The war grave of Private William Henry Brew, 9th Battalion Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), who died on 12 April 1917, aged 40, is located in Brown's Copse Cemetery, Roeux, Pas de Calais, France (Grave I.F, 11).
He was the son of Thomas and Elizabeth Brew of Douglas, Isle of Man, and widower Florence Helen Basford, who died in 1915, aged 34. William and Florence's children were William Henry jnr., 1902-1980, and Reginald Basford, 1912-1975.
Roeux was built over a system of caves which made its capture in 1917 exceptionally difficult. It was attacked by the 9th (Scottish) Division without success on 12 April. The chemical works close to the railway station were taken by the 51st (Highland) Division on 22 April, and after incessant fighting the village was cleared by the same Division on 14 May. The chemical works were lost again and retaken on 16 May. The Germans re-entered the village at the end of March 1918 and it was finally taken by the 51st Division on the following 26 August. It is named from a small copse (the Bois Rossignol) on the East side. Plots I to IV are composed almost entirely of graves cleared from the battlefield in the summer of 1917. Plots V to VIII were made after the Armistice by the concentration of 850 graves from a wide area north and east of Arras. There are now 2065, 1914-18 war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these, 855 are unidentified, and special memorials are erected to eight soldiers from the United Kingdom known or believed to be buried among them. Other special memorials record the names of two soldiers from the United Kingdom, buried in Vitry-en-Artois Communal Cemetery German Extension, whose graves could not be found. British graves were taken to Brown's Copse Cemetery from Seaforth Cemetery, Roeux, north-east side of the road from the village to the station, where 18 soldiers from the United Kingdom were buried in April 1917 and 21 of the 6th Seaforths in August and September 1918.
Brown's Copse Cemetery is situated 8km east of Arras, east of Fampoux and 1km north west of Reoux.
Click on an image to see an enlarged version. Because of poor light and erosion, it was difficult to get a good picture.
© Photographs taken by Steve Brew on 27 August 1999