Location
The Adelaide Cemetery at Villers Bretonneux is one of the most visited sites by Australians on the Western Front battlefields of France and Belgium. It is situated to the West of the town on the main road to Amiens. About 500m to the west towards Amiens in a valley below the cemetery is a road which formed part of the 'start line' for the counter-attack by the 13th and 15th Brigades on the evening of 24/25 April 1918 which famously liberated the town and halted the German advance on Amiens during the major offensive called 'Operation Michael' in March / April 1918.
History
Adelaide Cemetery was begun early in June 1918 and used by the 2nd and 3rd Australian Divisions. It continued in use until the Allies began their advance in mid August, by which time it contained 90 graves (the greater part of the present Plot I, Rows A to E).
After the Armistice, a large number of graves were brought into the cemetery from small graveyards and isolated positions on the north, west and south of Villers-Bretonneux and they were, without exception, those of men who died in the months from March to September 1918.
They included:-
• CACHY BRITISH CEMETERY, on the North-Western outskirts of the village of Cachy, contained the graves of 2 British soldiers who fell in March, 1918, and 10 Canadians who fell in August.
• CHALK LANE CEMETERY, VILLERS-BRETONNEUX, 100 metres from Adelaide Cemetery, used in April and May, 1918, and contained the graves of 14 soldiers from the United Kingdom and 10 from Australia.
• EMBANKMENT CEMETERY, VILLERS-BRETONNEUX, which was used by the 4th Australian and 2nd Australian Divisions from the end of April to July, 1918. It contained the graves of 37 Australian soldiers and 1 British airman. It was a little West of Adelaide Cemetery, beside the railway and behind a Dressing Station.
• WHITE CHATEAU CEMETERY, CACHY, between L'Abbe Wood and the railway, 500 metres West of Adelaide Cemetery. It was used from April to August, 1918, and it contained the graves of 23 soldiers from Australia, 9 from the United Kingdom and 2 from Canada.
Plot I was filled, Plot II was made almost entirely with graves from United Kingdom units, and Plot III almost entirely with Australian.
There are now 960 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated in this cemetery. 266 of the burials are unidentified but there are special memorials to four casualties known, or believed to be buried among them.
The cemetery was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.
Notable Figures
Of particular interest are several graves, including that from which the Unknown Soldier was disinterred in 1992 to be repatriated to Australia for interment in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Australian War Memorial Canberra.
Another is that of a 50-year-old soldier from the South Australian 50th Battalion, Private John Anderson (/explore/people/218) who is buried in the cemetery but his actual grave has been lost. The 50th Battalion attacked around the southern flank of the town as part of the 13th Brigade during the famous counterattack on ANZAC Day 1918 which re-captured the town and halted the German advance on Amiens.
Another is a highly decorated soldier, Company Sergeant Major Philip Bonhote (/explore/people/243988) of Tasmania, a member of the 52nd Battalion which was a composite WA / SA / Battalion and part of the same Brigade as the 50th Battalion Aged just 25, he had already been awarded awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal and Military Medal, but his luck ran out on the evening of 24th April 1918. The headstone is marked "Believed to Be" meaning the remains were not able to be positively identified as his.
Other figures of note include:
Sergeant David Henry Allen MM (/explore/people/272351) of the 52nd Battalion
Lance Corporal John Cooper DCM (/explore/people/163497) of the 51st Battalion
Driver Roy Loton MM (/explore/people/221895) of the 1st Field Artillery Brigade
Second Lieutenant George Joseph Shepperd MM (/explore/people/196236) of the 26th Battalion
Captain Frank Smith MC, MID (/explore/people/355083) of the 51st Battalion
Currently, 704 Commonwealth War Graves are maintained at the Adelaide Cemetery. 409 are identified Australians.
Steve Larkins - 2 January 2014
