In Memory of
J STARLING MM
Private 8971
1st Bn., Norfolk Regiment
who died on
Monday, 4th September 1916. Age 21.
Additional Information:
Son of John and Ellen Starling, of Great Witchingham, Norwich.
Commemorative Information
Cemetery:
DELVILLE WOOD CEMETERY, LONGUEVAL, Somme, France
Grave Reference/
Panel Number:
XXIV. M. 3.
Location:
Longueval is a village 11 kilometres east of Albert. Delville Wood Cemetery is east of the
village and on the south side of the road from Longueval to Ginchy.
Historical Information:
The Bois Delville (or d'Elville) was a tract of woodland, nearly 1 kilometre square, the
Western edge of which touched the village of Longueval in the Somme. On the 14th July
the greater part of Longueval village was taken by the 9th (Scottish) Division, and on the
15th the South African Brigade of that Division captured Delville Wood, except the
North-West corner. The Wood at this time was a Salient in a right-angle corner of the
line, Waterlot Farm and Mons Wood, on the South flank, being still in the hands of the
enemy; and, owing to the height of the trees, no close artillery support to the defence
was possible. On the 18th, what remained of the three Battalions was forced back to
"Buchanan Street"; and on the evening of the 20th, after six days of the
fiercest fighting
by day and night, the survivors, a mere handful of men, were relieved. On the 27th, the
2nd Division retook the Wood and held it until the 4th August. The 17th Division then took
it over. On the 18th and 25th August it was cleared of all enemy resistance by the 14th
(Light) Division. The Wood was lost at the end of April, 1918, and retaken by the 38th
(Welsh) Division on the following 28th August. The Cemetery was made after the
Armistice, by the concentration of a few small cemeteries and of isolated graves (almost
all of July, August and September, 1916) from the battlefields. There are now over 5,500
1914-18 war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these, nearly two-thirds are
unidentified and special memorials are erected to 26 soldiers from the United Kingdom and
one from South Africa, known or believed to be buried among them. Other special
memorials record the names of three soldiers from the United Kingdom, buried in
Courcelette Communal Cemetery German Extension, whose graves were destroyed by shell
fire. Fifteen French graves have been removed to another cemetery. The Cemetery
covers an area of 21,408 square metres and is enclosed by a rubble wall. It stands
opposite the South African Memorial, and the Cemetery and the Memorial form one
architectural scheme. Of the cemeteries from which British graves were concentrated into
Delville Wood Cemetery:- ANGLE WOOD CEMETERY, GINCHY, was a group of graves in an
"excavated shell-hole" in Angle Wood, to the North-West of Maurepas; and in them
were
buried 27 soldiers from the United Kingdom (mainly of the London Regiment) who fell in
August and September, 1916. BATTERY COPSE CEMETERY, CURLU (called by the French
Bois Vieux No. 2 Mixed Cemetery), was between Curlu and Maurepas. It contained, in
addition to French graves, those of 17 soldiers from the United Kingdom who fell in
1916-18. BAZENTIN-LE-PETIT GERMAN CEMETERY was at the South-East end of the
village; it contained the graves of 2,178 German soldiers, one French, and five (who fell
in
March and April, 1918) from the United Kingdom. COURCELETTE COMMUNAL CEMETERY
GERMAN EXTENSION contained the graves of three soldiers from the United Kingdom, one
from Canada, and 1,040 German. FERME-ROUGE FRENCH MILITARY CEMETERY, CURLU
(called by the French Bois-Vieux "B" Cemetery), was close to Battery Copse
Cemetery. It
contained 138 French graves and that of one soldier from the United Kingdom who fell in
March, 1917. GUILLEMONT GERMAN CEMETERY No. 1, at the West end of the village,
containing 221 German graves and those of seven soldiers from the United Kingdom who
fell in May and July, 1918. LONE RIDGE CEMETERY, LONGUEVAL, between Delville Wood
and the centre of the village, contained the graves of 52 soldiers of the 38th (Welsh)
Division and the 6th Dragoon Guards who fell at the end of August, 1918. MARICOURT (DE
LA COTE) GERMAN CEMETERY, on the South West side of the village, contained the
graves of five soldiers and airmen from the United Kingdom. MARTINPUICH GERMAN
CEMETERY No. 1, at the North-East end of the village, contained the graves of six soldiers
and one sailor from the United Kingdom who fell in March 1918. MARTINPUICH GERMAN
CEMETERY No. 2, 365 metres West of No. 1, contained the grave of one soldier from the
United Kingdom.
Copyright The Commonwealth War Graves Commission