Location 6 – St Mary's ADS CWGC Cemetery

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Directions – Continue on the N43 towards Lens, turning left at the bottom of the slope into Loos-en-Gohelle. Continue through the village following signs to Hulluch. On reaching the main road (the D947), turn left and then left again at the roundabout as you arrive in Hulluch. St Mary's ADS Cemetery is on the left within a few hundred yards.

View from St Mary's ADS CWGC Cemetery. Photo: Mark Sluman. Click on image for full size (128 KB).

Getting Your Bearings – Standing on the far wall of the cemetery you can see the Double Crassier in the distance, where the 47th (London) Division attacked. On a very clear day you may be able to see the Loos Memorial to the Missing at Dud Corner on the horizon to the right. In front of you are two other CWGC cemeteries, Bois Carré (227 burials) on the left and Ninth Avenue (46 graves of whom 41 are of the 1st Cameron Highlanders) on the right. The British front line trenches on 25th September passed through roughly where you are standing to the left of Ninth Avenue and onto the right side of the Double Crassier. The 1st Brigade of the 1st Division attacked here with the 8th Royal Berkshires and 10th Gloucesters leading the assault. In the face of enemy machine gun fire and, in some instances, hampered by their own gas, the 1st Brigade broke into the German trenches and advanced over the brow of the ridge to the German second line beyond. The cost was heavy, however. The 10th Gloucesters alone lost 16 officers out of 21.

St Mary's ADS CWGC Cemetery – This cemetery, which was originally started by the Advanced Dressing Station (hence ADS) that stood here, contains the remains of nearly 1,800 soldiers who fell during the Battle of Loos. Ninety per cent of them are unknown as they were collected from various parts of the battlefield post-war. Most notable of all is Lieutenant John Kipling, only son of the famous writer Rudyard. The original headstone indicated an unknown lieutenant of the Irish Guards and, when it was proved that John Kipling was the only full lieutenant of the Irish Guards killed in the battle, a personalised headstone was erected in July 1992. Controversy, however, has continued to dog the decision and many, including the noted warwalkers, Major & Mrs Holt, continue to dispute that this is really his grave. Whatever the truth, Rudyard, despite continual searches for his son, never found him in his lifetime. With characteristic eloquence, his epitaph to his boy was,

"My son was killed while laughing at some jest, I would I knew
What it was, and it may serve me when jests are few."