Native of Hampstead, London, England. Served with Artists' Rifles 1909-11. Enlisted in Public Schools Bn. Aug., 1914. Commissioned Sept., 1914. Killed 5 July 1916. Aged 29. "NEC REGE NEC POPULO SED UTROQUE"

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Becourt Military Cemetery, Becordel-Becourt (2)
Photo : Christopher Weekes,(<weebex12@hotmail.com>)