Yorkshire Regiment War Graves
Yorkshire Regiment War Graves, -
Guards Cemetery, Lesboeufs
( France, Somme)
Yorkshire Regiment War Graves

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Guards Cemetery, Lesboeufs (1) Guards Cemetery, Lesboeufs (1)
Photo : Chris Weekes (<weebex12@hotmail.com>)

Lesboeufs was attacked by the Guards Division on 15 September 1916 and captured by them on the 25th. It was lost on 24 March 1918 during the great German offensive, after a stubborn resistance by part of the 63rd Bn. Machine Gun Corps, and recaptured on 29 August by the 10th Bn. South Wales Borderers.

At the time of the Armistice, the cemetery consisted of only 40 graves (now Plot I), mainly those of officers and men of the 2nd Grenadier Guards who died on 25 September 1916, but it was very greatly increased when graves were brought in from the battlefields and small cemeteries round Lesboeufs.

There are now 3,137 casualties of the First World War buried or commemorated in this cemetery. 1,644 of the burials are unidentified but there are special memorials to 83 soldiers known or believed to be buried among them. Other special memorials record the names of five casualties buried in Ginchy A.D.S. Cemetery, whose graves were destroyed by shell fire, and three officers of the 2nd Bn. Coldstream Guards, killed in action on 26 September 1916 and known to have been buried together by the roadside near Lesboefs, whose grave could not later be located.

9 soldiers who served with the Yorkshire Regiment are buried in this cemetery.

We are extremely grateful to Chris Weekes (<weebex12@hotmail.com>) and Richard Roberts (<richard.nsw@googlemail.com>) who have generously provided the photographs of the cemetery and the headstones on this page.

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



2nd Lieutenant Oliver Herbert Ball.
10th Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment. Son of Alfred Holmes Ball and Emma Ball, of "Sunnyside," 7, Nelson Rd., Daybrook, Nottingham. Killed 28 September 1916. Aged 25.

(Younger brother of 2nd Lieutenant Walter William Ball of the 10th Battalion, killed on 24 November 1915.)


"PEACE PERFECT PEACE"

Photo : Christopher Weekes, (<weebex12@hotmail.com>)

Private Benjamin Booth. 25660.
Private Benjamin Booth. 25660.
7th Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment. Killed 31 December 1916.
Born Leeds, Enlisted Leeds.


Photo : Richard Roberts (<richard.nsw@googlemail.com>)

Private Emsley Doxey. 27476.
Private Emsley Doxey. 27476.
7th Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment. Killed 31 December 1916.
Born Bradford, Enlisted Bradford.

Photo : Christopher Weekes, (<weebex12@hotmail.com>)

Private Francis Walter Goodall. 17886.
Private Francis Walter Goodall. 17886.
7th Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment. Son of John Thomas and Jane Ellen Goodall, of Hampton Inn, Herne Bay, Kent. Killed 26 December 1916. Aged 21.
Born Charlton (Kent), Enlisted Aldershot, Resided Plumstead (Kent).

"THY WILL BE DONE O LORD"


Photo : Christopher Weekes, (<weebex12@hotmail.com>)

Corporal William Harrison. 7103.
Corporal William Harrison. 7103.
7th Battalion Yorkshire Regiment. Son of William and Frances Harrison, of 12, North Rd., Lazenby, Eston, Yorks. Killed 5 November 1916. Aged 27.
Born Lazenby (Eston - Yorks), Enlisted Middlesbrough, Resided Lazenby.

"DEARLY LOVED BY ALL"


Photo : Christopher Weekes, (<weebex12@hotmail.com>)

Private William Horsfield, 25656.
Private William Horsfield, 25656.
7th Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment. Killed 31 December 1916.
Born Bradfield Dale (Yorks), Enlisted Sheffield, Resided Bradfield .


Photo : Richard Roberts (<richard.nsw@googlemail.com>)

Lieutenant Arthur James.
Lieutenant Arthur James.
7th Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment. Son of Elizabeth James, of 8, Avenue de Tokio, Paris, France, and the late Charles Edward James. Killed 3 January 1917. Aged 31.


"A DEVOTED DEARLY LOVED SON
HONOURED DEEPLY MOURNED
AND MISSED"

Photo : Christopher Weekes, (<weebex12@hotmail.com>)

Private George Herbert Jones, 11860.
Private George Herbert Jones, 11860.
7th Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment. Son of William and Mary Ellen Jones, of Belmont Cottages, Guisborough, Yorks. Killed 28 December 1916. Aged 23.
Born Guisborough, Enlisted Middlesbrough.

"GOD BE WITH YOU
TILL WE MEET AGAIN
FROM FATHER AND MOTHER"


Photo : Christopher Weekes, (<weebex12@hotmail.com>)

Private William Davison Spence. 34780.
Private William Davison Spence. 34780.
10th Battalion King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, formerly 5450 the Yorkshire Regiment. Son of Mrs. M. A. Spence, of Ingoldmells Rd., Burgh, Lincs. Killed 25 September 1916. Aged 30.
Born Burgh (Lincs), Enlisted Richmond.


Photo : Richard Roberts (<richard.nsw@googlemail.com>)

Guards Cemetery, Lesboeufs (2) Guards Cemetery, Lesboeufs (2)
Note the headstones against the boundary wall, most of which belong to Guardsmen.
Photo : Chris Weekes (<weebex12@hotmail.com>)

Guards Cemetery, Lesboeufs (3)Guards Cemetery, Lesboeufs (3)
Photo : Richard Roberts (<richard.nsw@googlemail.com>)

The Headstones of Privates Booth and Horsfield in the Guards Cemetery, LesboeufsThe Headstones of Privates Booth and Horsfield in the Guards Cemetery, Lesboeufs
Photo : Richard Roberts (<richard.nsw@googlemail.com>)

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