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Additional
Information: |
Son of
John George and Mary Elizabeth Humes, of Wheatley Hill, Co. Durham. |
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Cemetery:
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CITE
BONJEAN MILITARY CEMETERY, ARMENTIERES, Nord, France |
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Grave
Reference/ |
Plot
11. Row A. Grave 16. |
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Location:
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Armentieres is a town in the Department of the Nord, on
the Belgian frontier, 14.5 kilometres north-west of Lille. From the town of
Armentieres take the D945 to Estaires. Cite Bonjean Military Cemetery is
signposted off this road just before Erquinghem-sur-la-Lys. Within the
cemetery will be found the Cite Bonjean (New Zealand) Memorial, which
commemorates officers and men with no known grave who fell in 1916-1917 in
the neighbourhood of Armentieres. |
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Historical
Information: |
Armentieres
was occupied by the 4th Division on the 17th October, 1914, and it remained
within the British lines until its evacuation of the 10th April, 1918, after
a prolonged and heavy bombardment with gas shell. It was occupied by the
enemy next day, and it was not recovered until the 3rd October, 1918. The
Cemetery was begun (Plot IX) by British troops in October, 1914. It was used
in the winter of 1914-15 for civilian burials, the cemetery at Le Bizet being
too greatly exposed; the civilians are now in a separate enclosure. British
Field Ambulances and units (partly the 4th, 6th, 21st, New Zealand, 17th and
57th (West Lancashire) Divisions and the Australian Corps) continued to use
it until April, 1918. Plots V, VI, VII and X were then used by the Germans.
In 1925, 455 German graves were removed from Plots V and VI to Illies German
Cemetery. There are now over 2,000, 1914-18 and 30, 1939-45 war casualties
commemorated in this site. The cemetery covers an area of 13,178 square
metres and is enclosed by a red brick wall. |