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Yorkshire
Regiment War Graves, - Knightsbridge Cemetery, Mesnil-Martinsart (France, Somme) |
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Knightsbridge
Cemetery, Mesnil-Martinsart (1)
Photo : Richard Roberts (<richard.nsw@googlemail.com>).
The cemetery, which is named from a communication trench, was begun at the outset of the Battle of the Somme in 1916. It was used by units fighting on that front until the German withdrawal in February 1917 and was used again by fighting units from the end of March to July 1918, when the German advance brought the front line back to the Ancre. After the Armistice, burials in Rows G, H and J were added when graves were brought in from isolated positions on the battlefields of 1916 and 1918 round Mesnil.
Knightsbridge Cemetery contains 548 First World War burials, 141 of them unidentified.
Amongst the graves is that of one soldier who served with the Yorkshire Regiment.
We are extremely grateful to Richard Roberts (<richard.nsw@googlemail.com>) who has generously provided the photographs on this page.
Click on the thumbnail image of a headstone for a larger version of the photo which opens in a new window.
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2nd Lieutenant William Ernest Longster.
10th Battalion the Cheshire Regiment, formerly 2871 5th Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment. Son of Mr. I. W. and Mrs. A. E. Longster, of 20, Belle Vue Terrace, Malton, Yorks. Killed 22 July 196. Aged 22. Born Malton, Enlisted Malton, Resided Malton. (Wiliiam Ernest Longster was originally a Serjeant in the 5th Battalion Yorkshire Regiment, before being commissioned into the Leicester Regiment and transferred into the Cheshire Regiment. Before the war, he was a journalist on the staff of the "Malton Messenger". Ref. Malton and the First World War.) "UNTIL THE DAWN BREAKS"
Photo : Richard Roberts (<richard.nsw@googlemail.com>). |
Knightsbridge
Cemetery, Mesnil-Martinsart (2)
Photo : Richard Roberts (<richard.nsw@googlemail.com>).
Knightsbridge
Cemetery is on the left and Mesnil Ridge Cemetery on the right. Photo shows
difficulty of access to both cemeteries.
Photo : Richard Roberts (<richard.nsw@googlemail.com>).