RICHEBOURG – RUE-DES-BERCEAUX CEMETERY,

R, Nord, France

Richebourg is a village and commune to the north of Bethune in the Pas de Calais. From the church in Richebourg, head south on the D166. The Cemetery will be found on the right hand side of the road 950 metres from the church.

The cemetery was begun in January, 1915, and used until February, 1917; two German soldiers were buried in it in April, 1918, and some further British burials were made in Plot I, Row “D” in September, 1918. Plot II was made after the Armistice by the concentration of graves from the battlefields in the neighbourhood and from certain smaller cemeteries. There are now over 450, 1914-18 war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these, nearly half are unidentified and three special memorials record the names of soldiers from the United Kingdom buried in Edgware Road Cemetery, whose graves were destroyed by shell fire. The cemetery covers an area of 2,515 square metres and is enclosed by a low rubble wall. The following were among the cemeteries from which British graves were moved to Rue-des-Berceaux Military Cemetery:- ALBERT ROAD CEMETERY, RICHEBOURG-L’AVOUE, on a cross road running from the Rue-des-Berceaux to the Rue-du-Bois. It contained the graves of 27 soldiers from the United Kingdom who fell in 1915. EDGWARE ROAD CEMETERY, NEUVE-CHAPELLE, on the more Northerly of the two roads from the Estaires-La Bassee road to Neuve-Chapelle village. It contained the graves of 28 soldiers from the United Kingdom, one officer of the R.N.A.S., and one Indian soldier, who fell in 1914-15. EDWARD ROAD CEMETERY No. 1, RICHEBOURG-L’AVOUE, begun by the 2nd Middlesex in December, 1914, and used until May, 1915. It was 1,372 metres North of the village of Richebourg-L’Avoue, and it contained the graves of 20 soldiers from the United Kingdom. EDWARD ROAD CEMETERY No. 5, RICHEBOURG-L’AVOUE, 460 metres North of the village, used in May-August, 1915, and containing the graves of 14 soldiers from the United Kingdom, three from India, and two German prisoners.

No. of Identified Casualties: 243
Courtesy of the Commonwealth Wargraves Commission.