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Grave in Varennes Military Cemetery of Brigadier-General George Bull DSO, G.O.C. 8th Brigade 3rd Division died of wounds 11 December 1916.
George Bull was born in May 1877 the son of the Resident Magistrate of Newry, Co. Down, Ireland. He served with the 5th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles in the South African War, then was commissioned from the Militia into the Royal Garrison Regiment, transferring to the Leinster Regiment in 1905. In February 1907 he transferred to the Royal Irish Fusiliers going to France as a Captain in the 1st Battalion in 1914. In November 1915 he was appointed C.O. of the 12th Battalion of the Royal Irish Rifles and awarded the D.S.O. for gallantry and devotion to duty in the field. On the 3rd December 1916 he was appointed Brigadier General commanding 8th Infantry Brigade, three days later going on a tour of the trenches.
On the 6th December the General had gone to Bus-les-Artois to visit the 7th Battalion King’s Shropshire Light Infantry and then proceeded on a tour of the trenches when he was wounded in the shoulder and loin by a German sniper being taken back to a Casualty Clearing Station. He died of his wounds at Varennes later.
Grave in Varennes Military Cemetery of No 6386 Private Edward Arnold Frederick Allen 10th Battalion Royal Fusiliers died of wounds 21st November 1916 aged 22 years.
Born at Foochow, China. Son of Edward Launcelot Baugh Allen and Blanche Adelaide Allen of Blackhaldern Narberth Pembrokeshire. Enlisted Epsom, residing Cardiff.
Headstone bears inscription “Behold the birds of the air.”
With 13 Royal Fusiliers, 13 King’s Royal Rifle Corps and 13 Rifle Brigade formed 111th Brigade in 37th Division. The Battalion fought in the Battle of the Ancre 13th – 19th November 1916 and on the night of 13th/14th November came from Hamel to the original British front line. On the morning of the 14th, when a British tank shelled a German redoubt, the Battalion took 270 out of a total of 800 German prisoners. At dawn on the 16th November attempted to capture Muck Trench but beaten back by intense machine gun fire. That afternoon bombing parties reached Muck Trench but were driven out by a superior German force. That night a machine-gun team which was in Muck Trench was almost wiped out by shell fire, 3 KIA and 1 DOW. At dawn on the 18th November the Battalion with 13/KRRC attacked on the right of 32nd Division, objectives being to get posts established in Muck Trench to fire on Germans being driven from Frankfort Trench by units of 32nd Division but gains abandoned as 32nd Division not been able to advance, units on the right of the 32nd Division’s sector being shelled by British artillery. Battalion lost 18 KIA that day. On the afternoon of 19th November the Battalion attacked, following a 3 hour bombardment of the junction of Munich and Frankfort Trenches with Leave Avenue, but the bombardment had not affected the German resistance and machine gun and rifle fire checked the advance and nothing was gained. That night the Battalion was withdrawn. In the period 13th to 19th November the Battalion lost a total of 36 killed in action, and 5 died of wounds. There were no casualties on the 20th but, in addition to Private Allen, on the 21st Lance Corporal Hugh Russell Somerville of the 10 Royal Fusiliers died of wounds and is also buried in Varennes.
Muck Trench runs from Beaucourt West to Redan Ridge to join Leave Avenue North of Beaumont Hamel: Frankfort and Munich Trenches run from North to South to the East of Beaumont Hamel to join Beaucourt Trench.
See Entry below for Lieutenant Colonel A S Tetley
His younger brother Lieutenant Lionel Raymond Whateley Allen, also born in China, was killed in action on the 27th March 1918 aged 21 years. On the 22nd February 1916 Lionel was commissioned into the South Wales Borderers but in 1918 was attached to 12th Battalion Machine Gun Corps. He has no known grave but is commemorated on the Pozieres Memorial to the Missing.
Memorial in Varennes Military Cemetery placed by his parents to the above Private Edward Allen in the form of a circular stone Bird Bath and around the rim “In Memory E A F Allen 1916.”
Grave in Varennes Military Cemetery of No 44469 R.S.M. Henry George Congdon Royal Engineers (HQ 12th Division R.E.) died of wounds 28th May 1918 aged 51 years.
Son of Samuel and Eleanor Congdon of Dunbar Haddingtonshire where he was born. Enlisted Chatham Kent.
Awarded the Croix de Guerre (Belgium) and Long Service and Good Conduct Medal.
Headstone bears inscription “Born 20th February 1867. United we stand Together we fall.”
Grave in Varennes Military Cemetery of 2nd Lieutenant Henry Lewis Pateman Royal Flying Corps (15th Squadron – General List) killed in action 6th February 1917 aged 20.
Son of E and J W Pateman of "Brookfield" 72 Waddon Marsh Lane Croydon Surrey.
Awarded the Croix de Guerre (France).
Headstone bears inscription “He did his duty well For God King and Country.”
Grave in Varennes Military Cemetery of Lieutenant Colonel Arthur S Tetley Royal Marine Light Infantry R.N.V.R. Commanding Officer Drake Battalion 63rd (Naval) Division killed in action aged 36 years on the 15th November 1916.
He served as a Captain in the campaign in Gallipoli. The Division went to France in May 1916 and he was appointed to command the Drake Battalion. He was killed in action in the Battle of the Ancre namely the attack on Beaucourt.
Twice mentioned in Despatches; awarded the Croix de Guerre with Palm (France). Son of Capt. A J and Mrs. Tetley , Ilford House, St. Michaels Road, Bedford.
Headstone bears inscription “Be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a crown of life.”
A member of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, he served with the Royal Marine Light Infantry. In the Great War, the Marines were basically divided into (i) the Light Infantry and (ii) the Artillery. He served in the Gallipoli Campaign and at dawn on the 10th May 1915 a counter-attack of exceptional vigour was deliverd by the Turks against the French and the Naval Battalion on their left. For a time the situation was critical but the position was restored on the Composite Brigade front largely through the iniative of Captain Arthur Tetley (Plymouth Marines) in a counter-attack when the enemy was on the point of breaking through.
In June 1916, with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Tetley was given command of the Drake Battalion of the 63rd Division.
The Drake Battalion was part of 189th Brigade, 63rd (Royal Naval) Division and Lieutenant Colonel Tetley was killed in the course of the Battle of the Ancre 13th - 19th November 1916.
Villers-Faucon Communal Cemetery, Somme. Villlers-Faucon is a village about 7 miles north-east of Peronne. The Cemetery is on the North of the village and on a minor road to Guyencourt-Saulcourt. The village was captured by the 5th Cavalry Division on the 27th March 1917, lost during the German Spring Offensive on the 22nd March 1918 and retaken by units of the III Corps on the 7th September 1918. Most of the burials are those of soldiers who died in the period February – August 1917 made by the cavalry, 42nd (East Lancashire) Division and other fighting troops. Records 227 U.K. and 90 German burials.
Grave in Villers-Faucon Communal Cemetery of the Reverend Matthew Forster Burdess Royal Army Chaplain’s Department killed in action on the 18th April 1917 aged 39 years aged 39 years. Chaplain 4th Class attached 1/6th Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment.
Son of George and Rachel Ann Burdess, Rector of St. Thomas’ Port Clarenec, Middlesborough. Born Sunderland.
Headstone bears inscription “They Die Not who live in the hearts of those they leave behind.”
Grave in Villers-Faucon Communal Cemetery of Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Walker Nott, D.S.O., Commanding 1/6th Battalion the Gloucestershire Regiment, 144th Brigade, 48th Division, killed in action 18th April 1917 aged 28 years.
Eldest son of Mr and Mrs Louis P Nott of Stoke House Stoke Bishop Bristol.
Headstone bears inscription “Them Also which sleep in Jesus Will God bring with him – 1 Thess. 4.14”
In February 1917 the Front Line in this sector ran from West of Peronne and then curved South East to pass well to the West of Roye which approximated to the Southern boundary of the British Army the French Armies being responsible for the Sector to the South. The German plan for early 1917 envisaged a planned retirement to the Hindenburg Line. This fortified line had been constructed and ran from East of Arras, just to the West of St. Quentin to a position some 6 miles north-east of Soissons. The main German retirement began on the 16th March when 35 German divisions left their positions and by the 19th March were safely established in the new positions. The whole zone between the original line and the new fortified line was to be made a desert. Not only were all military buildings to be dismantled and depots withdrawn but railways were to be torn up, craters blown in the roads or roads mined, so far as possible every town and village and buildings in them destroyed by fire or explosives, watercourses dammed, even fruit trees cut down or “ringed” to ensure they died, civilians removed and wells to be filled up or polluted. Cellars were to be blown up or made into death traps with concealed bombs and buildings left mined and seemingly innocent deposits of materials or tools made into booby traps or left with delayed action charges. For example two French deputies were blown up in the Hotel de Ville of Bapaume about the 20th March 1917. By mid March 1917 the German Army had retired, in the area held by the 48th Division, to the Hindenburg Line which ran just over 5 miles to the West of Villers-Faucon.
The 1/6th was to relieve the 1/5th Gloucesters on the 19th April 1917 buton the morning of the 18th suffered a severe loss. Battalion Headquarters were in a celler at Villers Faucon when Colonel Nott, with other officers were blown up at about 4 a.m. on the 18th April 1917 and the Second in command, Major Robert Gerrard, the Adjutant and Colonel Nott’s brother Captain Louis Nott, the Chaplain Matthew Burdess, the Medical Officer Captain Everard Harrison and Lieutenant Leonard King were all killed by a delay action fuse mine.
Grave in Villers-Faucon Communal Cemetery of Major Robert Finlay Gerrard 4th Battalion the Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment) attached 1/6th Gloucestershire Regiment killed in action 18th April 1917 aged 29 years. Son of A W and Margaret Finlay Gerrard of 56 Montgomery Street Edinburgh.
Grave in Villers-Faucon Communal Cemetery of Captain Louis Cameron Nott M.C. Adjutant of 1/6th Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment killed in action 18th April 1917 aged 23 years. Son of Mr and Mrs Louis P Nott of Stoke House Stoke Bishop Bristol, brother of Colonel Thomas Nott and also brother of Lieutenant Henry Paton Nott who had been killed with the 1/6th Gloucesters on the 27th April 1916 aged 21 years and is buried at Hebuterne Military Cemetery on the Somme.
Headstone bears inscription “He that believeth in me Tho he were dead Yet shall he live (John II-25)”
Grave in Villers-Faucon Communal Cemetery of Captain Everard Harrison Royal Army Medical Corps attached 1/6th Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment killed in action 18th April 1917 aged 37 years. Son of Stockdale Harris of Leicester and husband of Sara Grace Muriel Harrison of Aspens, Woodhouse Eaves, Loughborough.
Headstone bears inscription “Until the day break and the shadows fall away.”
Grave in Villers-Faucon Communal Cemetery of Lieutenant Leonard King 1/6th Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment killed in action 18th April 1917 aged 27 years. Son of Henry and Margaret King of 1 Stackpool Road Bristol.
Headstone bears inscription “Faithful to his parents, his country, his King and his God.”
Grave in Villers-Faucon Communal Cemetery of Brigadier General Vincent Alexander Ormsby C.B. of the General Staff, commanding 127th Infantry Brigade in the 42nd (East Lancashire) Division died on the 1st May 1917 aged 51 years having been hit by a shell fragment and bled to death. The Division had arrived in France from Egypt in March 1917. He had served with the 3rd Queen Alexandra’s Own Gurkha Rifles.
Son of Captain G F Ormsby (late Queen’s Bays) and Mrs. Ormsby, husband of Agnes Ormsby of 16 Glazbury Road, West Kensington, London.
Headstone bears inscription”The Eternal God is thy refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms.”
Grave in Villers-Faucon Communal Cemetery of 2nd Lieutenant Hardy Falconer Parsons V.C., 1st/2nd Gloucestershire Regiment attached 14th Battalion died of wounds 21st August 1917 aged 20 years.
The enemy held commanding positions at The Knoll and Gillemont Farm (see the entry below for Lieutenant Irving Gledsdale) and about the middle of July 1917 it was decided to raid the German trenches about Farm but in early August the scheme was extended to include The Knoll as well. The British artillery bombardment commenced at 4 a.m. on the 19th August which was also zero hour for the infantry advance, enemy wire had been cut and the assaulting battalions reached the German trenches on the Knoll as the barrage lifted leaving the support companies to ”mop up” and consolidate. All attempts at resistance on the part of the enemy had been blotted out and the casualties to the British troops was not heavy but the enemy suffered severely the assaulting troops reporting a large number of dead on The Knoll. The Knoll was heavily shelled by the enemy on the 19th and several counter-attacks were attempted but driven off. Again on the 20th the enemy assembled once or twice but no attack materialised.
On the 21st August at 3.15 a.m. a determined enemy assault was made covered by flammenwerfer. The 14th Gloucester were holding The Knoll at the time and for a short period in face of the flammenwerfer fire gave ground on the right which was immediately recovered and the enemy retired leaving their dead behind.
An extract from the London Gazette dated 17th October 1917 records “For most conspicuous bravery during a night attack by a strong party of the enemy on a bombing post held by his command. The bombers were forced back but 2nd Lieutenant Parsons remained at his post and, single-handed, and although severely scorched and burnt by liquid fire, he continued to hold up the enemy with bombs until severely wounded. This very gallant act of self-sacrifice and devotion to duty undoubtedly delayed the enemy long enough to allow of the organisation of a bombing party, which succeeded in driving back the enemy before they could enter any portion of the trenches. The gallant officer succumbed to his wounds.” He was in fact burned by a German flame-thrower.
Son of the Reverend and Mrs. J. Ash Parsons of Leysian Mission, City Road, London. Educated at Kingswood School Bath. Medical student at Bristol University preparing for Medical Missionary Work.
Headstone bears inscription “To Live was Christ, to Die, gain.”
Grave in Villers-Faucon Communal Cemetery of 2nd Lieutenant John Spencer Dunville 1st (Royal) Dragoons died of wounds 25th June 1917 aged 21 years.
The Dragoons provided dismounted parties to man the trenches. An extract from the London Gazette dated 31st July 1917 records “For most conspicuous bravery. When in charge of a party consisting of Scouts and Royal Engineers engaged in the demolition of the enemy’s wire, this officer displayed great gallantry and disregard of all personal danger. In order to ensure the absolute success of the work entrusted to him, 2nd Lieutenant Dunville placed himself between the N.C.O. of the Royal Engineers and the enemy’s fire and, thus protected, this N.C.O. was enabled to complete a work of great importance. 2nd Lieutenant Dunville although severely wounded continued to direct his men in the wire-cutting and general operations, until the raid was successfully completed, thereby setting a magnificent example of courage, determination and devotion to duty, to all ranks under his command. This gallant officer has since succumbed to his wounds.”
Son of John and Violet Dunville of Redburn, Holywood, Co. Down.
Headstone bears inscription “Peace, Perfect Peace.”
Grave in Villers-Faucon Communal Cemetery of Lieutenant Irving Gledsdale 3rd Battalion attached 15th Battalion the Cheshire Regiment killed in action 13th July 1917 aged 24 years.
The 15th Battalion of the Cheshire Regiment was in 105th Brigade of the 35th Division which, in February 1917 had moved into the Caix sector south east of Villers-Bretonneux to take over the line from the French 154th Division.
In the winter of 1916-1917 German engineers had begun creating a fortified rear line known as the Siegfried or Hindenburg Line which ran from East of Arras south east to St. Quentin and then due south to join the original German front line North East of Soissons the line then running East to Reims.
The main withdrawal began on the 16th March but was not detected by the Allies until the 25th, the retirement being accompanied by a ruthless scorched earth policy the area being abandoned being laid waste with villages razed, trees cut down, water wells contaminated, bridges blown up and cross-roads cratered and explosive booby-traps left for the unwary.
The Allied pursuit was slow and cautious so that by mid April 1917 the Division was in the Vermand-Gricourt area East of St. Quentin. On the 5th July the Division moved south to relieve the cavalry corps in the Epethy sector. The new line to be taken over was composed of a series of detached posts on the high ground west of the Quentin Canal from just south of Hargicourt up to near Ossus Wood and a group of quarries to the West of Vendhuille a village in the German lines East of the Siegfried Line. Over the next two days the 105th and 106th Brigades of the Division took over the line in the area of The Birdcage, a network of trenches on the reverse slope of a hillock west of Vendhuille, and during the succeeding days the Ossus Posts in the area of Ossus Wood north of the Birdcage were gradually linked up and patrols went forward in search of the enemy. Gillemont Farm and The Knoll were features rising to a height of about 400 feet and 35 to 40 feet above the nearest British posts. The Knoll was in the hands of the enemy with the area around Gillemont Farm being held by British and German forces. Divisional HQ was at Villers-Faucon some 2 miles to the south west.
At midnight on the 12th/13th July 1917 the enemy attempted a raid on Gillemont Farm which was repulsed but an hour later a determined attempt was made to cut out an advanced post west of the Knoll. The party from the Highland Light Infantry which held it fell back fighting to the main post and the enemy then withdrew and the advanced post was then reoccupied. At the same time a raid was made upon the Birdcage held by the 15th Sherwood Foresters. A heavy artillery bombardment was opened which was lifted onto the quarry and sunken road in the rear and a party of the enemy was seen in front of the British wire, which was dispersed by rifle fire and a defensive artillery barrage.
The casualties in these two raid was 92. 2nd Lieutenant Gledsdale who was to have led a raid on the night of the 12th/13th was found to be missing. His body was discovered by a patrol the next day and was brought back to Villers-Faucon for burial.
Son of James Irving Gledsdale and Martha Gledsdale of 19 Brompton Avenue Liverpool.
Headstone also records “also in memory of 2nd Lieut. Arnold Gledsdale Liverpool Scottish who fell near Ypres 31st July 1917.”
Arnold Gledsdale was Irving’s brother who was killed in action on the 31st July 1917 aged 25 years whilst serving with the 10th Battalion Liverpool Scottish Battalion of the King’s (Liverpool Regiment) and who has no known grave and is commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial at Ypres.
Villers-Faucon Communal Cemetery Extension, Somme. The Extension adjoins the Communal Cemetery on its north west side and was begun in April 1917 and used until March 1918. It was then used by the Gemans until Commonwealth burials were resumed in September and October 1918. Further Commonwealth burials were brought in after the Armistice from a wide area round Villers-Faucon. The Extension records 432 U.K., 10 Aust., 8 Ind., 2 N.Z., 1 S.A. and 66 German burials. 144 of the burials are unidentified but there are special memorials to 6 casualties believed to be buried among them.
Grave in Villers-Faucon Communal Cemetery Extension of Major Frederick St. John Atkinson D.S.O. 9th Hodson’s Horse died 30th November 1917 aged 35 years. Hodson’s Horse was a regiment of lancers of the Indian Army which went to France in November 1914 and served there until February 1918 when it was sent to Palestine. Son of Amy Caroline and the late Frederick James Atkinson, husband of Lorna Ethel Anderson of 8 Cumberland Mansions, Bryanston Square, London.
At dawn on the 30th November 1917 the German counter-stroke to take ground lost in the British offensive which had begun on the 20th November 1917 commenced. Just over 5 miles to the North of Villers-Faucon is the village of Villers-Guislain which had been occupied by Commonwealth forces since April 1917. Villers-Guislain is to the East of the larger village of Gouzeaucourt and the railway from the South running North to Cambrai passes to the East of Gouzecourt and West of Gauche Wood which lies to the West of Villers-Guislan, the western tip of the wood being only a few yards from the railway. The 5th Cavalry Division had advanced in a northerly direction towards Villers-Guislain which had fallen in the German counter-attack but a mounted attack failed under heavy German artillery and machine-gun fire. A Squadron of the 8th Hussars reinforced by the 9th Hodsons’s Horse tried a dismounted attack which fared little better until eventually a line was secured along a sunken road west of the railway with Hodson’s Horse on the left. In this incident Hodson’s Horse had two Squadron Commanders killed and lost 50 other ranks and 70 horses. Major St. John Atkinson was one of those squadron commanders.
Headstone bears inscription “A life laid down for love of God of Country and of King.”
Grave in Villers-Faucon Communal Cemetery Extension of Major Arthur Ion Fraser D.S.O. Mentioned in Despatches. 9th Hodson’s Horse killed in action 30th November 1917 aged 37 years in the same action as Major Frederick St. John Atkinson.
Son of Arthur and Mary Fraser of The Bon-Accord, Winnipeg, Canada. The Register also records that he was born in London, had 17 years service in the Indian Army, went to France with the 1st Indian Cavalry Division from Ambala in 1914. Ambala is in the North of India.
Headstone bears inscription “Beloved eldest son of Arthur and Mary Fraser. Faithful unto death.
Grave in Villers-Faucon Communal Cemetery Extension of Major The Honourable Robert Nathaniel Dudley Ryder 8th (King’s Royal Irish) Hussars killed in action on the 30th November 1917 aged 34 years.
Robert Ryder was born in 1882 and served with the Hussars in South Africa 1900 – 1902. In October 1914 he was made Captain of “A” Squadron” and later promoted to Major. Major Ryder was killed in the same action as Majors Atkinson and Fraser. The Hussars were pushing on towards Gauche Wood where they were to stop the German advance and link up with the Guards Division who were attacking the village of Guedecourt but the enemy were in great strength and the Hussars like Hodson’s Horse only got to the sunken road where in the dismounted fight with the enemy, he a Squadron Commander, was killed with another officer and 36 other ranks and 73 horses.
Son of Henry, 4th Earl of Harrowby. Husband of Beryl Ryder of 35 Cadogan Place, London.
Headstone bears inscription “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you.”
Grave in Villers-Faucon Communal Cemetery Extension of 2nd Lieutenant Percy Causton Frost, King’s Shropshire Light Infantry (attached 10th Battalion), killed in action 8th September 1918.
Son of Arthur Thomas and Helen Frost of Rockbarton 14 St. Barnabas Road, Cambridge.
Headstone bears inscription “Honour these younger sons who held the ways. Britain can you forget?”
Vis-en-Artois British Cemetery Haucourt Pas de Calais. Vis-en-Artois and Haucourt are villages in the Department of the Pas-de-Calais on the main road from Arras to Cambrai (D939). The villages were taken by the Canadian Corps on the 27th August 1918 and the cemetery was begun immediately afterwards. It was used by fighting units and Field Ambulances until the middle of October. It consisted originally of 430 graves of which 297 were Canadian and 55 belonged to the 2nd Duke of Wellington’s Regiment. It was increased after the Armistice by the concentration of graves from the battlefields of April – June 1917 and August and September 1918 and from the smaller cemeteries in the neighbourhood. There are now nearly 2,500 war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these, nearly two-thirds are unidentified and special memorials are erected to seven sldiers from the U.K.and one from Canada, known or believed to be buried among them. Other special memorials record the names of four soldiers from the U.K. buried in other cemeteries whose graves could not be found on concentration. Burial Grounds from which graves were brought into this cemetery include Bois-du-Sart British Cemetery Pelves, Dury German Cemetery, Ecourt-St.Quentin German Cemetery, Etaing Communal Cemetery German Extension, Lecluse German Cemetery, Monchy Quarry Cemetery, Pelves Canadian Cemetery, Pelves Communal Cemetery German Extension, Rumaucourt German Cemetery, Sailly-en-Ostrevent Communal Cemetery and Vis-en-Artois Communal Cemetery German Extension.
Grave in Vis-en-Artois British Cemetery, Haucourt, Pas de Calais of 2nd Lieutenant Owen Watkin Wynn Hardinge Meredith Royal Flying Corps and General List who died 20th November 1917 aged 24 years.
2nd Lieutenant Meredith is also commemorated on the Wolston Village War Memorial.
For circumstances see entry under Wolston Village Memorial
Vendresse British Cemetery, Aisne. Vendresse-Beaulne is a Commune in the Department of the Aisne 12 miles S of Laon. It was established in 1923 by combining the commune of Beaulne-et-Chay with the neighbouring commune of Vendresse-et-Troyon. The cemetery is N of the village of Vendresse. The neighbourhood of Vendresse-et-Troyon was the scene of repeated and severe fighting in which British troops took part in 1914 and 1918. The Cemetery was made after the Armistice by concentration of graves from over 13 other cemeteries, including from Troyon Churchyard, and from the battlefields from isolated graves. There are now over 700 1914-1918 war casualties commemorated over half of these are unidentified. Special memorialsare erected to3 soldiers known or believed to be buried in unnamed graves and other special memorials record the names of 50 U.K. soldiers buried in other cemeteries whose graves were destroyed by shell fire.
Vendresse British Cemetery, Aisne.
Grave in Vendresse British Cemetery, Aisne of Brigadier General Ralph Hamer Husey DSO and Bar, MC, MID 4 times. Commanding 25th Infantry Brigade. Commissioned in the 1st London Rifle Corps on 12th March 1906 redisignated as 1/5 (City of London) London Regiment (London Rifle Brigade), he landed in France on the 5th November 1914, Captain commanding "A" Company of the London Rifle Brigade. On 13th May 1915 at Wieltje he was wounded in the knee but shortly after awarded the M.C. On 1st June 1916 he was promoted Major and then in August 1916 despite again being wounded was promoted to command the London Rifle Brigade. In February 1917 he was wounded for the third time. In August he was wunded again at Zillebeeke, this time in the abdomen and was evacuated to England. On the 2nd December 1917 he reassumed command of the Battalion. On the 25th April 1918 as Lieutenant Colonel he was given temporary command of 167 Infantry Brigade and then on the 4th May 1918 promoted to Brigadier General to command 25th Infantry Brigade in the 8th Division. He died of wounds 30 May 1918. Headstone bears inscription” Cor Immobyle.” (A steadfast Heart). On the 13th May 1918 the 8th Division relieved the French 71st Division and went into the line in the Berry-au-Bac sector holding a front of about 10,000 yards. Not until the 26th May was there any sign of an impending German attack: in the German lines opposite the 25th Brigade's sector (on the right flank the front line being held by the 2nd Rifle Brigade and the 2nd Royal Berkshire Regiment in a position over a mile East and North East of Berry-au-Bac and therefore well in front of the natural barrier of the Aisne River) notice boards which were possibly direction boards for tanks appeared. South of the Aisne River and about half a mile from Berry-su-Bac was Gernicourt standing on a cliff like eminence arising from the River. At 1 am on the 27th May 1918 the German bombardment opened in the Battle of the Aisne. Both front and back areas were drenched with gas shell and artillery and trench mortars rent the peace of the night. Brig Gen Husey was at Brigade HQ and organised the defence of HQ. In danger of being surrounded Brig Gen Husey led the remnants of his command back towards the Aisne and the village of Gernicourt. Taking position at the northern end of a bridge spanning the river Brig Gen Husey ordered it should be blown as soon as what was left of his command had crossed it. Men streamed past him as gas and high explosive rained down upon his position. Brig Gen Husey had always told friends he would never be taken alive and what happened next is unclear. When last seen he was desperately firing at a horde of Germans as they closed in upon his position. He was severely wounded his resistance being ended by a rifle butt to the head. He was evacuated by the Germans but died from his wounds in a German Field Ambulance unit two days later never recovering consciousness. He was originally buried by the Germans in the German Cemetery in the little village of Le Thour some 15 miles to the NE however after the Armistice his remains were exhumed and reinterred in the cemetery at Vendresse.
Grave in Vendresse British Cemetery, Aisne of Lieutenant The Hon.Herbert Lyttelton Pelham Adjutant 2nd Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment killed in action 14th September 1914 aged 30 years. Headstone bears inscription “The people that know their God Shall be strong and do exploits. Daniel II v. 32”.
The 2nd Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment was in the 2nd Brigade, 1st Division and Pelham landed in France with the Battalion on the 12th August 1914. The Battalion was in reserve during the Battle of Mons, retreated to the Marne and then moved North the 1st Division crossing the Aisne at Bourg-et-Comin on the 13th September 1914.
On the 14th September 1914, the 2nd Battalion had reached Troyon when it was ordered to extend the line by moving along the road which ran from Vendresse towards the Sugar Factory at Cerny and then turning off the road to ascend the wooded slope when the Battalion came under fire from the enemy. The advance continued to assault German trenches that skirted the Chivey Road. Some on the Battalion reached a sunken lane where they could position a machine-gun which poured enfilade fire into the German trenches on the Chivy Road pinning down the occupants. Other troops were in a nearby wood firing at the enemy when they appeared. German shells were fired in the direction of the wood causing casualties. Then a white flag was raised and hundreds of German soldiers walked towards the Battalion positions with their hands up. The CO Lieutenant Colonel Ernest Montresor together with several officers and men left cover in the sunken road and walked towards them to accept the surrender when suddenly German machine gunners positioned in the Sugar Factory and in the trenches to the left and right opened fire upon the men from the Battalion and upon their own men indiscriminately. Fire was returned by those from the Battalion who had not moved from cover but it could be described as a terrible massacre as the officers and men who moved to accept the surrender were positioned n between two opposing lines of fier of German machine gunners in the north, British rifles from the south and west and shells descending upon them from German batteries in the east. . Despite their losses the Battalion was able to take charge of 250 German soldiers who had managed to get into the sunken lane and evade the bullets fired by their comrades who were rounded up and escorted to the rear. The right flank of the Battalion got across the Vendrese Factory road and used the bank along the road as a line from where they opened fire upon the enemy outflanking them cutting them down as the infantry had the enemy in their sights. The Battalion was eventually able to dig into positions and held on under heavy bombardment until relieved on the 19th September.
On the 14th September Lieutenant Pelham had managed to reach La Cour de Soupir farmhouse between Vendresse and Cerny where he established a machine-gun position. Here he assisted in working the machine-gun to good effect, several of the machine-gun attachment having been killed or wounded, until a German artillery shell hit the building and killed him instantly.
The 2nd Royal Sussex Regiment lost that day their C.O. Lieutenant Colonel Ernest Montresor, Major Martyn Cookson, Captain Leeonard Slater, Lieutenant Honourable Herbert Pelham, Lieutenant Edward Daun, Lieutenant William Hughes. As well, 11 other ranks were killed, 3 officers and 79 other ranks wounded, 114 missing.
Lieutenant Pelham’s body was probably buried by the Germans but after the war his remains were recovered and he was buried at Vendresse British Cemetery.
The Honourable Herbert Lyttleton Pelham was born on 3rd April 1884 at Lambeth Rectory, London the fourth son of the Reverend Francis Pelham, who subsequently became the 5th Earl of Chichester. He was educated at Charterhouse and served as a commissioned officer in the Duke of Connaughts’s Own Hampshire and Isle of Wight Garrison Artillery from April 1902. He transferred to the 2nd Royal Sussex Regiment in June 1904 and was promoted Lieutenant in 1908, appointed Adjutant in 1911 and trained as an aviator gaining a pilot’s certificate in November 1913.
He was awarded the Victory, British War Medal and the 1914 Star and the Croix de Guere.
Headstone inscription “The People That know their God Shall be strong And do exploits.
Grave in Vendresse British Cemetery, Aisne of Lieutenant John Forbes O’Connell Royal Army Medical Corps Medical Officer to 2nd Battalion Highland Light Infantry. Killed in Action 20th September 1914 aged 25 years.
On the 4th August 1914 the Battalion was at Aldershot as part of 5th Brigade 2nd Division. The Battalion landed at Boulogne on the 14th August 1914, Lieutenant O’Connell landing with his Battalion. The Battalion was with the 5th Brigade well to the South of Mons, retired with the rest of the British Expeditionary crossing the Marne to end on the 5th September 1914 North of Chaumes when the retreat ended. The next day the advance to the Aisne began, the Division crossing the river at Chavonne on the 13th September 1914. On the morning of the 19th September the Battalion was in support to the other units in the 5th Brigade in the village of Moussy. On the 20th September the enemy began an attack directed principally against the 5th Infantry Brigade on the Beaulne Spur. A about 9 a.m. two companies from the Battalion with two platoons from the 2nd Worcesters were sent out to clear the wood and a ridge above. They charged the Germans but were driven back losing all their officers and this resulted in a retirement of other troops enabling the Germans to advance. The trenches were being shelled, with shells falling within 10 yards of the Battalion, described as nerve racking and terrible. Troops moved to the first firing line and trying to rush the German trenches almost all of “A” Company from the Battalion were cut up, the men falling everywhere. At this stage Lieutenant O’Connell was killed.
A married man, MB Lond., son of Colonel D.V. O'Connell M.D. (RAMC) The Knowle West Moors Dorset, he was awarded the Victory and British War Medals and the 1914 Star.
Vendresse Churchyard , Aisne. The Churchyard is in the centre of the small village of Vendresse which is 12 miles S of Laon. There are over 80 1914-1918 war casualties half of whom are unidentified with special memorials to 35 soldiers known or believed to be buried among them. Unusually between 8 and 2 men are buried beneath one headstone.
Another view of Vendresse Churchyard. Amongst the burials are Captain Riversdale Nonus Grenfell, Royal Buckinghamshire Hussars attached 9th (Queen's Royal) Lancers killed in action 14th September 1914 aged 34 years, brother of Captain Francis Grenfell, and Lieutenant G V Naylord-Leyland Royal Horse Guards killed in action 21st September 1914.
Grave in Vendresse Churchyard, Aisne of Captain Riversdale Nonus Grenfell Royal Buckinghamshire Hussars attached 9th (Queen’s Royal) Lancers killed in action 14th September 1914 aged 34 years.
Francis Octavious Grenfell and Riversdale Nonus Grenfell were born on the 4th September 1880 the twin sons of Pascoe Du Pre Grenfell and his wife Sophia.
Unlike his brother Francis, Riversdale Grenfell was not a Regular Soldier but was a member of the Buckinghamshire Yeomanry and wishing to go to France joined his brother in the 9th Lancers.
The 9th Lancers landed at Boulogne on the 16th August 1914 as part of 2nd Cavalry Brigade, Cavalry Division. For the early history see the record of his twin brother Francis Octavious Grenfell under Vlamertinghe Military Cemetery, West Flanders.
During the afternoon of the 24th August 1914 Riversdale Grenfell had been carrying out reconnaissance alone for Brigadier-General H de B de Lisle, commanding 2nd Cavalry Brigade. That day and the next the retreat from Mons began and by the 2nd September the BEF had reached the Marne River which was crossed on the 3rd. the Battle of the Marne began and on the 7th September the BEF began an advance to the North, the Germans crossing the Aisne River on the 12th and 13th September but then began to dig in on the high ground North of that river.
On the 13th September 1914 together with the 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards, the 9th Lancers had crossed the Aisne River at Bourg some 14 miles directly south of Laon. Reconnaissance during the night of the 13th September had established that parties of the enemy were located in a sugar factory on the north side of the Chemin des Dames north east of Troyon which is about a mile North East of Vendresse. To protect the march of the 1st Division therefore the 2nd Infantry Brigade was ordered before daybreak to seize part of the Chemin des Dames ridge from Cerny to a point about 1 mile west, Cerny being about a mile west of the sugar factory. At 3 a.m. on the 14th September 1914 the 2nd King’s Royal Rifle Corps and the 2nd Royal Sussex Regiment with the 9th Lancers forming the advance guard amid heavy rain and dense mist passed Vendresse towards Troyon to seize and hold the high ground above Troyon. The leading company of the K.R.R.C. with a party of the 9th Lancers including Captain Grenfell surprised a German picket. The Regiment dismounted while Captain Grenfell with a section dashed forward to a position near a haystack to engage the German troops but anxious to see the effect of the shooting he exposed himself and a German bullet cut his revolver in two and passed through the roof of his mouth. He died instantaneously. The 9th Lancers had to retreat leaving his body in the enemy hands.
It was obvious that the enemy were in strength and the British had to bring up infantry reinforcements to counter the fire of two German artillery batteries, the Loyal North Lancashire joining the K.R.R.C. and the Royal Sussex in the attack on the sugar factory. By the afternoon German counter attacks grew weaker and weaker until by 3 p.m. they had practically died away which enabled the K.R.R.C. to advance and Riversdale Grenfell's body was recovered and later buried in the Churchyard.
Captain Riversdale Grenfell was awarded the Victory and British War Medals and the 1914 Star.
Grave in Vendresse Churchyard, Aisne but outside the CWGC plot of Lieutenant John Dundas Manley 26th Field Company, Royal Engineers killed in action 26th September 1914 aged 22 years.
The 1st Division, part of I Corps, had two Companies of Engineers, the 23rd and the 26th Field Companies. The Division landed at Havre on the 14th August 1914, was not substantially involved in the Battle of Mons but retreated with the British Expeditionary Force crossing the Marne about the 5th September and then on the 6th September the B.E.F. began its advance the Division crossing the Aisne River at Bourg-et-Comin on the 13th September.
On the 26th September Lieutenant Manley was in the front line supervising the construction of trenches and barbed wire defences near Vendresse when he was killed by the burst of a German shell without actually being hit.
His body was brought down from the trenches during the night when the German barrages had subsided and he was buried in Vendresse Churchyard.
Educated at Cheltenham College and Emmanuel College Cambridge, where he graduated with a Mechanical Science degree, he was commissioned in June 1913 in the Special Reserve of Officers and in 1914 was given an appointment in the Indian Public Works Department but on the outbreak of the war, joined the 26th Field Company.
A single man, he was awarded the Victory and British War Medals and the 1914 Star.
Headstone bears inscription "Ours not to reason why, Ours but to do and die."
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