arras

 

Granddad John Lemon Liunberg

killed in action World War 1

in Arras Northern France

The Battle of Arras took place from 9 April to 16th May 1917. It was fought by the British (First Army under Allenby, Third Army under Horne, Fifth Army under Gough) under the supreme command of General Haig against the heavily fortified line held by German Sixth and Second Armies. After a massive artillery bombardment, British managed to advance in heavy fighting for up to 4.5 miles in some places—one of the largest gains since the start of the trench warfare. A total of 200 Mark IV tanks were promised to have been ready for this offensive, but as not a single one had in fact been produced about 45 Mark II training tanks were used, their boiler plate sponsons replaced by armoured ones taken from Mark I wrecks.

Casualties surpassed 150,000 for the British, 100,000 for the Germans. No strategic breakthroughs were achieved.

"We can truly say that the whole circuit of the earth is girdled with the graves of our dead... and, in the course of my pilgrimage, I have many times asked myself whether there can be more potent advocates of peace upon earth through the years to come, than this massed multitude of silent witnesses to the desolation of war."

King George V, Flanders, 1922

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Casualty Details

Name: LIUNBERG, JOHN
Initials: J
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Private
Regiment: King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry
Unit Text: "Z" Coy. 6th Bn.

Age

37

Date of Death: 10/04/1917
Service No: 42294
Additional information: Son of Olof Peter Ljungberg ; husband of Sarah J. Liunberg, of 55, Grange Rd., Jarrow-on-Tyne.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Bay 7.
Cemetery: ARRAS MEMORIAL        France

 

In Memory of
Private JOHN LIUNBERG

42294, "Z" Coy. 6th Bn., King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry
who died age 37 on 10 April 1917
Son of Olof Peter Ljungberg; husband of Sarah J. Liunberg, of 55, Grange Rd., Jarrow-on-Tyne.
Remembered with honour

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ARRAS MEMORIAL

Commemorated in perpetuity by
the Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Cemetery: ARRAS MEMORIAL
Country: France
Locality: Pas de Calais
Visiting Information:

The Panel Numbers quoted at the end of each entry relate to the panels dedicated to the Regiment served with. In some instances where a casualty is recorded as attached to another Regiment, his name may alternatively appear within their Regimental Panels. Please refer to the on-site Memorial Register Introduction to determine the alternative panel numbers if you do not find the name within the quoted Panels. Wheelchair access to the cemetery is possible, but may be by alternative entrance. For further information regarding wheelchair access, please contact our Enquiries Section on 01628 507200.

Location Information:

The Arras Memorial is in the Faubourg-d'Amiens Cemetery, which is in the Boulevard du General de Gaulle in the western part of the town of Arras. The cemetery is near the Citadel, approximately 2 kilometres due west of the railway station.

Historical Information: The French handed over Arras to Commonwealth forces in the spring of 1916 and the system of tunnels upon which the town is built were used and developed in preparation for the major offensive planned for April 1917. The Commonwealth section of the FAUBOURG D'AMIENS CEMETERY was begun in March 1916, behind the French military cemetery established earlier. It continued to be used by field ambulances and fighting units until November 1918. The cemetery was enlarged after the Armistice when graves were brought in from the battlefields and from two smaller cemeteries in the vicinity. The cemetery contains 2,651 Commonwealth burials of the First World War. In addition, there are 30 war graves of other nationalities, most of them German. During the Second World War, Arras was occupied by United Kingdom forces headquarters until the town was evacuated on 23 May 1940. Arras then remained in German hands until retaken by Commonwealth and Free French forces on 1 September 1944. The cemetery contains seven Commonwealth burials of the Second World War. The graves in the French military cemetery were removed after the First World War to other burial grounds and the land they had occupied was used for the construction of the Arras Memorial and Arras Flying Services Memorial. The ARRAS MEMORIAL commemorates almost 35,000 servicemen from the United Kingdom, South Africa and New Zealand who died in the Arras sector between the spring of 1916 and 7 August 1918, the eve of the Advance to Victory, and have no known grave. The most conspicuous events of this period were the Arras offensive of April-May 1917, and the German attack in the spring of 1918. Canadian and Australian servicemen killed in these operations are commemorated by memorials at Vimy and Villers-Bretonneux. A separate memorial remembers those killed in the Battle of Cambrai in 1917. The ARRAS FLYING SERVICES MEMORIAL commemorates nearly 1,000 airmen of the Royal Naval Air Service, the Royal Flying Corps, and the Royal Air Force, either by attachment from other arms of the forces of the Commonwealth or by original enlistment, who were killed on the whole Western Front and who have no known grave. Both cemetery and memorial were designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, with sculpture by Sir William Reid Dick.

No. of Identified Casualties:

34738

This figure includes Foreign and Non-World War graves in CWGC care

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John Lemon Liunberg is listed on SDGW (Soldiers Died in Great War) as:
John Luinberg (note spelling) Private 42294 6th Battalion KOYLI (Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry)
Killed in action 10.04.1917
Born North Shields
Enlisted Jarrow
Formerly Private 35963 in DLI (Durham Light Infantry)

He is commemorated on the the left hand panel of the Triptych in St. Pauls Church Jarrow
His name is recorded as Luinbery



He is commemorated as John Lemon Liunberg in reference book in Jarrow Library containing all WW1 and WW2 War Dead - He is also commemorated as John Lemon Liunberg in Jarrow Town Hall in Commemorative book containing all WW1 and WW2 War Dead which is in a locked glass case


Ljungberg/Liunberg family tree

 

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