Description
The St Symphorien Military Cemetery is a First World War Commonwealth War Graves Commission burial ground in Saint-Symphorien, Belgium. It contains the graves of 284 German and 229 Commonwealth soldiers, principally those killed during the Battle of Mons. The cemetery was established by the German Army on land donated by Jean Houzeau de Lehaie. It was initially designed as a woodland cemetery before being redesigned by William Harrison Cowlishaw after the Imperial War Graves Commission took over maintenance of the cemetery after the war.Notable Commonwealth burials in the cemetery include John Parr and George Lawrence Price, traditionally believed to be the first and last Commonwealth soldiers killed in action during the First World War, and Maurice Dease, the first posthumous recipient of the Victoria Cross of World War I. Notable German burials include Oskar Niemeyer, the first Iron Cross recipient of World War I.HistoryBattle of MonsThe Battle of Mons took place as part of the Battle of the Frontiers, in which the advancing German armies clashed with the advancing Allied armies along the Franco-Belgian and Franco-German borders. The British position on the French flank meant that it stood in the path of the German 1st Army. The British reached Mons on 22 August and at the time, the French Fifth Army, located on the right of the British, was heavily engaged with the German 2nd and 3rd armies at the Battle of Charleroi. The British agreed to hold the line of the Condé–Mons–Charleroi Canal for twenty-four hours, to prevent the advancing German 1st Army from threatening the French left flank. The British thus spent the day digging in along the canal.
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M. Dease grave. First VC medal.
G. Price grave. Last Commonwealth casualty.
G. Ellison grave. Last British casualty.
J. Parr grave, first British casualty. Cyclist in the reconnaissance team.
Oskar Niemeyer's grave
St Symphorien Cemetery.
The graves of the very first casualty of #ww1 16 year old Private John Parr from Barnet, and the very last casualty of WW1 Private George Ellison from Leeds. Both lay facing each other at the #war #cemetery at #stsymphorien #belgium #commonwealthwargraves #armisticeday
Private G Ellison - the last Allied soldier to fall in WWI. #wewillrememberthem #lestweforget #ellison #stsymphorienmilitarycemetery
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them. #lestweforget #remembranceday #armisticeday
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them. This is the #gravestone of Private Park in #saintsymphorien #military #cemetery in #mons #belgium. He has the auspicious #honour of being the #first #casualty of #ww1. I took this #picture on our #war #tour back in 2014. The cemetery itself is rare in that #soldiers from both sides are buried side by side. #poppy #remembrance #day #11thnovember #armisticeday #thegreatwar #память #могила #маки #первый #военный #смерть
Big WWI history day. The first and the last (a Canadian) Commonwealth soldiers killed in the war are buried in the same cemetery. #eurokwas
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