In memoriam
Ovillers Military Cemetery
Ovillers Military Cemetery, Somme, France. Some 3,440 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War are buried or commemorated in the cemetery. 2,480 of the burials are unidentified but there are special memorials to 24 casualties believed to be buried among them.
One man of the North Irish Horse, Private A.G. Kelly, is buried here. The location of his grave is shown on the CWGC cemetery plan below.
One special memorial records the names of 35 casualties, buried in Mash Valley Cemetery, whose graves were destroyed in later fighting (see image below). It is possible at some of these men were buried by men of the North Irish Horse (see War Diary for 2nd Regiment). The memorial stone reads:
TO THE MEMORY OF THESE 35 SOLDIERS OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE KILLED IN ACTION IN 1916 AND BURIED AT THE TIME IN MASH VALLEY CEMETERY OVILLERS-LA-BOISSELLE WHOSE GRAVES WERE DESTROYED IN LATER BATTLES
THEIR GLORY SHALL NOT BE BLOTTED OUT
Image 1 kindly provided by Richard Evans. See his website Nelson, Glamorgan and the Great War http://www.nelson-ww1-memorial.org.uk. Images 2, 3 and 4 Copyright © Phillip Tardif with all rights reserved as set out in this Use of Material policy. Some of the information above, and the cemetery plan below, sourced from Commonwealth War Graves Commission www.cwgc.org.