BULLS ROAD CEMETERY
Flers
Somme
France
General Directions: Flers is a village in the Department of the Somme, about 8 kilometres north-east of Albert. From the D929, direction Bapaume-Albert, leave Bapaume and after 1.3 kilometres follow the signs for Ligny Thilloy. Continue through the village until you give way to the D10, then turn right and follow signs for Flers. 200 metres into the village of Flers is a sign for Bulls Road Cemetery. Follow the winding route off to the left for 500 metres and the cemetery is on the right hand side, 20 metres off the road.
Flers was captured on 15 September 1916 in the Battle of Flers-Courcelette, when it was entered by the New Zealand and 41st Divisions behind tanks, the innovative new weapons that were used here for the first time. The village was lost during the German advance of March 1918 and retaken at the end of the following August by the 10th West Yorks and the 6th Dorsets of the 17th Division. The cemetery was begun on 19 September 1916 and was used by fighting units (mainly Australian) until March 1917. The 154 burials made during these months now form Plot I. Plot II, Row A, Graves 1-17 were added in September 1918 by the 17th Division burial officers. The rest of the cemetery consists of graves (mainly of September 1916, or August 1918) brought in after the Armistice from the fields between Flers and Longueval.
Casualty Details: UK 493, Australia 155, New Zealand 122, Total Burials: 770
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Second Lieutenant John Joseph Langford 18th Bn. King's Royal Rifle Corps Fell near Flers, 15/09/1916. Plot II. C. 8
2638 Private George Ditton 45th Bn. Australian Infantry, A. I. F. 20/01/1917, aged 24. Son of James and Catherine Ann Ditton, of Mos s Vale, New South Wales. Plot I. A. 38. George Ditton enlisted at Moss Vale on the 8th June 1916 along with Jack Huxley and Bill Lidbetter. He was 24 years of age, the son of James and Catherine Ditton of Moss Vale, and listed his occupation as a farm worker. Ditton embarked on the HMAT Ceramic from Sydney with Huxley on the 7th October 1916. Both were assigned to the 45th Battalion, the 8th reinforcement of that battalion. He entered the war in the field on the 18th January 1917, where the 45th was holding the line at Flers in Grease Trench. Aggressive raiding was being undertaken by both sides, the Germans appearing to suffer the worst of this action. Relief parties were re-supplying the line and extending the trench system – all unremarkable work if you consider being constantly shelled, machine gunned and sniped to be normal. 45th Battalion casualties between January 17-24th were three dead and 11 wounded. George was one of the three losses, being killed on January 20th after only two days in the field. Unfortunately, there are no details as to how he met his death. George Ditton is honoured on both the Kangaroo Valley and Moss Vale War Memorials. Picture courtesy of Terri Baker, George was her great grandmothers brother.
1495 Gunner Athol Eric Charles Percy 13th Bde. Australian Field Artillery 16/11/1916, aged 19. Plot II. E. 16. Athol was the eldest son of Florance Theodore and Eva Ethel Percy. He was born in Kempsey, New South Wales, Australia. He enlisted on 23rd November 1914 and lied about his age to do so. He landed at Gallipoli and three months later he was wounded at Lone Pine and sent to Cairo to recover. He then re-joined his fellow soldiers in France where he was killed near a little village called Le Transloy when a shell exploded near to where he was, it was his 19th Birthday. He is buried in the Bulls Road Cemetery, Flers. Uncle Athol was my grandmother’s oldest brother. Picture courtesy of Vicki Reedy
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