DUD CORNER CEMETERY, L OOS
Total identified casualties: 686 / 1812
GPS coordinates Latitude: 50. 46004 Longitude: 2.7717 2
Location Information
Loos - en - Gohelle is a village 5 kilometres N orth - W est of Lens. Dud Corner Cemetery is located about 1 kilometre W est of the village, to the N orth - E ast of the D943 the main Lens to Bethune road. The Loos Memorial forms the side and back of Dud Corner Cemeter y and commemorates over 20,000 officers and men who have no known grave, who fell in the area from the River Lys to the old southern boundary of the First Army, E ast and W est of Grenay.
Visiting Information
Wheelchair access to the cemetery is possible, b ut may be by alternative entrance. For further information regarding wheelchair access, please contact our Enquiries Section on 01628 507200.
Information provided courtesy of Commonwealth War Graves Commission .
History Information
The name "Dud Corner" is believed to be due to the large number of unexploded enemy shells found in the neighbourhood after the Armistice. The only burials here during hostilities were those of four Officers of the 9th Black Watch and one Private of the 8th Royal Dublin Fusiliers, close t o Plot III, Row B; the remainder of the graves were brought in later from isolated positions near Loos and to the North, and from certain small cemeteries, including: - TOSH CEMETERY, LOOS, was on the North side of the village, close to the communication t rench called Tosh Alley. It contained the graves of 171 soldiers from the United Kingdom (118 of whom were Irish) and five from Canada. It was used from October 1915 to September 1917. CRUCIFIX CEMETERY, LOOS, was a little West of Tosh Cemetery. It was use d from September 1915 to May 1916, and it contained the graves of 53 soldiers from the United Kingdom. LE RUTOIRE BRITISH CEMETERY, VERMELLES, was close to Le Rutoire Farm, which is on Loos Plain, near the village of Vermelles. It was used in 1915, and con tained the graves of 82 soldiers from the United Kingdom and six French soldiers. There are now nearly 2,000, 1914 - 18 war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these, over half are unidentified and special headstones have been erected to 15 soldiers fro m the United Kingdom who are believed to be buried among them. The great majority of the dead buried here fell in the Battle of Loos 1915; but some were killed in succeeding years. Originally, the regimental memorials for the following units were brought i nto the cemetery: - 10th Scottish Rifles and the 17th London Regiment, dating from the Battle of Loos, and those of the Royal Montreal Regiment and the Royal Highlanders of Canada, dating from the Battle of Hill 70 in August 1917. These memorials were later removed. Special memorials are erected in this Cemetery to twelve soldiers of the 2nd Welch Regiment, killed in action on the 12th October 1915, and originally buried in Crucifix Cemetery, Loos, whose graves could not be found on concentration. The cemete ry now covers an area of 5,550 square metres, and is bounded by a low rubble wall except on the road side, where the War Stone is raised on a grass terrace and flanked by buildings.
Information provided courtesy of Commonwealth War Graves Commission .
Information provided courtesy of Commonwealth War Graves Commission .
LOOS MEMORIAL
Total un identified casualties: 20 6 09 GPS coordinates Latitude: 50.461 Longitude: 2.77173
Location Information
The Loos Memorial forms the sides and back of Dud Corner Cemetery. Loos - en - Gohelle is a village 5 kilometres N orth - W est of Lens, and Dud Corner Cemetery is located about 1 kilometre W est of the village, to the N orth - E ast of the D943, the main Lens to Bethune road.
Visiting Information
Wheelchair access to the cemetery is possible, but may be by alternative entrance. For further information regarding wheelchair access, please contact our E nquiries Section on 01628 507200.
The Panel Numbers quoted at the end of each entry relate to the panels dedicated to the Regiment served with. In some instances where a casualty is recorded as attached to another Regiment, his name may alternatively appear within their Regimental Panels. Please refer to the on - site Memorial Register Introduction to determine the alternative panel numbers if you do not find the name within the quoted Panels.
Information provided courtesy of Commonwealth War Graves Commission . History Information
Dud Corner Cemetery stands almost on the site of a German strong point, the Lens Road Redoubt, captured by the 15th (Scottish) Division on the first day of the battle. The name "Dud Corner" is believed to be due to the large number of unexploded enemy shells found in the neighbourhood after the Armistice. The Loos Memorial commemorates over 20,000 officers and men who have no known grave, who fell in the area from the River Lys to the old southern bound ary of the First Army, east and west of Grenay, from the first day of the Battle of Loos to the end of the war. On either side of the cemetery is a wall 15 feet high, to which are fixed tablets on which are carved the names of those commemorated. At the ba ck are four small circular courts, open to the sky, in which the lines of tablets are continued, and between these courts are three semicircular walls or apses, two of which carry tablets, while on the centre apse is erected the Cross of Sacrifice. The mem orial was designed by Sir Herbert Baker with sculpture by Charles Wheeler. It was unveiled by Sir Nevil Macready on 4 August 1930.
Information provided courtesy of Commonwealth War Graves Commission .
Information provided courtesy of Commonwealth War Graves Commission .