Historical Information (Source: CWGC)

The villages of Tincourt and Boucly were occupied by British troops in March 1917, during the German Retreat to the Hindenburg Line From the following May until March 1918, Tincourt became a centre for Casualty Clearing Stations. On the 23rd March 1918, the villages were evacuated and they were recovered, in a ruined condition, about the 6th September. From that month to December 1918, Casualty Clearing Stations were again posted to Tincourt. The cemetery was begun in June 1917, and used until September 1919; the few German burials, during their occupation of the village, are in Plot VI, Row A. After the Armistice it was used for the reburial of soldiers found on the battlefield, or buried in small French or German cemeteries.

There are now nearly 2,000, 1914-18 war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these, over 250 are unidentified and special memorials are erected to seven soldiers from the United Kingdom and one from Australia, known or believed to be buried among them. Other special memorials record the names of 21 soldiers from the United Kingdom, two from Canada, one from Australia and one from South Africa, buried in other cemeteries, whose graves were destroyed by shell fire. There are 151 German burials here, 7 being unidentified. The cemetery covers an area of 6,149 square metres.

Captain LESLIE RUSSELL BLAKE - 5th Bde. Australian Field Artillery - Died 03 October 1918

The outbreak of war in Europe saw him volunteering for the army. Initially he was turned down on medical grounds, but after hospital treatment he was allowed to enlist as a gunner. After brief service in the Middle East, he arrived in France as a second lieutenant early in 1916.

Late in 1916 Blake was awarded the Military Cross, for conspicuous and continual gallantry in the field during the Battle of the Somme, when under heavy fire he made a detailed survey of the Allies’ front line to help keep soldiers safe from ‘friendly fire’ during artillery barrages. Blake sent his medal back to his fiancée in Australia.

In July 1917, while taking part in the third Battle of Ypres, Blake was photographed by his old friend from the AAE, Frank Hurley, now an official war photographer. In September 1917 he was wounded in the arm by shrapnel and evacuated to England. After rejoining the fighting in February 1918, he was promoted to captain in May.  In the war’s final offensive that broke the German Hindenburg Line late in 1918, Blake was on horseback on 2 October when he was hit by a shell which killed his horse and wounded him badly, blowing off his left leg. He died early the following day and was buried in the military cemetery at Tincourt.