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DONALD JOHN MACCRIMMON
Able Seaman
C/JX 172718
H.M.S. Exmoor, Royal Navy
who died on
Tuesday, 25th February 1941. Age 23.
Commemorative Information
Memorial: CHATHAM NAVAL MEMORIAL, Kent, United Kingdom
Grave Reference/ Panel Number: 43, 1.
Location: The Memorial overlooks the town of Chatham and is approached by a steep path from the Town Hall Gardens.
JOHN MACCRIMMON
Air Mechanic 2nd Class
67660
Royal Flying Corps
who died on
Monday, 31st December 1917. Age 37.
Commemorative Information
Cemetery: ALEXANDRIA (HADRA) WAR MEMORIAL CEMETERY, Egypt
Grave Reference/ Panel Number: A. 147.
Location: Hadra is a district on the eastern side of Alexandria and is south of the main carriageway to Aboukir, known as Al Horaya, near the University of Alexandria. The Cemetery is on the road Sharia Manara. The junction of this road and Al Horaya is diagonally opposite the University of Alexandria.
Historical Information: During the 1914-1918 War Alexandria became a great Anglo-French camp and hospital centre, and in 1915 was made the base of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. The 1939-1945 War saw Alexandria again an important centre. To the hospitals were brought casualties from the campaigns in Greece, Crete and the Aegean islands; camps were set up for men on leave from the desert; Kom el Dikk Fort (constucted in 1799 by the Napoleonic leader Colonel Criban and occupied by the British from 1882 until February 1947) was the centre of military telephonic and telegraphic communications for the Middle and Near East, the Headquarters of the Military Police and a powerful anti-aircraft base; and from the port sailed convoys bearing supplies to hard-pressed Malta. The original part of the cemetery, which is built partly over Roman catacombs, was acquired in February 1916, when it was found that the cemetery at Chatby, a few hundred yards to the North-West, would not be large enough for all the burials from the Alexandria hospitals. It was first used in April 1916, under the name of Hadra New Military Cemetery, and it remained in use until December 1919. Nearly all the burials took place from the 15th, 17th, 19th, and 21st General Hospitals and the Military Hospital at Ras-el-Tin; but a number of graves of December, 1917 are due to the sinking of transports outside Alexandria. In December 1919 and January 1920 sixty British graves from some small graveyards in the Western Desert (due mostly to operations against the Senussi Arabs) and from Maadia and Rosetta were brought in. There are now 1,700, 1914-18 war and 1,300, 1939-45 war casualties commemorated in this cemetery. The following are particulars of three of the cemeteries from which British graves were brought to Hadra War Memorial Cemetery:- SOLLUM MILITARY CEMETERY. Es Sollum is a small port among lofty hills, 400 kilometres West of Alexandria, on the Tripolitan border. It was occupied (for the second time) by British forces on the 14th March 1916, after considerable fighting, and a Rest Camp and a hospital were established near the shore. The Military Cemetery, on the South side of Sollum Bay, contained the graves of 30 British soldiers, 1 South African and 1 French. At Es Sollum, on the 6th November 1915, one Egyptian coastguard steamer was sunk and one disabled by a German submarine. SIDI EL BARANI MILITARY CEMETERY. This place is on the sea coast 320 kilometres West of Alexandria. The cemetery, on high ground below the coastguard station, contained the graves of 14 South African and 2 British soldiers who died in February and March 1916, and a memorial to the men of the 1st and 3rd South African Infantry who fell at Agagiya on the 26th February 1916. BIR HAKKIM BURIAL GROUND. Bir Hakkim is 240 kilometres South West of Es Sollum, in the desert. It was the place of confinement of the prisoners from the armed boarding steamer "Tara", which was torpedoed in November 1915. They were rescued by armoured cars soon after the reoccupation of Es Sollum; but 1 officer and 3 men had already died and been buried there. For the 1939-45 War graves, additional land south and west of the original burial ground was acquired. It was first used in 1941, mainly for casualties of the campaign in the Western Desert; but there are many graves of naval men who lost their lives during actions in the mediterranean. In January 1951 the graves of 124 men were moved into this cemetery from an outlying African and Indian cemetery known as Amiriya Military Cemetery. This was in an isolated situation in a desert area where the graves were liable to desecration and could not be maintained properly.
R. MacCRIMMON
Private
523844
Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (Eastern Ontario Regt.)
who died on Saturday, 28th April 1917.
Cemetery: BARLIN COMMUNAL CEMETERY EXTENSION, Pas de Calais, France
Grave Reference/ Panel Number: I. A 77.
Location: Barlin is a village about 11 kilometres south-west of Bethune on the D188, between the Bethune-Arras and Bethune-St. Pol roads, about 6.5 kilometres south-east of Bruay. The Communal Cemetery and Extension lie to the north of the village on the D171 road to Houchin. The Cemetery Extension is entered from the road by six steps.
Historical Information: The Extension was begun by the French troops in October 1914; and in March 1916, when the French Tenth Army moved Southward and its place was taken by British troops, the 6th Casualty Clearing Station came to Barlin and buried in the Extension. In November 1917, Barlin began to be shelled, and the hospital was moved back to Ruitz; but the Extension came into use again in March and April 1918, during the German attack on this front. There are now over 1,000, 1914-18 war casualties commemorated in this site.
ALEXANDER McCRIMMON
Private
7294
1st Bn., Australian Infantry, A.I.F
who died on
Sunday, 16th September 1917. Age 46.
Commemorative Information
Cemetery: HOOGE CRATER CEMETERY, Ieper, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium
Grave Reference/ Panel Number: I. G. 4.
Location: Hooge Crater Cemetery is located 4 kilometres east of Ieper town centre on the Meenseweg (N8) connecting Ieper to Menen. From Ieper town centre the Meenseweg is located via Torhoutstraat and right onto Basculestraat. Basculestraat ends at a main crossroads, directly over which begins the Meenseweg. The cemetery itself is located 3.6 kilometres along the Meenseweg on the right hand side of the road.
Historical Information: Hooge Chateau and its stables, on the North side of the road, were the scene of very fierce fighting during the War. On the 31st October, 1914, the staff of the 1st and 2nd Divisions were wiped out by shell fire in the Chateau. From the 24th May to the 3rd June, 1915, the Chateau was defended against German attacks. In July, 1915, the Crater, on the North side of the road, was made by a mine sprung by the 3rd Division. On the 30th the Germans took the Chateau, and on the 9th August, it and the Crater were regained by the 6th Division. The Germans retook Hooge on the 6th June, 1916; and on the 31st July, 1917, the 8th Division advanced 1.6 kilometres beyond it. It was lost for the last time in April, 1918, and regained by the 9th (Scottish) and 29th Divisions on the 28th September. The King's Royal Rifle Corps Memorial stands near the Chateau. Hooge Crater Cemetery was begun by the 7th Division Burial Officer early in October, 1917. It contained originally 76 graves, in Rows A to D, of Plot I. It was greatly increased after the Armistice by the concentration of graves from smaller cemeteries and from the battlefields of Zillebeke, Zantvoorde and Gheluvelt. There are now nearly 6,000, 1914-18 war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these, over 3,500 are unidentified, and special memorials record the names of soldiers from the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, known or believed to be among them. Other special memorials bear the names of twelve soldiers from the United Kingdom, buried at La Chapelle Farm, and two buried in Kruiseecke German Cemetery, whose graves were destroyed by shell fire. The cemetery covers an area of 14,263 square metres. The following were among the smaller burial grounds from which graves were concentrated to Hooge Crater Cemetery:- BASS WOOD CEMETERIES No. 1 and No. 2, ZILLEBEKE, on the East side of the Bassevillebeek, 800 metres South of Herenthage Chateau. They contained the graves of 48 soldiers from the United Kingdom who fell in December, 1917-March, 1918. KOELENBERG GERMAN CEMETERIES, GHELUWE, close together on the South side of the Menin Road, in which were buried ten soldiers from the United Kingdom. K.O.S.B. CEMETERY, GHELUWE, on the Menin Road, 800 metres West of Gheluwe. Here were buried, after the capture of Gheluwe by the 34th Division, in October, 1918, 18 soldiers from the United Kingdom, of whom ten belonged to the 1st/5th K.O.S.B. LA CHAPELLE FARM, ZILLEBEKE, between Chester Farm and Blauwepoort Farm, where 17 soldiers from the United Kingdom were buried in February and March, 1915. MENIN ROAD PILLBOX CEMETERY, ZILLEBEKE, between Herenthage Chateau and Gheluvelt, where 20 soldiers from the United Kingdom were buried in october, 1917. NIEUWE KRUISEECKE CABARET CEMETERY, GHELUVELT, on the South side of the Menin Road, where 21 soldiers from the United Kingdom and one from Canada were buried in October, 1918. PILLBOX CEMETERY, ZONNEBEKE, 460 metres North-East of Westhoek, which was used in October, 1917; there were buried in it 34 soldiers from Australia, 26 from the United Kingdom, two from Canada and one of the British West Indies Regiment. SANCTUARY WOOD OLD BRITISH CEMETERY, ZILLEBEKE, within the wood and North-East of the present cemetery; there were buried in it, in 1915-1917, 50 soldiers from the United Kingdom (of whom 30 were unidentified) and four from Canada. TOWER HAMLETS CEMETERY, GHELUVELT, between Gheluvelt and Bass Wood, on the West side of a row of "pillboxes" called Tower Hamlets; it contained the graves of 36 soldiers from the United Kingdom who fell in the winter of 1917-1918. WESTHOEK RIDGE SMALL CEMETERY, ZONNEBEKE, in Westhoek village, "near the Area Commandant's pillbox and the A.D.S."; it was used in the autumn of 1917, and it contained the graves of 16 soldiers from Australia and six from the United Kingdom.
ARCHIBALD ALEXANDER McCRIMMON
Private
26530
11th Bn., Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)
who died on
Thursday, 19th September 1918. Age 20.
Commemorative Information
Cemetery: DOIRAN MILITARY CEMETERY, Greece
Grave Reference/ Panel Number: V. D. 10.
Location: Doiran Military Cemetery is in the north of Greece close to the Yugoslav frontier and near the south-east shore of Lake Doiran. It is approximately 2 kilometres behind the village of Doiran and is reached via a farm track after turning left in the village by a large taverna. The Doiran Memorial, on what was called Colonial Hill can be seen from a disance and is a landmark.
Historical Information: The Cemetery (originally known as Colonial Hill Cemetery No.2) was formed at the end of 1916 as a front line cemetery for the Doiran front, the western half of the British line. The graves are almost entirely those of officers and men of the 22nd and 26th Divisions. They are due very largely to the fighting of April and May, 1917 (the attacks on the Petit-Couronne), and 18-19 September, 1918 (the attacks on "P" Ridge and the Grand-Couronne), in which these Divisions repeatedly stormed very strong positions which it was found impossible to maintain. The nature of the fighting explains the fact that over 400 of the graves were brought in from No-Man's Land after the Armistice by burial parties from the Army, and the further fact that in Plots II and IV, almost all of the graves are unidentified. In October and November, 1918, after the final advance, a few burials took place from the 25th Casualty Clearing Station. Of the small graveyards concentrated into this cemetery, the most important was Strumnitza British Military Cemetery, North-west of Doiran, made by the 40th Casualty Clearing Station in October and November, 1918.
A.J. McCRIMMON
Private
640031
2nd Bn., Canadian Infantry (Eastern Ontario Regt.)
who died on
Friday, 30th August 1918.
Commemorative Information
Cemetery: UPTON WOOD CEMETERY, Pas de Calais, France
Location: Hendecourt-les-Cagnicourt is a village in the Department of the Pas-de-Calais about 16 kilometres south-east of Arras and about 4 kilometres south of the Arras to Cambrai main road. Upton Wood is a small wood half-way between Hendecourt and Haucourt, and Upton Wood Cemetery is 110 metres south of the wood and about 2 kilometres north of the village.
Historical Information: Hendecourt-les-Cagnicourt was captured by the 57th (West Lancashire) and 52nd (Lowland) Division on the night of the 1st-2nd September, 1918. Upton Wood was the name given by the Army. It was captured on the 30th August, 1918, by the 1st Canadian Division, and the cemetery was made immediately afterwards. There are now over 200, 1914-18 war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these, a small number are unidentified and a special memorial is erected to a Canadian soldier known to be buried among them. The Cemetery covers an area of 577 square metres and is enclosed by a low brick wall.
Private
B/75008
48th Highlanders of Canada, R.C.I.C.
who died on
Wednesday, 21st July 1943.
Commemorative Information
Cemetery: AGIRA CANADIAN WAR CEMETERY, SICILY, Italy
Grave Reference/ Panel Number: C, E, 326.
Location: Agira Canadian War Cemetery lies in the Commune of Agira, Province of Enna, in the centre of Sicily. From the autostrada A19, Catania-Palermo, take the exit to Catenanuova. Follow signposts to Regalbuto, then pass Regalbuto, going in the direction of Agira. The Cemetery is then signposted about 12 km from Regalbuto. The cemetery is permanently open and may be visited anytime.
Historical Information: It was felt to be desirable, after the Sicilian campaign, to concentrate into one cemetery the graves of all Canadians who fell during the campaign, and the site at Agira was selected for that purpose by Canadian officers at the beginning of September 1943. There are now nearly 500, 1939-45 war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these, a small number are unidentified. On the South side of the road from Catania to Agira, a little less than one kilometre West of Regalbuto, stands a memorial to the officers and men of the 2nd Battalion, The Devonshire Regiment who were killed in the fight to capture the neighbouring ridge.
DUNCAN McCRIMMON
Private
40289
2nd Bn., Royal Scots Fusiliers
who died on
Monday, 16th October 1916.
Commemorative Information
Memorial: THIEPVAL MEMORIAL, Somme, France
Grave Reference/ Panel Number: Pier and Face 3 C
Location: The Thiepval Memorial will be found on the D73, off the main Bapaume to Albert road (D929).
Private DUNCAN McCRIMMON
2nd Bn., Royal Scots Fusiliers
who died on Monday, 16th October 1916.
THIEPVAL MEMORIAL, Somme, France.
In the perpetual care of
the Commonwealth War Graves Commission
IAN JAMES McCRIMMON
Lieutenant
27th Armd. Regt., Sherbrooke Fusiliers Regiment, R.C.A.C.
who died on
Sunday, 13th August 1944. Age 24.
Commemorative Information
Cemetery: BRETTEVILLE-SUR-LAIZE CANADIAN WAR CEMETERY, Calvados, France
Grave Reference/ Panel Number: XII. F. 14.
Location: This cemetery lies on the west side of the main road from Caen to Falaise (route N158) about 14 kilometres south of Caen and just north of the village of Cintheaux. The village of Bretteville lies 3 kilometres south-west of the cemetery.
Historical Information: Buried here are those who died during the later stages of the battle of Normandy, the capture of Caen and the thrust southwards (led initially by the 4th Canadian and 1st Polish Armoured Divisions), to close the Falaise Gap, and thus seal off the German divisions fighting desperately to escape being trapped west of the Seine. Almost every unit of Canadian 2nd Corps is represented in the Cemetery. There are now nearly 3,000, 1939-45 war casualties commemorated in this site.
JAMES McCRIMMON
Private
11715
9th Bn., Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)
who died on
Saturday, 25th September 1915.
Commemorative Information
Memorial: LOOS MEMORIAL, Pas de Calais, France
Grave Reference/ Panel Number: Panel 57 to 59
Location: Loos-en-Gohelle is a village about 5 kilometres north-west of Lens. The Loos Memorial forms the side and back of Dud Corner Cemetery where over 1,700 officers and men are buried, the great majority of whom fell in the Battle of Loos. Dud Corner Cemetery, which 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, is located about 1 kilometre west of the village, on the N43, the main Lens to Bethune road. The Loos Memorial commemorates over 20,000 officers and men who fell in the area from the River Lys to the old southern boundary of the First Army, east and west of Grenay, and who have no known grave. It covers the period from the first day of the Battle of Loos to the date of the Armistice. 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 back 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.
JOHN DONALD McCRIMMON
Private
3205337
50th Bn., Canadian Infantry (Alberta Regt.)
who died on
Saturday, 10th August 1918. Age 30.
Commemorative Information
Cemetery: FOUQUESCOURT BRITISH CEMETERY, Somme, France
Grave Reference/ Panel Number: III. G. 3.
Location: Fouquescourt is a village 35 kilometres east of Amiens and 8 kilometres due north of Roye. The British Cemetery is a little north of the village on the east side of the road to Maucourt.
Historical Information: Fouquescourt village was captured by the 10th Canadian Infantry Brigade on the 10th August, 1918. Fouquescourt British Cemetery was made after the Armistice by the concentration of graves from other burial grounds and from the battlefields in a wide area round the village. There are now over 350, 1914-18 war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these, over one-third are unidentified and a special memorial is erected to one Canadian soldier believed to be buried among them. Other special memorials record the names of five soldiers from the United Kingdom, buried by the enemy, whose graves could not be found. The date of death in the great majority of cases is February or March, 1917, or March, April or August, 1918, but a few graves of 1915 are found in Plots I and III. The cemetery covers an area of 1,221 square metres and is enclosed by a brick and stone wall. The following were among the burial grounds from which British graves were removed to Fouquescourt British Cemetery:- ASSEVILLERS MILITARY CEMETERY, on the West side of the village, begun by the French (who captured the place in 1916), and containing the graves of ten soldiers and one Royal Marine gunner from the United Kingdom, two soldiers from South Africa and one from Australia. BELLOY-EN-SANTERRE COMMUNAL CEMETERY FRENCH EXTENSIONS, which were two in number, containing respectively the graves of four and eleven soldiers from the United Kingdom. The village was captured by the Foreign Legion in July, 1916, and the British graves were made in 1916 and 1917. CAPPY FRENCH MILITARY CEMETERY, which was an Extension of the Communal Cemetery North of the village of Cappy, and was used both by French and by German troops. It contained the graves of 590 French soldiers, 213 German, 16 from the United Kingdom and 13 from Australia. The British graves were made in 1915 and 1918. CHAULNES COMMUNAL CEMETERY GERMAN EXTENSION (known as the New Military Cemetery by the Railway Station), which contained the graves of 201 German soldiers and three from the United Kingdom who fell in April and May, 1918. ESTREES-DENIECOURT MILITARY CEMETERY, at the West end of the village, containing the grave of one soldier from the United Kingdom. There were two other French Cemeteries East and South of the village. MEHARICOURT COMMUNAL CEMETERY EXTENSION, on the North side of the Communal Cemetery, containing the graves of nine soldiers from the United Kingdom who fell in February and March, 1917, and 225 French soldiers.
LLOYD ELLIS McCRIMMON
Corporal
B/78031
Royal Canadian Engineers
who died on
Tuesday, 7th November 1944. Age 42.
Commemorative Information
Cemetery: HAMILTON (WOODLAND) CEMETERY, Ontario, Canada
Grave Reference/ Panel Number: Grave 373.
MALCOLM McCRIMMON
Private
3353
34th Bn., Australian Infantry, A.I.F
who died on
Thursday, 22nd August 1918. Age 19.
Commemorative Information
Cemetery: BEACON CEMETERY, SAILLY-LAURETTE, Somme, France
Grave Reference/ Panel Number: I. A. 5.
Location: Sailly-Laurette is a village 19 kilometres east of Amiens and 9 kilometres south-west of Albert. Enter Bray-sur-Somme via Albert on the D329 and carry straight on into the village. Turn right in the direction of Corbie-Amiens, on the D1 heading west. Leave Bray-sur-Somme on the D1 and carry on for 7.3 kilometres. Beacon Cemetery is half a kilometre after the junction with Morlancourt-Sailly Laurette, on the left hand side of the D1 in the direction of Amiens-Corbie. There are no CWGC signposts.
Historical Information: The first fighting in this part of the Somme took place on the 26th-27th March, 1918, when the Third Army withdrew to a line between Albert and Sailly-le-Sec. This line was held until the 4th July, when it was advanced nearly to Sailly-Laurette; and on the 8th August, the first day of the Battle of Amiens, Sailly-Laurette and the road to Morlancourt were disengaged. The original cemetery was made by the 18th Division Burial Officer on the 15th August. The 12th (Eastern), 18th and 58th (London) Divisions had attacked from the Ancre to the Somme, and the Australian Corps beyond the Somme; and the original cemetery (now Plot III, Rows C, E, G and I) contained the graves of 109 soldiers, chiefly from the 12th Division. It was greatly increased after the Armistice by the concentration of graves from the battlefields and small burial grounds on all sides of it. There are now over 750, 1914-18 war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these, over 250 are unidentified and four special memorials record the names of soldiers from the United Kingdom, known or believed to be buried among them. The cemetery now covers an area of 2,562 square metres and is enclosed by a red brick wall. The 25th Australian Battalion memorial to their men who fell on the 10th June, 1918, in an attack in this neighbourhood, was re-erected in the cemetery. The more important cemeteries concentrated to this site were the following:- CROYDON CEMETERY, GLISY, on the South side of the Amiens-Villers Bretonneux road and a little West of the Glisy-St. Nicolas road. It contained the graves of fourteen soldiers from the United Kingdom and thirteen from Australia, who fell in May-August, 1918. SUSSEX CEMETERY, SAILLY-LAURETTE, just under 1 kilometre East-South-East of Beacon Cemetery. It was made by the 12th Division Burial Officer on the 16th-21st August, and it contained the graves of 43 soldiers from the United Kingdom (largely of the 7th Royal Sussex) and one from Australia, all of whom fell on the 8th August. TAILLE WOOD CEMETERY, ETINEHEM, on the South side of the Corbie-Bray road where it passes through the wood. It contained the graves of sixteen soldiers from Australia, and two from the United Kingdom, who fell on the 13th-23rd August, 1918.
M.D.McCRIMMON MM
Private
204186
1st Motor Machine Gun Bn, Canadian Machine Gun Corps
who died on
Thursday, 15th August 1918. Age 26.
Commemorative Information
Cemetery: TERLINCTHUN BRITISH CEMETERY, WIMILLE, Pas de Calais, France
Grave Reference/ Panel Number: II. C. 34.
Location: Terlincthun British Cemetery is situated on the northern outskirts of Boulogne. From Calais follow the A16 to Boulogne, come off at Junction 3 and follow the D96E for Wimereux Sud. Continue on this road for approximately 1 kilometre when the Cemetery will be found on the left hand side of the road.
Historical Information: The first British rest camps were established near Terlincthun in August 1914, and during the whole of the war both Boulogne and Wimereux contained a number of British hospitals. The cemetery was created in June 1918 and was used until July 1920, mainly for the burial of men who died in the hospitals. During the 1939-1945 War, there was heavy fighting over the area in 1940. Wimille was devastated when the garrison at Boulogne fought a very gallant delaying action lasting from May 22nd to May 25th, covering the withdrawal of our forces to Dunkirk. There was some fighting in Wimille again in 1944. The cemetery suffered considerable damage not only from the shelling in 1940, but from the vandalism of the German troops occupying the adjoining chateau, who used the shelter buildings on the opposite side of the cemetery for target practice. There are now over 4,500, 1914-18 and nearly 150, 1939-45 war casualties commemorated in this site.
N. McCRIMMON
Petty Officer
Australian Naval and Military Force
who died on
Friday, 20th December 1918.
Commemorative Information
Cemetery: RABAUL (BITA PAKA) WAR CEMETERY, Papua New Guinea
Grave Reference/ Panel Number: AA. B. 13.
Location: Rabaul lies on Blanche Bay inside the hook-nosed north-eastern tip of the Gazelle Peninsula of New Britain, the largest and most important island of the Bismarck Archipelago. The War Cemetery is located approximately 50 kilometres south of Rabaul, and approximately 5 kilometres south-west of Kokopo. Within the cemetery, taking the form of an avenue of stone pylons leading from the cemetery entrance building to the Cross of Sacrifice, is the Rabaul Memorial. This memorial commemorates members of the Royal Australian Army (including personnel of the New Guinea and Papuan local forces and constabulary) and Royal Australian Air Force who lost their lives in the area in January and February 1942 and from November 1944 to August 1945, and who have no known grave.
Historical Information: New Britain was formerly a German possession, and Rabaul was the scene of the first fighting by Australian troops in the 1914-1918 War, when they seized the German wireless station on the site of which now stands the War Cemetery. In 1921, under mandate from the League of Nations, Australia established a civil administration throughout the territory, with headquarters at Rabaul. The active volcano Natupi overlooks the town, and in September 1941, because of the unpleasant consequences of an eruption, which covered the town with dust and fumes, the headquarters of the Administrator were moved to Lae, on the mainland of New Guinea. In January, 1942, after three weeks of air bombardment, Rabaul was attacked by the Japanese from the sea, and overwhelming odds soon broke the defence. It is estimated that against the original garrison of 1,500 the Japanese landed 17,000 men in the immediate vicinity of Rabaul. Though forced to withdraw, the garrison left between 3,000 and 4,000 Japanese dead on the shores of the bay and the harbour. The defenders split into small groups and while some managed to escape by sea, a great number were killed or captured. Of the latter many were murdered and most of the remainder were drowned when the ship Montevideo Maru taking them, together with some 200 civilians, to the Philippine Islands was torpedoed and sunk by an American submarine off Luzon on 1st July, 1942. Nevertheless, a number of the original garrison ran the gauntlet of the Japanese patrol and reached Australian territory in small vessels overlooked when the Japanese commander sent destroyers steaming up and down the coast smashing all the boats to be found. Small forces on New Ireland, which lies near and north-east of New Britain, had been attacked and overwhelmed on 21st January, 1942. In November, 1944, the 5th Australian Division landed at Jacquinot Bay and the 11th Division at Wide Bay. The two divisions cleared the north and south coasts and bottled up some 90,000 of the enemy in the Gazelle Peninsula, where they were contained until the final surrender in August, 1945. Rabaul was practically destroyed by Allied bombing and was never actually re-captured from the enemy, but fell into our hands when the Japanese surrendered. Rabaul (Bita Paka) War Cemetery was established by the Army Graves Service in 1945 and was taken over by the Commission in October, 1947. Rectangular in shape and entirely covered by closely mown grass, it is entered through wide bronze gates. Beyond these stands an open colonnaded building containing a lectern for the register and visitors' book, from which a turfed avenue leads to the Cross of Secrifice between an avenue of bronze-panelled stone pylons which forms the memorial to those who died in New Britain and New Guinea and have no known grave. In the Indian section, instead of a cross, a specially designed monument in the form of a pylon with four faces domiantes the plots of graves. This is inscribed on two faces "Indian Forces 1939-1945" with "India" on one side and "Pakistan" on the other. The area is subject to severe earthquakes, and instead of traditional Commission headstones each grave is marked by a bronze plaque on a low concrete pedestal. Throughout the cemetery indigenous trees provide both shade and colour, and groups of colourful tropical shrubs add to the beauty of the scene. To this last resting place were brought from isolated graves, from temporary military cemeteries and from camp burial grounds those who lost their lives during the operations in New Britain and New Ireland, or who died in the area while prisoners of war. It appears to have been the Japanese plan to remove Europeans taken prisoner on these islands to areas from which it would have been harder to escape and to replace them by labour forces of Indian and other Asiatic troops captured in Malaya and elsewhere. This explains the large number of Indian troops recovered by the Australians during the 1945 campaign in New Britain and New Ireland, and the preponderance of Indian Army casualties buried here. This cemetery also contains 1914-1918 War graves and Non-War graves. In 1950, 26 war graves (1 United Kingdom and 25 Australian) and 2 Australian non-war graves were exhumed from Rabaul Cemetery. In 1961 two further Australian 1914-1918 War graves were exhumed from Kokopo Old German Cemetery and reburied here. A special memorial type E commemorates one Australian sailor and two Australian soldiers who were buried in Rabaul Old Civil Cemetery, but whose graves could not be traced, the grave markers and the plans of the cemetery having been destroyed by the Japanese. The memorial, which is on the face of the lectern in the entrance building, records these facts and bears the quotation "Their glory shall not be blotted out."
Notes Submitted by:
Maxwell R. HAYES,
Royal Australian Air Force 1950-1957,
Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary 1959-1974,
Papua New Guinea Volunteer Rifles 1960-1962,
International Police Association 1965- current.
"I have been looking in Google for info on the Rabaul Cemetery, a project I am working on, as a result of spending 7 years in Rabaul. We are trying to establish who was buried in this historic cemetery since it was formed by the Germans around 1909. Our first recorded burial is in 1910 of a German officer. This cemetery was restored after WW2 and was completely covered with about 2 metres of volcanic ash in the eruption of 19 Sept 1994, at the same time this beautiful town was obliterated. Thus your connection came up on Google. I see from what you have published, you have relied on the official publication of the Office of Australian War Graves for information. There is nothing relating to his service in that information, and you might like to know a little. Bitapaka wireless station, was seized by Australia in our first battle in WW1 on 11.Sept 1914. . Australia lost six killed before the Germans surrendered. Then followed a period of military administration of the former German New Guinea until May 1921, when it became an Australian responsibility under the (former) League of Nations as a Mandated Territory. It continued so until 23 Jan 1942, when Japan invaded. After the war, New Guinea was resumed by Australia and so managed until September 1975 when Papua New Guinea became an independent nation. McCrimmon was therefore part of the garrison force of the ANMEF in the former German New Guinea prior to 1921 and would have died in or around Rabaul. He was buried in the Rabaul Town civil/military cemetery. This cemetery was almost totally obliterated during WW2 by bombing. By about 1950, Australian War Graves had recovered the graves of those servicemen buried in this cemetery prior to WW2, and relocated the remains to the Bitapaka War Cemetery. In August 2003, I returned to Rabaul and Bitapaka War Cemetery and photographed all the relevant plaques of WW1 servicemen now in two rows at this cemetery."
NORMAN STUART McCRIMMON
Gunner
908002
9th Bde., Canadian Field Artillery
who died on
Thursday, 25th October 1917. Age 23.
Commemorative Information
Cemetery: LIJSSENTHOEK MILITARY CEMETERY, Poperinge, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium
Grave Reference/ Panel Number: XXII. A. 14.
Location: Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery is located 11.5 kilometres west of Ieper town centre, on the Boescheepseweg, a road leading from the N308 connecting Ieper to Poperinge. From Ieper town centre the Poperingseweg (N308) is reached via Elverdingsestraat, then over two small roundabouts in the J. Capronstraat. The Poperingseweg is a continuation of the J. Capronstraat and begins after a prominent railway level crossing. On reaching Poperinge, the N308 joins the left hand turning onto the R33, Poperinge ring road. The R33 ring continues to the left hand junction with the N38 Frans- Vlaanderenweg. 800 metres along the N38 lies the left hand turning onto Lenestraat. The next immediate right hand turning leads onto Boescheepseweg. The cemetery itself is located 1.5 kilometres along Boescheepseweg on the right hand side of the road. From Calais, take the motorway A16 signposted Dunkerque/Lille. At Dunkerque take the motorway signposted Lille/Ypres, the A25. Leave the motorway at Junction 13, the village of Steenvoorde. Follow the D948/N38 signposted Ieper/Poperinge. After approximately 8-10 kilometres Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery will be signposted off to the right. Please Note: Ypres/ Ieper are the same place: Ypres (French spelling), Ieper (Flemish spelling) Commission signposts are green and white
Historical Information: The Hazebrouck-Poperinghe railway line and the Poperinghe-Ypres road formed the main communication between the bases and the Flemish battlefields, and Lijssenthoek, lying close behind the extreme range of enemy shell-fire, was a natural position for clearing hospitals. It was first used by the French 15th Hopital D'Evacuation. In June, 1915, it began to be used by British Casualty Clearing Stations; and between that month and the Armistice it became the second greatest British War Cemetery. From April to August, 1918, the Casualty Clearing Stations fell back before the German advance, and Field Ambulances (including a French Ambulance) took their places; and the French graves in Plots XXVI, XXVII, and XXXI recalled the French regiments that were sent to Flanders at that time. Twenty-four British graves in Plot XXXI were brought from isolated positions near Poperinghe after the Armistice. There are now nearly 10,000, 1914-18 war casualties commemorated in this site.
STANLEY GEORGE McCRIMMON
Private
1428
15th Bn., Australian Infantry, A.I.F
who died on
Sunday, 9th May 1915. Age 25.
Commemorative Information
Memorial: LONE PINE MEMORIAL, Turkey
Grave Reference/ Panel Number: 47.
Location: The Lone Pine Memorial is at the east end of Lone Pine Cemetery, which stands on the plateau at the top of Victoria Gully, and is located on the road from Gaba Tepe to Chunuk Bair. Both Lone Pine Cemetery and Lone Pine Memorial are named after the solitary pine tree that grew there.
Historical Information: The purpose of this Memorial is expressed in the inscription carved in the centre of the screen wall before the Memorial: TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND IN LASTING MEMORIAL OF 3,268 AUSTRALIAN SOLDIERS WHO FOUGHT ON GALLIPOLI IN 1915 AND HAVE NO KNOWN GRAVES, AND 456 NEW ZEALAND SOLDIERS WHOSE NAMES ARE NOT RECORDED IN OTHER AREAS OF THE PENINSULA BUT WHO FELL IN THE ANZAC AREA AND HAVE NO KNOWN GRAVES; AND ALSO OF 960 AUSTRALIANS AND 252 NEW ZEALANDERS WHO, FIGHTING ON GALLIPOLI IN 1915, INCURRED MORTAL WOUNDS OR SICKNESS AND FOUND BURIAL AT SEA. The Anzac Area, as defined by the Treaty of Lausanne, is an area of about 2 square miles, permanently conceded by the Turkish Government in its entirety on account of the number of cemeteries and unlocated graves that it contains. In a wider sense, it is the midmost of the three areas into which our operations on Gallipoli, and our cemeteries there, are divided. Its occupation was begun at half-past four on the morning of 25th April, 1915, when the 3rd Australian Brigade landed at Ari Burnu. That Brigade was followed by the remainder of the 1st Australian Division and by the New Zealand and Australian Division. Before the end of April the landing place had become "Anzac Cove," and the code name formed by the initial letters of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps had been given to the semi-circular area, 1,100 yards across, held by the Corps. From April to August a series of desperate attacks and counter attacks took place on the edge of the Anzac Area. The 4th Australian Battalion attacked the position afterwards known as Johnston's Jolly on 26th April, and during the first few days both Australian and New Zealand troops made desperate attacks to gain possession of the Nek. The "Chessboard," further North, was attacked on 2nd May by the 13th, 15th and 16th Australian Battalions, the Otago Infantry Regiment and two battalions of Marines; and on the same day a Turkish Observation Post at Lala Baba was destroyed by New Zealanders. On 4th May the 11th Battalion raided Gaba Tepe. From the 9th to the 15th, and from the 28th to the 5th June, there was fierce fighting round Quinn's Post. From the 19th to the 21st May the Turks, in an engagement known to us as "The Defence of Anzac", assaulted the centre of the position; their casualties were very great and an armistice was arranged for the 24th May in order to bury the dead. On the night of the 29th-30th June they made another unsuccessful attack. On the 6th-10th August Australian, New Zealand and Indian forces, with part of the 13th Division, attempted to carry Chunuk Bair and Hill 971, inland from, and North-East of, the "original Anzac Area"; and New Zealand troops, with others, at one time reached the summit of Chunuk Bair and held it until they were relieved. By the 12th, Bauchop's Hill, Table Top, and a considerable salient covering Argyl Dere had been taken, and at the South end of the line Lone Pine was secured by the 1st Australian Division; but Baby 700, Chunuk Bair and Hill 60 (on the Suvla side) were still in enemy hands, in spite of the desperate bravery and the temporary successes of the main force. This fighting (the Battle of Sari Bair) was the climax of the effort to reach the central hills of the Peninsula. On the 21st-29th August, in conjunction with the forces at Suvla, Australian infantry and Light Horse, New Zealand Mounted Rifles, and some British and Indian infantry captured half of Hill 60. From that time onwards the line remained stationary. After long and anxious consideration, it was decided to withdraw from Gallipoli, and on the 18th-20th December, 1915, Anzac was evacuated without the loss of a single man. The Memorial stands on the site of the fiercest fighting at Lone Pine; and it overlooks the whole front line of May, 1915. Many of those whose names are recorded on the Memorial were buried on that front, in graves made in haste and obliterated by shell-fire later. Many were killed in tunnels or in trenches. The proportion of dead whose names are on Memorials on Gallipoli, and not on headstones, is very high. But it was this close fighting, in a country of ridges and valleys, against a determined enemy, which established in history the name of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The fighting which is summarised above is reflected in the panels of the Lone Pine Memorial. Of the Australian troops, the Light Horse lost 472 Officers and men whose graves are not known; 161 of these belonged to the 8th Light Horse Regiment, which attacked The Nek and Baby 700 on the 7th August. The Field Artillery have 30 names; the Field and Signal Companies of the Engineers 24; the Royal Australian Naval Bridging Train, two. The Infantry have 3,657 names. The Army Service Corps have II, and the Army Medical Corps 30. This Memorial records the names of all New Zealand soldiers who fought on the Gallipoli Peninsula and were buried at sea, and of those who fell in the Anzac Area prior to the fighting in August, 1915, and have no known graves. Memorials recording the names of other New Zealand soldiers who fell on the Peninsula and have no known graves are erected in Chunuk Bair, Hill 60 and Twelve Tree Copse Cemeteries. The four Mounted Rifle Regiments have 101 names on the Lone Pine Memorial; the four Infantry Regiments 564 (307 of whom fell on land before 3rd May) ; the Maori Contingent, three ; the Field Artillery 13; the Engineers 23; and the Medical Corps four. The Memorial is built of limestone from the Ulgar Dere quarries. It is a massive pylon in plain ash, about 45 ft. square in plan and 47 ft. high. The names of the Australian dead are carved on panels of Hopton Wood Stone, let into the screen wall in front of the Memorial; and those of the New Zealand dead appear on similar panels on the Memorial itself.
Author: Anita Nason
Site Map
Books
Bag Pipes
- Family Tree of Piping
- Piper Extraordinaire
- The Legend Continues
- Malcolm MacCrimmon
- Calum MacCrimmon
- Euan MacCrimmon
Family Pages
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- Hector McCrimmon
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- H. D.McCrummen III
- MacCrimmon Miller Connection