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Cemetery Road
North Somercotes
Lincolnshire
V.N.S.l/5/2015
Commonwealth War Graves.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is responsible for marking
and maintaining the graves of members of the forces of Commonwealth
countries who died in the two world wars, for building and maintaining
memorials to the dead whose graves are unknown.
At 45 years old Fabian Arthur Goulstone Ware was considered to be too
old to fight in the Great War. But he became a commander of a mobile unit of
the British Red Cross Society. He arrived in France in September 1914 in
command of a mobile Red Cross ambulance unit, consisting of privately owned
cars which were sent out to look for wounded and escaped prisoners. Ware was
saddened by the sheer number of casualties. He quickly found out that there was
no official organisation responsible for marking and recording the graves of
those killed. Ware undertook the task. The War Office recognised Ware's work
in rec-ording and maintaining graves and in 1915 the Graves Registration
Commission was set up under his command. It became part of the British Army.
Ware left the Red Cross and was promoted to a Major in the Army.
Sometimes it was possible to bury men near to where they fell. At times it
could be in a crater or in a row places together in a large trench. Wounded men
were taken to the advance dressing station close to the front. Groups of men
were interred nearby. Near to the French coast were larger hospitals and these
became surrounded by larger cemeteries. Itwas possible for some of the
wounded to be brought back to Britain. If they died in England they could be
taken home to be buried. Bodies were never taken home from the battlefields
(with the exception of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey) for burial.
The multinational aspect of the work was recognised by the Imperial War
Conference. InMay 1917 The Imperial War Graves Commission was
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established by Royal Charter with the Prince of Wales as its President and
Fabian Ware as Vice- Chairman.
The fundament aims of the Commission are that every man or women
who has lost their lives should be remembered by name on a permanent
headstone or memorial; the headstones to be uniform with no distinction to be
made on account of rank, race or creed.
The Commission's work began in earnest after the Armistice. Once land
for cemeteries and memorials had been guaranteed, the enormous task of
recording the details of the dead began. By 1918, some 587,000 graves had been
identified and a further 559,000 casualties were registered as having no known
grave.
The Commission set the highest standards for all its work. Three of the
most eminent architects of the day - Sir Edwin Lutyens, Sir Herbert Baker and
Sir Reginald Blomfield - were chosen to begin the work of designing and
constructing the cemeteries and memorials. Rudyard Kipling was chosen as
literary advisor, to give advice on inscriptions.
In 1921 the Commission built three experimental cemeteries. Forceville
in France was considered the most successful. Garden designer Gertrude Jekyll
advised on the planting and the architects created a walled cemetery with
uniform headstones in a garden setting. Blornfield's Cross of Sacrifice and
Lutyens' Stone of Remembrance were the formal features. After some
adjustments, Forceville became the template for the Commission's building
programme.
Rudyard Kipling provided the words
KNOWN UNTO GOD
for the unidentified graves.
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The men without a known grave have their names recorded on large
memorials. The first of these to be completed was Blomfield's memorial in
Ypres.
The land for the Commonwealth War Graves and Memorials was given
in perpetuity by the nations inwhich the lie.
A year after the Commission's programme was completed in 1938 war
once again broke out. This forced the Commission to evacuate its staff and
leave the cemeteries. Ware soon realised that this war-was very different from
the last one. It was global and the increased use of air power meant that
casualties would no longer be restricted to military personnel. Extending its
remit at the request of Winston Churchill, the Commission also created a roll of
honour that commemorated 67,000 civilians who died as a result of enemy
action during the Second World War.
As hostilities ceased the Commission began restoring its 1914-1918
cemeteries and memorials to their pre-war beauty. They then began the task of
commemorating 600,000 Commonwealth casualties from this latest conflict. In
1949, the commission completed Dieppe Canadian War Cemetery which was
the first of559 new cemeteries and 36 new memorials.
As the construction programme of Second World War cemeteries drew to
/~ a close in the 1960s, to reflect the changing times, the name changed to the
Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
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FLU
A killer every bit as deadly as a shell, or a bullet, was rampaging
throughout Europe.
SPANISH FLU.
It is believed that it was so called because it was first reported in Spain.
During The Great War Spain was a neutral country without the strict press
censorship of other countries. Although the Pandemic did not start in Spain, its
spread amongst the population was freely reported in the various newspapers in
that country.
This virus had a mortality rate of 20 times normal influenza. It was also
unusual in that it struck down the more fit and health in communities; this was
usually the 20 to 50 year olds. Death often occurred within a few hours of the
onset of the illness.
There were several cases in North Somercotes. It affected both the
Civilian and the Military population in the village.
The influenza virus, with up to 40 million victims, killed more people
than the Great War itself.
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BERTIE HALLETT died on 12thNovember 1918 at the Red Cross
Hospital inLouth. He had pneumonia after influenza.
He was buried in the village cemetery on 14thNovember 1918 by North
Somercotes Vicar the Rev. Samuel Proudfoot.
Written on his gravestone is
202753 Private B HALLETT,
Lincolnshire Regiment.
12thNov 1918 aged 20.
At rest.
Bertie was a private in the Labour Corps of the Lincolnshire Secondary
Regiment, 447thAgricultural Company, service no 504958. He had been a
private in the Lincolnshire Regiment service no 202753.
He is remembered on North Somercotes War Memorials
Bertie was one of the sons of William Sanderson and Louisa (nee
Baldock) Hallett. He had been born on zs" September 1898 at North Thoresby.
In 1908 the family came into the village from North Thoresby. They lived
for a time in Church Lane from where Bertie attended the village school.
Before his death in 1918 his parents and some siblings moved to
Bishopthorpe Lodge, Tetney, North Thoresby.
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Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps
The shortage of manpower in the First World War led to the formation of
the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps in 1917. Women working both in France
and in the United Kingdom were able to replace military men serving behind
the lines and enable them to fight.
Given Royal patronage inApril 1918 and renamed Queen Mary's Army
Auxiliary Corps, it had completely demobilized by 1921.
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HILD A CARY died on the 22nd November 1918 after having
influenza for 8 days and then double pneumonia for 2 days. She was a 'worker'
in the Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps. Service no 27668. She was buried
in the village cemetery on the 25th November 1918 by Samuel Proudfoot, North
Somercotes' Vicar.
Her Gravestone is inscribed:
In Loving memory of
HILDA CARY
who died Nov 22nd 1918,
age 19 years.
"Peace, perfect peace".
Hilda was born on the io"March 1900. She was a daughter of Richard
Edwin and Eliza (nee Tyson) Cary and lived on Marsh Lane. Hilda had attended
the village school from 1905.
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BETSY CARY died on the zs" November 1918 after having had
influenza for 7 days, which turned to pneumonia for 5 days and led to heart
failure. She was a Waac in the Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps Service no
27667. She was buried in the village cemetery on zs" November 1918 by the
Vicar of North Somercotes Samuel Proudfoot
Her Gravestone is inscribed:
In loving memory of
BETSY CARY
who died Nov 25th 1918,
age 28 years."R .est znpeace
Betsy was born on the 16th July 1891. She was the daughter of Richard
Edwin and Eliza (nee Tyson) Cary of Marsh Lane.
Betsy left home to work and in 1911was a kitchen maid to Lord Estcourt
in London.
Hilda and Betsy were sisters and they are buried next to each other in North
Somercotes Cemetery
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Merchant seamen
who are remembered via Commonwealth War
Graves in the village cemetery.
There are 7 Second World War Commonwealth War Graves for
Merchant Seaman in North Somercotes Village Cemetery. Unfortunately as yet
the name of only one is known. The bodies of the men were found on the coast
and brought to North Somercotes to be buried.
Each of the graves has the Merchant Service Emblem on top the stone.
There are then the words
A SAILOR
OF THE
SECOND WORLD WAR
MERHANTNAVY
BURIED 6TH NOVEMBER 1939
(There is then an engraved cross.)
"KNOWN UNTO GOD"
(CWG ref. comp 1 grave 79)
It is believed that this is a sailor from SS Orsa.
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A SAILOR
OF THE
SECOND WORLD WAR
MERHANTNAVYBURIED 6TH NOVEMBER 1939
(There is then an engraved cross.)
"KNOWN UNTO GOD"
(CWG ref. comp 1 grave 78)
It is believed that this is the body of a sailor from SS Orsa.
A SAILOR
OF THE
SECOND WORLD WAR
MERHANTNAVYBURIED 9TH FERBUARY 1940
(There is then an engraved cross)
"KNOWN UNTO GOD"
(CWG ref. comp 1 grave 77)
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A SAILOR
OF THE
SECOND WORLD WAR
MERHANTNAVY
BURIED 29TH OCTOBER 1940
(There is then an engraved cross.)
"KNOWN UNTO GOD"
(CWG ref. comp 1 grave 160)
The body of this sailor was found at Donna Nook
A SAILOR
OF THE
SECOND WORLD WAR
MERHANT NAVY
BURIED 25TH NOVEMBER 1940
(There is then an engraved cross.)
"KNOWN UNTO GOD"
(CWG ref. comp 1 grave 159)
The body of this seaman was found at Donna Nook.
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A SAILOR
OFTRE
SECOND WORLD WAR
MERHANTNAVY
BURIED 27TH DECEMBER 1940
(There is then an engraved cross.)
"KNOWN UNTO GOD"
(CWG ref. comp 1 grave 158)
The body of this sailor was found on the beach at Donna Nook.
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JOHN ELIAS EVANSwas one of the children of Elias and Margaret
Jane (nee Vaughan) Evans. He had been born on the 21 st January 1895 in
Aberdovey. He was a sailor from an early age and.also a Royal Naval Reservist
(A6173).
He married Alice Radcliffe on the 14th April 1916 in Ardrossen Ayrshire.
They had 3 children.
John was an Able Seaman and a designated lamp trimmer on S. S. Orsa.
S. S. Orsa was taking a cargo of coal from the Tyne to Bordeaux when
she struck a mine on 21 st October 1939.
John's body was found near to North Somercotes and he was buried on
the 6th November 1939 by the Rev. Hall.
His gravestone was inscribed:
JE Evans, lamp trimmer
.~SS Orsa,
21 st October 1939, age 42.
"Immortal invisible God only wise."
(CWG ref. comp 1 grave 80)
The name of one of his sons, Jim, was later added to the headstone.
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R.A.F. Donna Nook
and
Camp 292/292b
There are no burials in this cemetery for any of the German or Allied
Airman and other Servicemen who met their deaths at Donna Nook. Neither are
there any burials from those at Camp292/292b.
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SAINT MARY's NORTH SOMERCOTES
WINIFRED HOWES nee BAKER was born in Hull on the 4th July 1907. She
was one of the daughters of George Baker. The family were living at 8
Kimberley Street in Hull in 1911.
In 1928whilst still living in Hull she married Arthur Howes. They had a.
daughter Marjorie who was born in 1929. In 1939 Arthur came to the village
with Marjorie and she attended the village school until she was 14 years old.
Winifred was a corporal in the Auxiliary Territorial Service Women's
'Services,Service no W/17301.
She died zi" February 1944 in Surrey.
Winifred is buried in St Mary's churchyard.
Her headstone is carved with the ATSsymbol and states:
W/17301 CORPORAL
WINIFRED HOWES
AUX. TERRITORIALSERVICE
21st FEBRUARY1944.
f( MAY HER REWARD
BE AS GREAT AS HER SACRIFICE"
There are 3 Commonwealth War Graves from the 1st World War in North
Somercotes Village Cemetery and 7 from the 2nd World War.
The names of some village men are also to be found on the headstones
of members of their family.
There is also 1 Commonwealth War Grave to be found at Saint Marys,
When the CWGCommission refurbish or renew headstones the wording
is at times changed.
Valerie N Soderberg,
The details given about the men and women named have been taken from
three other pieces of my research.
LESTWE FORGET- a pamphlet published about the men from North
Somercotes who died during the 2 World Wars.
THESTORIESBEHINDTHENAMES,
1914 -1919 - NORTHSOMERCOTESWAR MEMORIAL - this is a book about all
of those named on the memorial who served and died or served and survived.
WE HAVEREMEMBERED- NORTHSOMERCOTES- this is about the men and
women of North Somercotes who served during the 2 World Wars, many of
whom are not mentioned on the various memorials.
It is also about men and women who were buried in the village during the
World Wars and about those service personnel who died in the village during
the World Wars and are buried elsewhere.
Valerie N Soderberg
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