| Accession Number | P05007.041 |
|---|---|
| Collection type | Photograph |
| Object type | Black & white - Glass stereo negative |
| Place made | France: Picardie, Contalmaison |
| Date made | c 1916-1918 |
| Conflict |
First World War, 1914-1918 |
| Copyright |
Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain
|
Stereo negatives from the collection of Padre William Ernest Dexter
Description
Graves and memorial crosses in Sunken Road Cemetery in France. The two named crosses in the foregound are those of 4253 Private (Pte) Ernest Bingham, 48th Battalion and one grave away 3274 Pte Clarence Victor Hill, 48th Battalion. In both cases these are memorial crosses and do not mark burial places [technically memorial crosses should only be for soldiers who were known to be buried in the cemetery but the exact spot was lost; this is not the case for Bingham and Hill].
Bingham’s remains were found in 1927 with other 48th Battalion dead from X.5 which is around OG2 near the windmill area, quite a distance from Sunken Rd Cemetery. Bingham and the other 48th Battalion dead found with him were then moved to Serre Rd Cemetery No 2 at Beaumont Hamel. Hill’s remains were never found but the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) kept a special memorial grave for him in Sunken Rd Cemetery which is unusual as they were normally quite strict on Special Memorial headstones in cemeteries.
A number of unit crosses were erected in this cemetery, including the large cross in the centre of the image, inscribed "In memory of those of the 6th Battalion A.I.F. who fell during the Somme battles 1916-17".