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Yorkshire
Regiment War Graves, - Merville Communal Cemetery Extension (France, Nord) |
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Merville Communal Cemetery Extension
Photo : Commonwealth
War Graves Commission
Merville was the scene of fighting between the Germans and French and British cavalry early in October 1914 but from the 9th of that month to 11 April 1918, it remained in Allied hands. In October 1914, and in the autumn of 1915, the town was the headquarters of the Indian Corps. It was a railhead until May 1915, and a billeting and hospital centre from 1915-1918. The 6th and Lahore Casualty Clearing Stations were there from the autumn of 1914 to the autumn of 1915; the 7th from December 1914, to April 1917; the 54th (1st/2nd London) from August 1915 to March 1918, and the 51st (Highland) from May 1917 to April 1918.
On the evening of 11 April 1918, in the Battles of the Lys, the Germans forced their way into Merville and the town was not retaken until 19 August. The cemeteries were not used again until the concentration of battlefield burials into the Extension began, after the Armistice.
During the Second World War the river Lys was the southern end of a deep but narrow area held by British forces at the end of May 1940. Merville is on the territory over which were fought desperate rearguard actions during the withdrawal of the British Expeditionary Force to the coast, for evacuation from Dunkirk.
MERVILLE COMMUNAL CEMETERY EXTENSION was opened in August 1916, and used by Commonwealth and Portuguese hospitals until April 1918. It was enlarged after the Armistice when graves were brought in from the battlefields immediately north and east of Merville and a nearby cemetery.
The Extension now contains 920 Commonwealth burials of the First World War, 345 of them unidentified. The 92 Second World War burials (18 of them unidentified) occurred mostly during the fighting in May 1940 and are interspersed among the First World War graves. The Extension also contains 19 war graves of other nationalities.
Amongst the graves in Merville Communal Cemetery Extension are 6 for soldiers who served with the Yorkshire Regiment.
We are very grateful to Chris Cosgrove (<trainscpc@aol.com>) who has provided photographs of the headstones.
To view a larger version of a headstone photo, which opens in a new window, select the thumbnail image.
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Private Frederick Holmes, 78974. 7th Battalion Durham Light Infantry, formerly 36063 the Yorkshire Regiment. Son of David and Rebecca Holmes, of Carlton-le-Moorland, Newark. Killed 13 April 1918. Aged 28. Enlisted Carlton (Notts), Resided Netherfield. (Private Holmes is remembered on the Nottingham North East ((Carlton, Gedling, Mapperley & Netherfield) virtual War Memorial. The names of men from those districts of Nottingham were not included on memorials erected during the conflict's aftermath. Instead, data on these men has been collected from local newspapers & c and is shown on this website.) |
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Private Stanley W Leason.
203477. 1st/4th Battalion the York and Lancaster Regiment, formerly 2623 the Yorkshire Regiment. Son of Joseph and Mary Annie Leason, of Garton-on-the-Wolds, Driffield, Yorks. Killed 5 April 1917. Aged 20. Enlisted Driffield, Resided Garton-on-Wolds (Yorks). |
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Private Fred Lealman. 241657. 5th Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment. Son of Henry and Mary Lealman, of Castle Bolton, Redmire, Yorks. Killed 10 April 1918. Aged 29. Enlisted Leyburn, Resided Redmire (S O). "HE DIED FOR FREEDOM AND HONOUR" Photo : Chris Weekes (<weebex12@hotmail.com>) |
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Private John Lowery.
45545. 17th Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers, formerly 24938 the Yorkshire Regiment. Son of Benjamin Lowery, of 23, Wynyard St., Dawdon Colliery, Seaham Harbour, Co. Durham. Killed 3 March 1918. Aged 19. Born North Shields (Durham), Enlisted Seaham Harbour (Co. Durham), Resided Dawdon (Co. Durham). |
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Private Samuel Platt. 235169. 2nd/5th Battalion The Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, formerly 6989 the Yorkshire Regiment. Husband of Olive Platt, of 26, Melrose Avenue, Bolton. Killed 10 March 1918. Aged 30. Born Bolton, Enlisted Bolton. |
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Private George Henry
Spencer. 203487. 1st/4th Battalion York and Lancaster Regiment, formerly 2729 the Yorkshire Regiment. Son of Thomas Henry and Jane Ann Spencer, of Old Malton Gate, Malton, Yorks. Killed 14 May 1917. Aged 20. Enlisted Malton (Yorks). |