Roll of Honour
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has responsibility
for recording and maintaining British & Commonwealth war graves throughout
the world, together with Memorials to those who have no known grave.
The Commission's records are now available
on the Internet at
http://yard.ccta.gov.uk
The following information is copied from sixteen records regarding
members of the Blaxall, Blaxell, & Blaxill families who paid the Supreme
Sacrifice for their Country. There are no records for Blaxcell, Blaxhall,
Blaxhill or Bloxall.
All entries copied here are in strict alphabetical order - not date
order.
Their Name Liveth for Evermore
In Memory of
ARTHUR GEORGE BLAXALL
Private
3684
4th Bn., Suffolk Regiment
who died on
Wednesday, 30th August 1916.
Commemorative Information
Memorial:
THIEPVAL MEMORIAL, Somme, France
Grave
Reference/
Panel Number:
Pier and Face 1 C and 2 A Location:
The Thiepval Memorial will be found on the D73,
off the main Bapaume to Albert road (D929).
Historical Information:
On 1 July 1916, supported by a French attack to the south, thirteen
divisions of Commonwealth forces launched an offensive on a line from north
of Gommecourt to Maricourt. Despite a preliminary bombardment lasting seven
days, the German defences were barely touched and the attack met unexpectedly
fierce resistance. Losses were catastrophic and with only minimal advances
on the southern flank, the initial attack was a failure. In the following
weeks, huge resources of manpower and equipment were deployed in an attempt
to exploit the modest successes of the first day. However, the German Army
resisted tenaciously and repeated attacks and counter attacks meant a major
battle for every village, copse and farmhouse gained. At the end of September,
Thiepval was finally captured. The village had been an original objective
of 1 July. Attacks north and east continued throughout October and into
November in increasingly difficult weather conditions. The Battle of the
Somme finally ended on 18 November with the onset of winter. In the spring
of 1917, the German forces fell back to their newly prepared defences,
the Hindenburg Line, and there were no further significant engagements
in the Somme sector until the Germans mounted their major offensive in
March 1918. The Thiepval Memorial, the Memorial to the Missing of the Somme,
bears the names of more than 72,000 officers and men of the United Kingdom
and South African forces who died in the Somme sector before 20 March 1918
and have no known grave. Over 90% of those commemorated died between July
and November 1916. The memorial also serves as an Anglo-French Battle Memorial
in recognition of the joint nature of the 1916 offensive and a small cemetery
containing equal numbers of Commonwealth and French graves lies at the
foot of the memorial. The memorial, designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, was
built between 1928 and 1932 and unveiled by the Prince of Wales, in the
presence of the President of France, on 31 July 1932. The dead of other
Commonwealth countries who died on the Somme and have no known graves are
commemorated on national memorials elsewhere.
In Memory of
ALBERT WALTER BLAXALL
Warrant Officer
1318859
211 Sqdn., Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
who died on
Sunday, 24th September 1944.
Commemorative Information
Memorial:
SINGAPORE MEMORIAL, Singapore
Grave
Reference/
Panel Number:
Column 433.
Location:
The Memorial stands in Kranji War Cemetery. Kranji War Cemetery
is 22 kilometres north of the city of Singapore, on the north side of Singapore
Island overlooking the Straits of Johore. It is just off the Singapore-Johore
road (Woodlands road) at milestone 13 ½ and there is a short approach
road from the main road. The Cemetery is known locally as Kranji Memorial,
and one must be sure of the address before boarding a taxi as many taxi
drivers do not know the Cemetery. There are also bus stops on the main
road facing the Cemetery and an MRT terminal is under construction a short
distance from the Cemetery.
Historical
Information:
Before 1939 the Kranji area was a military camp and at the time
of the Japanese invasion of Malaya, it was the site of a large ammunition
magazine. On 8 February 1942, the Japanese crossed the Johore Straits in
strength, landing at the mouth of the Kranji River within two miles of
the place where the war cemetery now stands. On the evening of 9 February,
they launched an attack between the river and the causeway. During the
next few days fierce fighting ensued, in many cases hand to hand, until
their greatly superior numbers and air strength necessitated a withdrawal.
After the fall of the island, the Japanese established a prisoner of war
camp at Kranji and eventually a hospital was organised nearby at Woodlands.
After the reoccupation of Singapore, the small cemetery started by the
prisoners at Kranji was developed into a permanent war cemetery by the
Army Graves Service when it became evident that a larger cemetery at Changi
could not remain undisturbed. Changi had been the site of the main prisoner
of war camp in Singapore and a large hospital had been set up there by
the Australian Infantry Force. In 1946, the graves were moved from Changi
to Kranji, as were those from the Buona Vista prisoner of war camp. Many
other graves from all parts of the island were transferred to Kranji together
with all Second World War graves from Saigon Military Cemetery in French
Indo-China (now Vietnam), another site where permanent maintenance could
not be assured. The Commission later brought in graves of both World Wars
from Bidadari Christian Cemetery, Singapore, where again permanent maintenance
was not possible. There are now 4,458 Commonwealth casualties of the Second
World War buried or commemorated at KRANJI WAR CEMETERY. More than 850
of the burials are unidentified. The Chinese Memorial in Plot 44 marks
a collective grave for 69 Chinese servicemen, all members of the Commonwealth
forces, who were killed by the Japanese during the occupation in February
1942. First World War burials and commemorations number 64, including special
memorials to three casualties known to have been buried in civil cemeteries
in Saigon and Singapore, but whose graves could not be located. Within
Kranji War Cemetery stands the SINGAPORE MEMORIAL, bearing the names of
over 24,000 casualties of the Commonwealth land and air forces who have
no known grave. The land forces commemorated by the memorial died during
the campaigns in Malaya and Indonesia or in subsequent captivity, many
of them during the construction of the Burma-Thailand railway, or at sea
while being transported into imprisonment elsewhere. The memorial also
commemorates airmen who died during operations over the whole of southern
and eastern Asia and the surrounding seas and oceans. The SING