CWGC Cemetery: CHAUNY COMMUNAL CEMETERY BRITISH EXTENSION

---

Local Information

Chauny is a commune 35 kilometres west of Laon. Chauny Communal Cemetery British Extension can be reached from the direction of Ham following the D937, Ham to Chauny road. It is necessary to cross a major road, the N32. Shortly after the junction the approach to Chauny is via a roundabout and a small industrial estate. After several hundred metres a left turn must be made at the first set of traffic lights, following the CWGC sign. Chauny Communal Cemetery British Extension will be found 300 metres after the junction on the right side of the road.

Historical Information

The Extension was made after the Armistice for the burial of remains brought in from the battlefields of the Aisne and from smaller cemeteries in the surrounding countryside. The majority of those buried here died in 1918; among the rest were soldiers who fell in September, 1914. There are just over 1,000, 1914-18 war casualties commemorated in this site. Included in this figure are 6 soldiers of the United Kingdom whose identity had been established with reasonable but not absolute certainty and who are commemorated by special memorial headstones 'D' bearing the superscription 'Believed to be', and 26 soldiers of the United Kingdom and 5 of Canada whose graves could be identified collectively but not individually and who are commemorated by special memorial headstones 'C' bearing the superscription 'Buried near this spot'. There are also 26 soldiers of the United Kingdom who are commemorated in the cemetery as follows: 22 who were buried at the time in Mennessis and Premontre Communal cemeteries and in the former German cemeteries at Crecy-sur-Serre, Villequier-Aumont, Versigny, Couchy-le-Chateau, Fourdrain and Suzy and whose graves are lost are commemorated by special memorial headstones 'E' inscribed to that effect, with the additional inscription 'Their glory shall not be blotted out'; 3 are commemorated by special memorial headstones 'B' bearing the superscription 'Believed to be buried in this cemetery'; and one, whose grave is known to be in the cemetery although the exact place of burial could not be established, is commemorated by a special memorial headstone 'A' inscribed 'Buried in this cemetery'. The Cemetery Extension covers an area of 3,729 square metres. The following are the cemeteries from which British graves (all of soldiers from the United Kingdom) were removed to Chauny: CHARMES COMMUNAL CEMETERY EXTENSION (Aisne), where 14 soldiers were buried by their comrades in June and July, 1918. CHAUNY FRENCH MILITARY CEMETERY (Aisne), where two British soldiers were buried in January and March, 1918. CHAUNY GERMAN NATIONAL CEMETERY (Aisne), which contained 15 British graves of March-July, 1918. COUCHY-LE-CHATEAU GERMAN CEMETERY (Aisne), where six British soldiers were buried in August, 1918. CRECY-SUR-SERRE GERMAN CEMETERY (Aisne), where 53 British soldiers were buried, mainly by the Germans, in March-September, 1918. JAULZY CHURCHYARD (Oise), where a British soldier was buried in August, 1914. LA BOVETTE GERMAN CEMETERY, FOURDRAIN (Aisne), where one British soldier was buried in March, 1918. LA FERE COMMUNAL CEMETERY (Aisne), which contained three British graves of August, 1914. LANCHY CHURCHYARD (Aisne) which contained two British graves of April, 1917. LE TROU-FOURCY GERMAN CEMETERY, SUZY (Aisne), which contained six British burials of August, 1918; two of these were moved to Grand-Seraucourt British Cemetery. MENNESSIS COMMUNAL CEMETERY (Aisne), where one British soldier was buried in March, 1918. PREMONTRE COMMUNAL CEMETERY (Aisne), which contained two British burials of July and August, 1918. SEMPIGNY CHURCHYARD (Oise), which contained a British burial of August, 1914. VERSIGNY GERMAN CEMETERY (Aisne), which contained three British burials of August, 1918. VILLEQUIER-AUMONT GERMAN CEMETERY (Aisne), where six British soldiers were buried in March, 1918. VILLEQUIER-AUMONT COMMUNAL CEMETERY (Aisne), where one British soldier was buried in a private vault.