koyli Posted 11 August , 2004 Share Posted 11 August , 2004 Could anyone explain why an officer in the 1/10 King’s(Liverpool Scottish), who was killed in the trenches at Kemmel(Messines Ridge, Belgium) was buried in a cemetery approx. 20 kilometres away in Fleurbaix, whereas other casualties from the unit were buried in Kemmel Château cemetery which is only two kilometres away. Then again Fleurbaix is near to the front line and in no way a back area, at least not for the Messines Ridge. In the diary of Capt. Bryden McKinnell(1/10 King's), he states that Twentyman was killed by a bullet through the head and buried that same night. The regimental history relates that he was dead when they got him into the trench. He was buried that same night in the wood fringing the grounds of Kemmel Château. Captain TWENTYMAN, Arthur, KIA 29/11/14, is buried at RUE-PETILLON MILITARY CEMETERY, FLEURBAIX II a 63 , France. Lawry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eviltaxman Posted 11 August , 2004 Share Posted 11 August , 2004 Only guess work, but it's possible he was re-buried after the war?!?!?! Les. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koyli Posted 11 August , 2004 Author Share Posted 11 August , 2004 Hi Les, Yes I'm reasonably sure that that is the answer, however the next question is why? I know of an officer who was Kia on the Somme and is now buried next to his brother in Ypres. But I don't have anything like that information on Twentyman. I tried looking via the CWGC site to see who is buried next to him in a vain attempt to find something, however it seems that immediatly next to him no one is buried. My next move is to go out to the cemetery itself and see the grave. Luckily for me it's not that far. Lawry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcderms Posted 12 August , 2004 Share Posted 12 August , 2004 Are you sure he was KIA? Maybe he died on a hospital train? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koyli Posted 12 August , 2004 Author Share Posted 12 August , 2004 from al accounts (shot through the head from a sniper,probably the same fellow he was trying to eliminate)he died immediatly. cheers Lawry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Denham Posted 12 August , 2004 Share Posted 12 August , 2004 Lawry The most likely reason is that his grave was moved after the war. If he was buried in an isolated grave quickly (very likely near the front), his grave would have been cleared after the war and the body moved into whatever cemetery the army was using at the time. Sometimes bodies were moved considerable distances to a designated concentration cemetery. They often did not go to the nearest cemeteries as they had not been designated for expansion and were 'closed'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koyli Posted 12 August , 2004 Author Share Posted 12 August , 2004 Hi Terry, I will have to agree with you and accept the "logic" of it. The fact that a cemetery is just on the fringe of the same château in which grounds Twentyman was buried is then neither here nor there. Thanks to everyone for their input. Lawry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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