During WW2 Boulogne was briefly used in May 1940 for medical evacuation until the town was occupied by the Germans. The town remained in German hands until it was recaptured by the Canadin Army in September 1944.
The Boulogne Eastern Cemetery contains 5,577 graves from WW1 and 224 from WW2.
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| Boulogne Eastern Military Cemetery Cross of Sacrifice |
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| Boulogne Eastern Military Cemetery |
The headstones of those lost during the First World War were laid flat on the ground due to the sandy soil in the area. Unusually the graves separate commissioned officers from other ranks.
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| Boulogne Eastern Military Cemetery British headstones lying flat |
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| Boulogne Eastern Military Cemetery French Memorial |
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| Boulogne Eastern Military Cemetery Portuguese Memorial and CEP graves |
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| Boulogne Eastern Military Cemetery Portuguese Memorial |
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| Boulogne Eastern Military Cemetery Portuguese Memorial inscription |
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The first Northumbrian Gunner Officer to loose his life to enemy action, Lieutenant Miles Miley of the 1st Northumbrian Brigade RFA is buried within the Boulogne Eastern Cemetery. Lieutenant Miles died of wounds on 30th December aged 26.
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| Lieutenant Miles Miley |
Miles Miley was educated at Rugby School which he attended from 1903 to 1908. He went up to Trinity College Cambridge gaining a double first in Mathematics and Mechanical Sciences. Whilst at Cambridge, he enlisted in the Officer Training Corps gaining the rank of Cadet Corporal. On leaving university he joined Parsons Engineering in Newcastle. Miles was commissioned into the 1st Northumbrian Brigade RFA on 1st April 1913. Shortly after mobilisation he was promoted to Lieutenant on 29th August 1914. On deployment to France he acted as the Brigade Signals Officer.
Lieutenant Miley was wounded by a stray shell when returning from the trenches. He died of his wounds on 30th Decmeber 1915 on an ambulance train en route to a base hospital.
He was buried in Boulogne Eastern Cemetery.
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| Boulogne Eastern Military Cemetery Lieutenant Miles Miley 1st Northumberland Battery RFA |
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One of those buried in Boulogne Eastern Military Cemetery is Captain Frederick William Campbell VC, 1st Bn. Canadian Infantry (Western Ontario Regiment), who died of wounds 19th June 1915.
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| Boulogne Eastern Military Cemetery Captain FW Campbell VC |
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| Captain FW Campbell VC |
His citation for the Victoria Cross published in the London Gazette, No. 29272, dated 20th Aug., 1915 reads;
For most conspicuous bravery on 15th June, 1915, during the action at Givenchy. Lt. Campbell took two machine-guns over the parapet, arrived at the German first line with one gun, and maintained his position there, under very heavy rifle, machine-gun and bomb fire, notwithstanding the fact that almost the whole of his detachment had then been killed or wounded. When our supply of bombs had become exhausted, this Officer advanced his gun still further to an exposed position, and, by firing about 1,000 rounds, succeeded in holding back the enemy's counter-attack. This very gallant Officer was subsequently wounded, and has since died.
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His citation read:
On 17 November he succeeded in reaching a point behind the enemy's trenches and making an excellent reconnaissance, furnishing early information of a pending attack by the enemy.
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| Julian Henry Francis Grenfell |
CWGC - Captain The The Hon. JULIAN HENRY FRANCIS GRENFELL
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| Boulogne Eastern Military Cemetery Captain The Hob JHF Grenfell DSO |
The day after his death his poem 'Into Battle' was published in the Times.
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| Rupert Oswald Sternberg |
Rupert Oswald Sternberg was the son of shipping merchants Siegfried and Louise Sternberg, both originally of Germany. He was educated at Chartherhouse from 1906 to 1911 before going to Clare College Cambridge to study medicine. He volunteered in September 1914 and trained as a despatch rider. He served on the Western front till 1915, returning to Britain when he commissioned. He returned to France in the December. He died of wounds on 1st July 1916. His brother, Edgar Adoplh was killed in October 1916.
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| Boulogne Eastern Military Cemetery Second Lieutenant RO Sternberg |
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Reginald Harry Myburgh Sands, the son of Sir Harry Sands a British Colonial Politician was born and educated in South Africa. He went up to Oxford in 1907 where he was a Rugby Blue. Sands played Rugby for Blackheath and gained two caps for England in 1910. In 1911 he became a lawyer returning to South Africa. He was capped at cricket by South Africa in 1914.
Sands joined the Imperial Light Horse in November 1914 serving in German South West Africa. He transferred to the South African Heavy Artillery volunteering to go to the Western front on secondment to the Royal Garrison Artillery.
Reginald Sands was 2IC of 73rd Siege Battery when he was badly gassed during the German Spring Offensive in March 1918. The effects of the gas would result in his death on 20th April 1918. He was buried in Boulogne Eastern Cemetery.
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| Reginald Harry Myburgh Sands |
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| Boulogne Eastern Military Cemetery Captain RHM Sands |
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The positioning of the gravestones in Boulogne Eastern Military Cemetery is unusual for a Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery as Officers and Ordinary Ranks are buried in separate plots.
Amongst the OR's plots is a Royal Field Officer, Second Lieutenant William A Flack DCM.
The Distinguished Conduct Medal indicates he was commissioned from the ranks which may explain why he is not buried amongst the Officer's plots.
Ashwell Museum WW1 Roll of Honour - William Arthur Flack DCM
William Arthur Flack served in the Royal Garrison Artillery Regiment, 24th Trench Mortar Battery in the Western European Theatre of War, France and Flanders.
While a corporal, he showed extreme bravery and was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal. “For conspicuous gallantry at Hooge on 13th November 1915. He unscrewed a burning fuse from a 50lb trench mortar bomb, which had fallen back into the bore of a gun owing to a misfire. By his prompt and brave action he saved the lives of the detachment and averted the destruction of the gun. The unscrewed fuse exploded as he threw it from him”. He was then promoted to 2nd Lieutenant.
He was shot in the head by an enemy sniper and was being transported back to England but died in Boulogne on 19th December 1915.