In Memory of
DAVID MELVYN REES
Second Lieutenant
2nd Bn., Durham Light Infantry
who died on
Thursday, 12th April 1917. Age 21.
Additional Information: Only son of the Rev. J. Solon Rees (B. Litt.), of
18, Princes St., Bishop Auckland, Co. Durham. Native of Llanhilleth,
Newport, Mon.
Commemorative Information
Cemetery: CHOCQUES MILITARY CEMETERY, Pas de Calais, France
Grave Reference/
Panel Number: V. A. I.
In Memory of
Second Lieutenant DAVID MELVYN REES
2nd Bn., Durham Light Infantry
who died aged 21 on Thursday, 12th April 1917.
Second Lieutenant REES, Only son of the Rev. J. Solon Rees (B. Litt.), of
18, Princes St., Bishop Auckland, Co. Durham. Native of Llanhilleth,
Newport, Mon.
Remembered with honour
CHOCQUES MILITARY CEMETERY, Pas de Calais, France.
Location: Chocques is 4 kilometres north-west of Bethune on the road to
Lillers. When you reach the traffic lights on this road at Chocques,
follow the signs for the centre of town and go through the main street,
then turn left towards Gonnheim. Take the next turning on the right and
the cemetery lies approximately 400 metres down the road on the left.
Historical Information: Chocques was in British occupation from the late
autumn of 1914 to the end of the War. It was at one time the Headquarters
of the I Corps. From January, 1915, to April, 1918, No. 1 Casualty
Clearing Station was posted in the village, and during that time almost
all the burials in the Cemetery were those of men who died there of
wounds received in the fighting on the Bethune front. These men are
buried in Plot I, and the officers in part of Plot V. From April to
September, 1918, the burials were carried out by Field Ambulances,
Divisions and units; the graves are in parts of Plots II to VI, and they
represent the repulse of the German attack on this front. The groups of
graves of a single Royal Artillery Brigade in Plot II, Row A, and of the
2nd Seaforths in II D, and III A, are significant of the casualties of
the 4th Division at that time. The big collective grave in VI A contains
the remains of soldiers of the 4th King's Liverpool Regiment killed in a
troop train in April, 1918. The stone memorial in 1A is placed behind the
graves of 8 men of the 3rd Squadron, R.F.C., killed in a bomb explosion
on the Aerodrome at Merville in March, 1915. After the Armistice it was
found necessary to concentrate into this Cemetery (Plots II, III, IV and
VI) a large number of isolated graves or small graveyards in the country
between Chocques and Bethune. Among the small cemeteries thus removed, to
ensure the maintenance of the graves, were:- ANNEZIN COMMUNAL CEMETERY
EXTENSION, a short distance West of Bethune, made by the 3rd Division in
April, 1918, and containing 38 graves; LES HARISOIRS BRITISH CEMETERY,
Mont-Bernenchon, three miles North East of Chocques, made by the 4th
Division in April, 1918, and containing 27 graves; CANAL CEMETERY, Les
Harisoirs, made by the 4th Division in April, 1918, and containing 17
graves; BOIS-DES-MONTAGNES BRITISH CEMETERY, Vaudricourt, two miles South
West of Bethune, made by the 46th Field Ambulance in September, 1915, and
containing 8 graves; and CHOCQUES CHURCHYARD, containing 1 British and 35
Indian graves. There are now nearly 2,000, 1914-18 war casualties
commemorated in this site. The Cemetery covers an area of 5,430 square
metres. It occupies a corner site, standing above the road; and it is
bounded by a low stone wall and approached by stone steps. The War Stone
stands on a platform at the North angle of the cemetery, and the Cross at
the East end.
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