Rue-Petillon Military Cemetery, Fleurbaix, Bethune, Nord Pas de Calais

Cemetery Details

Location Fromelles, Nord - Hauts-de-France, France
Co‑ordinates N50.631165, E2.83609
Description

Location Information
Fleurbaix is a village 5 kilometres south-west of Armentieres on the D22. Rue-Petillon Military Cemetery will be found by taking the D175 from Fleurbaix towards Fauquissart, then the D171 towards Petillon. The cemetery is on the south side of the road from Petillon to La Boutillerie.

History Information

Total Burials: 1520
UK 1136, Canada 55, Australia 292, New Zealand 24, India 1, Germany 12.

It covers an area of  5,983 square metres and is enclosed by a low red brick wall.

British soldiers began burying their fallen comrades at Rue Pétillon in December 1914 and the cemetery was used by fighting units until it fell into German hands during the Spring Offensive of 1918.

The Allies recaptured this sector of the front in September 1918 and when the war ended in November the cemetery was the site of twelve Battalion burial grounds.

Many of those laid to rest here had died of wounds in a dressing station that was located in the buildings adjoining the cemetery, which were known as ‘Eaton Hall’ during the war.

The cemetery was enlarged in the years after the Armistice when graves were concentrated here from the battlefields around Fleurbaix and a number of smaller burial grounds.

A whole range of different Commonwealth units served in this sector during the war and the cemetery contains the graves of British, Irish, Canadian, New Zealand, and Indian soldiers, as well as over 260 men who were killed while serving with the Australian Imperial Force.

There are now just over 1,500  World War One (1914-18) war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these, nearly half are unidentified and a special memorial is erected to one soldier from the United Kingdom, believed to be buried among them.  Other special memorials record the names of two Indian soldiers; and a third group commemorates 15 Canadian soldiers, five from the United Kingdom one from Australia, buried in other cemeteries, whose graves were destroyed by shell fire.

Rue-Petillon Military Cemetery is irregularly arranged, because of the conditions under which it was made and the groups of concentrated burials, are among the original groups of graves.

 

The Australian Imperial Force – First Encounters with the Enemy.

Units of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) began arriving at the great southern port of Marseille at the end of March 1916. From there, they were transported north and, having spent a brief period in the region of Hazebrouck, were posted to the front-line trenches south of Armentières at the beginning of April. Many of these Australian soldiers had survived tough conditions and fierce fighting during the ill-fated Gallipoli campaign of 1915, but none of them had experienced combat on the Western Front.

One of their first encounters with the German forces occurred on the evening of 5 May 1916, when units of the 6th Bavarian reserve regiment raided the Australian trenches south west of Fleurbaix around Le Bridoux. After a withering artillery and mortar bombardment that caused dozens of casualties, German soldiers entered the Australian positions and captured a small number of prisoners before retiring to their own lines. For the next number of weeks, activity along this sector of the front increased as German and Australian artillery units regularly exchanged fire and German snipers claimed a steady toll of casualties.

On 30 May 1916, the Germans staged another raid, this time attacking a salient held by the 11th Battalion AIF at Cordonnerie Farm.  British and Australian miners had been tunnelling in this part of the line, and the objective of the German raid was to identify the Commonwealth regiments in the area and destroy mine shafts.

At 8.15pm, the Germans unleashed a devastating bombardment of artillery shells and heavy trench mortar bombs.  This intense fire continued for 1 hour and 20 minutes and completely destroyed the flimsy breastworks behind which the Australian troops were sheltering. Despite the noise and thick clouds of shell smoke, the men of the 11th rallied well and began firing Lewis gun rounds toward the German troops who started advancing across no man’s land just after 9.00pm.  The raiders managed to enter the Australian positions and capture a handful of prisoners, but were forced to retreat before they could inflict further damage. The lengthy bombardment that accompanied the raid on 30 May caused over 100 Australian casualties, over 40 of whom were killed.  Many of those killed during the raid were buried at Rue Pétillon, which is also the final resting place of over 100 Australian soldiers killed at the Battle of Fromelles on 19 July 1916.

(Courtesy of 'Find a Grave' and 'CWGC')

 

Sourced and submitted by Julianne T Ryan.  9 September 2014.  Lest we forget.

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Stories

South Australians buried in Rue-Petillon Military Cemetery

Rue Petillon Cemetery is behind what were the Allied lines at Fromelles. It is one of five in the immediate vicinity of the Fromelles Battlefield, the others being Le Trou Aid Post Cemetery, Rue de Bois, VC Corner Cemetery and the newest Pheasant Wood, adjacent to the town of Fromelles itself.

There are many South Australians buried in Rue Petillon and the other nearby cemeteries. Two families in particular have a tragic attachment to this cemetery. The Knight family of Westbourne Park lost both sons, Tom and Alfred, in the area, prior to the Battle. They were in separate Battalions, the 52nd and 32nd, and were each killed in minor incidents; random shelling and a trench raid by enemy troops. They are buried just a row apart. The result - a family lost its only two sons within two weeks of one another in almost exactly the same place.

1111 Lance Corporal Tom Knight was in the 52nd Battalion. He was killed on the 19th June in a trench raid by German infantry, and is buried at I J 37.

3190 Alfred Ronald knight was a Private in the 32nd Battalion. He was killed just two days prior to the main attack. He is located at IK 92. His headstone is joined flush with a number of others. This signifies that their remains could not be distinguished one from the other and is a typical consequence of shellfire.

The Choat family had three sons in A Company of the 32nd Battalion with consecutive serial numbers: 67, 68 and 69.. All three were listed as missing as a result of the battle on 19/20th July. One son, Wesley, was later found to have been wounded and captured by the Germans. In a remarkable turn of events he eventually escaped and made his way to England, without any awareness of the fate of his brothers. Another, Ray Choat, is listed on the VC Corner wall because his body was not reccovered / identified. The third, Archibald Pecy, was recovered from the battle and is buried here in Rue de Petlllon at Row I L 47.

Other individuals buried here include Chaplain Spencer Edward Maxtead attached to the 54th Battalion. Previously a stretcher bearer at Gallipoli, he ignored an order to stay in the rear, he was shot dead by a German sniper as he administered last rites to the wounded on the battlefield. He is located at I K 2.

See the attached image for the location of this cemetery relative to the Fromelles battlefield.

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Names

Showing 8 people of interest from cemetery

HARRISON, Roy

Service number OFFICER
Major
54th Infantry Battalion
AIF WW1
Born 28 May 1889

WHITE, Russell

Service number 1627
Private
30th Infantry Battalion
AIF WW1

WATTS, Thomas Langford

Service number 1003
Private
30th Infantry Battalion
AIF WW1
Born 1897

CAMPBELL, John

Service number 29
Private
31st Infantry Battalion
AIF WW1
Born 1900

MURRAY, Robert Norman

Service number 5651
Sapper

PAYNE, Edgar Ashton

Service number 2748
Private
55th Infantry Battalion
AIF WW1
Born 1883

CHOAT, Archibald Percy

Service number 66
Private
32nd Infantry Battalion
AIF WW1
Born 7 Jun 1897

HURST, Robert

Service number 3261
Private
52nd Infantry Battalion
AIF WW1
Born Jul 1885