Person:Harry Akhurst (1)

Information from Rodney Akhurst (7899) gson of Harry Akhurst (1230)

Name: AKHURST, HARRY THOMAS Initials: H T Nationality: United Kingdom Rank: Private Regiment/Service: The Buffs (East Kent Regiment) Unit Text: 2nd Bn. Age: 37 Date of Death: 03/05/1915 Service No: G/5015 Additional information: Son of the late Thomas and Harriett Akhurst, of Church St., Milton Regis; husband of Emily Isabel Akhurst, of 22, Eastbourne St., Sittingbourne, Kent. Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead Grave/Memorial Reference: VII. D. 13. Cemetery: PERTH CEMETERY (CHINA WALL) <cemetery_details.aspx?cemetery=10000&mode=1>

Cemetery: PERTH CEMETERY (CHINA WALL) Country: Belgium Locality: Ieper, West-Vlaanderen Visiting Information: Wheelchair access to the cemetery is possible via main entrance. For further information regarding wheelchair access, please contact our Enquiries Section on telephone number 01628 507200. Location Information: Perth Cemetery (China Wall) is located 3 km east of Ieper town centre, on the Maaldestedestraat, a road leading from the Meenseweg (N8), connecting Ieper to Menen. From Ieper town centre the Meenseweg is located via Torhoutstraat and right onto Basculestraat. Basculestraat ends at a main cross roads, directly over which begins the Meenseweg. 1.7 km along the Meenseweg at a major roundabout lies the right hand turning onto the Maaldestedestraat. The cemetery itself is located 1 km along the Maaldestedestraat on the left hand side of the road. Historical Information: Perth Cemetery was begun by French troops in November 1914 and adopted by the 2nd Scottish Rifles in June 1917. It was called Perth (as the predecessors of the 2nd Scottish Rifles were raised in Perth), China Wall (from the communication trench known as the Great Wall of China), or Halfway House Cemetery. The cemetery was used for front line burials until October 1917 when it occupied about half of the present Plot I and contained 130 graves. It was not used again until after the Armistice, when graves were brought in from the battlefields around Ypres and from certain smaller cemeteries. The French graves were removed to another cemetery. There are now 2,791 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated in this cemetery. 1,369 of the burials are unidentified and special memorials are erected to 27 casualties known or believed to be buried among them. Other special memorials bear the names of 104 casualties buried in the cemeteries concentrated here, whose graves could not be found. The cemetery was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens. No. of Identified Casualties: 1422

1. ↑ 1881 CENSUS: Milton-near-Sittingbourne, Kent, ENGLAND. (Sunday April 3, 1881)
   RG11 973/72 p.4.

   Lived at 32 St. Paul's St. Aged 6. Scholar. Born Milton.

2. ↑ 1891 CENSUS: Milton-near-Sittingbourne, Kent, ENGLAND. (Sunday April 5, 1891)
   RG12 717/10 p.11.

   Lived at 32 St. Paul's St. S. Aged 16. Baker. Born Milton.

3. ↑ CIVIL REGISTRATION - BIRTHS - ENGLAND
   Milton 2a 763.
4. ↑ 1901 CENSUS: Holy Trinity, Milton-near-Sittingbourne, Kent, ENGLAND. (Sunday March 31, 1901)
   RG13 810/41 p.21.

   Lived at 23 Church St. S. Aged 26. General Labourer. Born Milton.

5. ↑ Commonwealth War Graves Commision. (www.CWGC.org)
   Casualty Details.

   Accessed online Sep 17, 2006 at http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=102908

6. ↑ Commonwealth War Graves Commision. (www.CWGC.org).