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Soissons Memorial and Soisson Communal Cemetery
Memorial - 3878 Identified Casualties
Communal Cemetery - One casualty (See below)
Image Right By bodoklecksel - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0
Aisne, France
Image left By Weglinde Gordon Lawson - Own work, Public Domain
The town of Soissons stands on the left bank of the River Aisne, approximately 100 kilometres north-east of Paris.
The above image was taken before a decorative fence and gate was fitted last winter 2010-2011. For security reasons, the gates to the Soissons Memorial are permanently locked. Access can be gained via a digital security code which must be entered into the lock on the gate. The access code can be obtained by contacting the France Area Office of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission on the telephone number below, between the following hours: Monday - Thursday: 08:30 to 16:30 Friday: 08:30 to 16:00 Saturday and Sunday: Office Closed. Telephone: +33 (0)321217700 All visits outside the times stated above and during French national holidays must be made by prior arrangement with the France Area Office. Names are listed on the memorial by Regiments in order of precedence, under the title of each Regiment by rank, and under each rank alphabetically.
The original British Expeditionary Force crossed the Aisne in August 1914 a few kilometres west of Soissons, and re-crossed it in September a few kilometres east. For the next three and a half years, this part of the front was held by French forces and the city remained within the range of German artillery.
At the end of April 1918, five divisions of Commonwealth forces (IX Corps) were posted to the French 6th Army in this sector to rest and refit following the German offensives on the Somme and Lys. Here, at the end of May, they found themselves facing the overwhelming German attack which, despite fierce opposition, pushed the Allies back across the Aisne to the Marne. Having suffered 15,000 fatal casualties, IX Corps was withdrawn from this front in early July, but was replaced by XXII Corps, who took part in the Allied counter attack that had driven back the Germans by early August and recovered the lost ground.
The Soissons Memorial commemorates almost 4,000 officers and men of the United Kingdom forces who died during the Battles of the Aisne and the Marne in 1918 and who have no known grave.
Many of the names are associated with the 50th 'Northumbrian' Division. Major James Bertram Falkner Cartland, the father of Barbara Cartland, is commemorated here. The memorial is difficult to find amongst the streets of this bustling town, but it is not far from the River Aisne.
The memorial was designed by G.H. Holt and Verner O. Rees, with sculpture by Eric Kennington. It was unveiled by Sir Alexander Hamilton-Gordon on 22 July 1928.
Frederick William HitchmoughSoissons Communal Cemetery
There is only 1 First World War Commonwealth burial in the cemetery, which is located near the right hand side wall towards the centre of the cemetery (beside the 1914-1918 Memorial)
Gunner Frederick William Hitchmough - died 08/04/1917 Aged 38. Royal Garrison Artillery 255th Siege Bty. Son of William and Susan Hitchmough; husband of Elizabeth Hitchmough, of 65, Liverpool Rd., Warrington, Lancs.
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Image - Find a Grave
References, Sources and Further Reading
- http://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/79400/SOISSONS%20MEMORIAL
- https://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/27604/soissons-commun...
- https://www.ww1cemeteries.com/soissons-memorial.html
- https://www.ww1cemeteries.com/soissons-communal-cemetery.html
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soissons_Memorial
- http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=2160057