The War Grave of Thomas Brew

The War Grave of Private 10901 Thomas Brew of the 1st Battalion The King's (Liverpool) Regiment, who died on Monday, 17 May 1915, is located in Merville Communal Cemetery in northern France (Grave 3E.1). He was the husband of A. Brew of 4 Vine Terrace, Salisbury Street, Liverpool. Sadly, Thomas arrived in France on 16 March 1915 and survived on the front just two months.

Merville Communal Cemetery is located on the north-eastern side of the town of Merville, 15km north of Bethune, and 20km southwest of Armentieres, on the D38 Neuf-Berquin road in northern France.

The town was the scene of fighting between the Germans and a combined force of English and French Cavalry in 1914, but remained in Allied hands until 11 April 1918, when it fell during the German Spring Offensive. Prior to it's capture, Merville served as a railhead until May 1915, and as a casualty clearing station and hospital centre until early 1918. Practically all the British burials in the cemetery, therefore, are men who died in these hospitals.

The town was retaken by the British on 19 August 1918, but the cemetery was not used again until after the Armistice, when burials scattered over the surrounding battlefields were brought here and re-interred. There are now over 1,000 World War One graves in the cemetery, of which many are also French and German.

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