AUBERS RIDGE BRITISH CEMETERY
Aubers
Nord
France
General Directions: Aubers is a village about 8 kilometres north of La Bassee and 3 kilometres north-west of the main road from La Bassee to Lille. From Aubers take the RD173 at the 'T' junction. Turn left towards Fromelles and continue 500 metres to the next junction. Turn right towards Herlies and follow the road for 500 metres when the Cemetery can be found on the left hand side.
Aubers village was taken by the 9th Brigade on the 17th October, 1914, with Herlies and part of the Ridge, and on the 19th the 2nd Royal Irish took Le Pilly. These gains, however, were lost within a few days, and the Ridge, in spite of repeated attacks, was not captured by British forces for three years. Early in October, 1918, it was secured by the 47th (London) Division. The cemetery was made after the Armistice, by the concentration of graves from smaller burial grounds and from the battlefields on all sides of Aubers. Plot I consists almost entirely of the graves of unidentified Australian soldiers, killed in the Attack at Fromelles on the 19th-20th July, 1916, and Plot II almost entirely of the graves of soldiers of the 61st (South Midland) Division, killed in the same engagement. The succeeding Plots cover also the fighting in October, 1914 (the Battles of La Bassee and Armentieres); the Battle of Neuve-Chapelle (March, 1915); the Battles of Aubers Ridge and Festubert (May, 1915); and the final advance in October, 1916. The last graves (from Winchester Post Military Cemetery) were brought here in 1925.
The larger cemeteries concentrated into Aubers Ridge British Cemetery were: Chateau-du-Flandre British Cemetery, Beaucamps, at the Eastern exit of the great park between Beaucamps and Radinghem. Here were buried 17 men of the 47th (London) Division, who fell in the occupation of Beaucamps on the 4th October, 1918, or immediately after it. Winchester Post Military Cemetery, Rue-du-Bacquerot, Laventie, on the East side of "Winchester Road", which leads from the Rue-du-Bacquerot to Mauquissart. This was one of the many cemeteries made by Indian Corps behind the line from Neuve-Chapelle North-Eastwards. It stood in front of a farm building ("Winchester Post") used as a Dressing Station and Battalion Headquarters. It contained the graves of 120 soldiers from the United Kingdom and one German prisoner, in two plots. It was begun by the 2nd Devon's in November, 1914, and used until February, 1916; and three graves were added in 1918.
Casualty Details: UK 594, Australia 124, India 1, Total Burials: 719
Plan of Cemetery
Cemetery plan courtesy of Barry Cuttell
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