Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Memorial – Memorial is located in Archangel Kuznechevskoe ( Vologodskoe) cemetery and Scheme British cemetery in Troitsa.

Photo of Claude Melvin Lemoine – Claude Melvin LeMoine (not Le Moine - so space in last name) was a Canadian who served in the RNAS (Royal Naval Air Service) prior to the RAF. He went down in an accident as the pilot of his seaplane on 20 August 1919 and was buried in the Troitza (Troitsa) Churchyard Cemetery in Russia. It is unknown at this time as to whether his grave was ever identified or whether it was identified and found to be too far away to be maintained by the CWGC. We are investigating.

Document – Burial notice on the back of the photograph of the grave site of Claude Melvin LeMoine.

Letter – Letter of 5 September 1919 reporting the death of Claude LeMoine. He had taken up his seaplane for an engine test and got into a steep dive, from which he did not recover. He was buried with full military honours.

Grave Marker – Grave site of Charles Melvin LeMoine at the Troitsa Churchyard Cemetery near the junction of the Norther Davina and Vaga Rivers, Russia (general GPS coordinates 62°47'40.12"N 42°55'37.28"E).

Casualty Card – Royal Air Force casualty card from the RAF Archives. His mother's address is given as 314 Concord Avenue, TOronto Ontario Canada. He was a 2nd Lieutenant at the time of his death.

Map – This map shows the general area where 2nd Lt. Claude Melvin LeMoine was at the time of the crash.

Burial Report – CWGC Burial Report for the Archangel Allied Cemetery where a Kipling Memorial was erected for those buried in remote cemeteries that could not be accessed at the time. It notes that LeMoine was part of the "RAF River Force".

Burial Report 2 – Burial Report for the Troitza (Troitsa) Churchyard Cemetery dated 21 August 1925.

Concentration Report – CWGC Concentration Report (cancelled) noting that the men were concentrated into (implying exhumation and reburial) into the Archangel Allied Cemetery. The evidence suggests that LeMoine was not concentrated, rather as noted here it was a Kipling Memorial Class "E" which commemorate casualties "whose graves in a particular cemetery were destroyed or were known to be buried in a particular cemetery but the exact whereabouts of the cemetery were not known". We believe that that location was known but at the time the memorial was erected the political situation did not allow the CWGC the opportunity to maintain the graves in the cemetery.

Memorial – 2nd Lt. LeMoine was also named on the Brookwood (Russia) Memorial in the United Kingdom on Panel 5 (the markings are mine). This memorial was built in 1984 to commemorate Commonwealth participants lost in Russia in both World Wars. It was subsequently removed after the political situation in Russia had stabilized and access to the burial site was possible.

Memorial – Brookwood Panel 5 shows the names of the two Canadian aviators lost in the North Russia expedition in late 1919. The other was Captain Dugald MacDougall, also serving with the RAF.