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Guards' Grave
Guards' Grave is a military cemetery near Villers-Cotterêts in northern France, maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. In 1914, the British Expeditionary Force fought a rearguard action here during the Retreat from Mons. On 1 September, the British 4th ( Guards) Brigade who were covering the withdrawal of 2nd Division, came into contact with the leading units of the German III Corps on the edge of woodland near Villers-Cotterêts. The brigade lost more than 300 men in the encounter, but were able to break away and continue the withdrawal. The cemetery in its original form was created by Lord Killanin (the brother of Lieut-Col. George Henry Morris, who had been killed in the action on 1 September) along with Lord Robert Cecil M.P. who was working for the Missing and Wounded Department of the Red Cross (and whose nephew Lieut. George Cecil is also buried here) the Lord Elphinstone, and the Revd. H. T. R. Briggs who had together discovered a makeshift grave whe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Villers-Cotterêts (Aisne) CWGC-cemetery Guard's Grave Villers-Cotterets Forest (01)
Villers-Cotterêts () is a Communes of France, commune in the Aisne Departments of France, department in Hauts-de-France, France. It is notable as the signing-place in 1539 of the ''Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts'' discontinuing the use of Latin in official French documents, and as the birthplace in 1802 of French novelist Alexandre Dumas, Alexandre Dumas '' père''. Geography It is located NE of Paris via the Route nationale 2, RN2 facing Laon. Its nickname ''Petite villa sur la côte de Retz'' means ''Little villa by the coast of Retz'', as the town is situated next to the Forest of Retz, which covers of land. History Villers-Cotterêts is famous in French law because of the ''Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts'' of 1539 signed by king Francis I of France ('François Ier'), which made French language, French the official language in the kingdom instead of regional languages like Occitan language, Occitan or the elite European lingua franca of the time, Latin. In 1914, the Bri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Military Cemetery
A war grave is a burial place for members of the armed forces or civilians who died during military campaigns or operations. Definition The term "war grave" does not only apply to graves: ships sunk during wartime are often considered to be war graves, as are military aircraft that crash into water; this is particularly true if crewmen perished inside the vehicle. Classification of a war grave is not limited to the occupier's death in combat but includes military personnel who die while in active service: for example, during the Crimean War, more military personnel died of disease than as a result of enemy action. A common difference between cemeteries of war graves and those of civilian peacetime graves is the uniformity of those interred. They generally died during a relatively short period, in a small geographic area and consist of service members from the few military units involved. When it comes to the two World Wars, the large number of casualties means that the war g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Villers-Cotterêts
Villers-Cotterêts () is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France, France. It is notable as the signing-place in 1539 of the ''Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts'' discontinuing the use of Latin in official French documents, and as the birthplace in 1802 of French novelist Alexandre Dumas '' père''. Geography It is located NE of Paris via the RN2 facing Laon. Its nickname ''Petite villa sur la côte de Retz'' means ''Little villa by the coast of Retz'', as the town is situated next to the Forest of Retz, which covers of land. History Villers-Cotterêts is famous in French law because of the ''Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts'' of 1539 signed by king Francis I of France ('François Ier'), which made French the official language in the kingdom instead of regional languages like Occitan or the elite European lingua franca of the time, Latin. In 1914, the British Expeditionary Force fought a rearguard action here during the Retreat from Mons. On 1 September, the Brit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations military service members who died in the two World Wars. The commission is also responsible for commemorating Commonwealth civilians who died as a result of enemy action during the Second World War. The commission was founded by Fabian Ware, Sir Fabian Ware and constituted through Royal Charter in 1917 as the Imperial War Graves Commission. The change to the present name took place in 1960. The commission, as part of its mandate, is responsible for commemorating all Commonwealth war dead individually and equally. To this end, the war dead are commemorated by a name on a headstone, at an identified site of a burial, or on a memorial. War dead are commemorated uniformly and equally, irrespective of military or civil rank, race or creed. The co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Expeditionary Force (World War I)
The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) was the six-divisions the British Army sent to the Western Front during the First World War. Planning for a British Expeditionary Force began with the 1906–1912 Haldane reforms of the British Army carried out by the Secretary of State for War Richard Haldane following the Second Boer War (1899–1902). The term ''British Expeditionary Force'' is often used to refer only to the forces present in France prior to the end of the First Battle of Ypres on 22 November 1914. By the end of 1914—after the battles of Mons, Le Cateau, the Aisne and Ypres—the existent BEF had been almost exhausted, although it helped stop the German advance.Chandler (2003), p. 211 An alternative endpoint of the BEF was 26 December 1914, when it was divided into the First and Second Armies (a Third, Fourth and Fifth being created later in the war). "British Expeditionary Force" remained the official name of the British armies in France and Flanders thro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Retreat From Mons
The Great Retreat (), also known as the retreat from Mons, was the long withdrawal to the River Marne in August and September 1914 by the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and the French Fifth Army. The Franco-British forces on the Western Front in the First World War had been defeated by the armies of the German Empire at the Battle of Charleroi (21 August) and the Battle of Mons (23 August). A counter-offensive by the Fifth Army, with some assistance from the BEF, at the First Battle of Guise (Battle of St. Quentin failed to end the German advance and the retreat continued over the Marne. From 5 to 12 September, the First Battle of the Marne ended the Allied retreat and forced the German armies to retire towards the Aisne River and to fight the First Battle of the Aisne . Reciprocal attempts to outflank the opposing armies to the north known as the Race to the Sea followed from Background Battle of the Frontiers, 7 August – 13 September The Battle of the Frontiers i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brigade Of Guards
The Brigade of Guards was an administrative formation of the British Army from 1856 to 1968. It was commanded by the Major-General commanding the Brigade of Guards and was responsible for administering the guards regiments. After the Second World War the British Army had fourteen infantry depots, each bearing a letter. Infantry Depot A at Wellington Barracks was the headquarters for the five guards regiments. In line with the reforms of the army, it was renamed as the Guards Division on 1 July 1968.Whitaker's Almanack 1969, p. 473 Units * 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards (1656–) * 2nd Battalion, Grenadier Guards (1656–1994) * 3rd Battalion, Grenadier Guards (1760–1961) * 1st Battalion, Coldstream Guards (1650–) * 2nd Battalion, Coldstream Guards (1711–1994) * 3rd Battalion, Coldstream Guards (1897–1959) * 1st Battalion, Scots Guards (1660–) * 2nd Battalion, Scots Guards (1689–1994) * 1st Battalion, Irish Guards (1900–) * 1st Battalion, Welsh Guards (1915–) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2nd Infantry Division (United Kingdom)
The 2nd Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that was formed and disestablished numerous times between 1809 and 2012. It was raised by Lieutenant-General Arthur Wellesley for service in the Peninsular War (part of the Coalition Wars of the Napoleonic Wars) as the 2nd Division. It was disestablished in 1814, but re-formed the following year for service in the War of the Seventh Coalition. The formation fought at the Battle of Waterloo and played an important role in defeating the final French attack of the day. It then marched into France and became part of the Army of Occupation, and was the only British force allowed to march through Paris. In December 1818, the division was disbanded once again. During the mid- to late-19th century, several formations bearing the name 2nd Division were formed. Only two such were considered part of the division's lineage by Everard Wyrall, who compiled its First World War history. The first was created in 1854 to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
III Corps (German Empire)
The III Army Corps / III AK (german: III. Armee-Korps) was a corps level command of the Prussian and then the Imperial German Armies from the 19th century to World War I. It was established in 1814 as the General Headquarters in Berlin (''Generalkommando in Berlin'') and became the III Army Corps on 3 April 1820. Its headquarters was in Berlin and its catchment area was the Province of Brandenburg. In peacetime, the Corps was assigned to the IV Army Inspectorate, joining the 1st Army at the start of the First World War. It was still in existence at the end of the war in the 7th Army, ''Heeresgruppe Deutscher Kronprinz'' on the Western Front. The Corps was disbanded with the demobilisation of the German Army after World War I. War of the Sixth Coalition In 1813 the III Corps fought at the battles of Luckau, Grossbeeren, Dennewitz, Leipzig and Arnhem. In 1814, the corps fought at Hoogstraten and Laon. Second Schleswig War Part of the Corps (10th Brigade of the 5th Divi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Martin Henry FitzPatrick Morris, 2nd Baron Killanin
Martin Henry FitzPatrick Morris, 2nd Baron Killanin, PC(Ire) (22 July 1867 – 11 August 1927) was an Irish Unionist (Conservative) Member of Parliament (MP). Background and education Morris was the eldest son of Michael Morris, 1st Baron Killanin, Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, and was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, where he was secretary of the University Philosophical Society. He later became a barrister. Political career Morris was appointed High Sheriff of County Galway for 1897. He was elected to the House of Commons for Galway Borough in 1900, a seat he held until the following year when he succeeded his father as second Baron Killanin and entered the House of Lords. Lord Killanin was also a member of the Senate of the Royal University of Ireland from 1904 to 1909, Governor of University College, Galway from 1909 to 1922, and served as Lord Lieutenant of County Galway between 1918 and 1922. He was appointed to the Privy Council of Ireland in the 1920 New Year H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Henry Morris
Lieutenant-Colonel The Hon. George Henry Morris (16 July 1872 – 1 September 1914) was the first commanding officer to lead an Irish Guards battalion into battle. Early life George Henry Morris was born in Spiddal, County Galway, Ireland, the second son of Michael Morris, 1st Baron Killanin, and was educated at The Oratory School, Edgbaston. He joined The Rifle Brigade in India as Second Lieutenant in 1892, after having passed from the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. Military career In 1897 Morris was appointed Adjutant of the 3rd Battalion The Rifle Brigade, a position he held for four years. He saw active service with the Tochi Valley Expeditionary Force in 1897–98, receiving the medal with clasp. In the second Boer War he served with Damant's Horse from 1901 to 1902, being present in operations in the Transvaal and Orange River Colony. He was twice Mentioned in Dispatches (including one dated 1 June 1902, where he is commended for good service during the Battle o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil Of Chelwood
Edgar Algernon Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood, (14 September 1864 – 24 November 1958), known as Lord Robert Cecil from 1868 to 1923,As the younger son of a Marquess, Cecil held the courtesy title of "Lord". However, he was not a peer in his own right until he was made a Viscount in 1923 and so was eligible to sit in the House of Commons between 1906 and 1923. was a British lawyer, politician and diplomat. He was one of the architects of the League of Nations and a defender of it, whose service to the organisation saw him awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1937. Early life and legal career Cecil was born at Cavendish Square, London, the sixth child and third son of Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, three times prime minister, and Georgina, daughter of Sir Edward Hall Alderson. He was the brother of James Gascoyne-Cecil, 4th Marquess of Salisbury, Lord William Cecil, Lord Edward Cecil and Lord Quickswood and the cousin of Arthur Balfour. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
