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Graves in Berkshire Cemetery Extension of No 17166 Rifleman John Baird 14th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles, born and enlisted in Belfast when residing in Birmingham aged 22 years and No 19640 Rifleman Malcolm McColl 14th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles born Shankill, Co Antrim enlisting in Belfast aged 21 years whose headstone bears an inscription “Whatever we fondly call our own Belongs to heavens great Lord” both being killed on the 17th February 1917 by German shellfire when in reserve billets a shell exploding near the H Q cookhouse both soldiers being officers servants.
Brandhoek Military Cemetery, Valmertinghe, West Flanders. On the road and railway between Poperinghe and Ypres, Brandhoek is a hamlet equidistant between the two and its three cemeteries are on the south side of the village. Was a centre of Field Ambulances during the war. Records 601 U.K., 62 Can., 4 Aust., 2 Bermuda and 1 German burial.
Grave in Brandhoek Military Cemetery of Second Lieutenant Ronald Philip Ochs 5th Battalion (attached 4th Battalion) Duke of Cambridge’s Own (Middlesex Regiment) killed in action 26th September 1915 aged 18 years. On the 25th September 1915 the major attack of the British Army, the Battle of Loos, began. To distract the enemy’s attention from the main battle and to hold his reserves north of the La Bassee canal three subsidiary attacks were organised to take place 30 minutes to 2 hours before the attack at Loos. The most extensive and the earliest of the subsidiary attacks was at Bellewaarde and was on a frontage of 2000 yards directed against the German positions about Hooge and on Bellewaarde ridge. The attack began at 0430 on the 25th September 1915 and ended on the following day. The 4th Middlesex as part of 8th Infantry Brigade, 3rd Division, were not in the front line which attacked the enemy but were held first in reserve and then in support. The 8th Infantry Brigade was to attack from the Ypres-Menin road to a point opposite Stirling Castle. The assault was to be made by the 2nd Royal Scots and the 1st and 4th Gordon Highlanders, the 2nd Suffolk Regiment and the 4th Middlesex Regiment being held in reserve. From 1000 Companies of the Middlesex were sent forward to reinforce or relieve remnants of the attacking battalions and by 1730 the whole Battalion had moved from reserve. Casualties during the day were 5 men killed and 2nd Lieut. C.A.B. Cook and 40 men wounded. All night long the Middlesex men worked repairing and rebuilding the trenches so that at dawn the trenches had been made continuous but much was still to be done and the Battalion worked all day in the firing line and communication trenches. Towards midnight 26th-27th September the Middlesex bombers saw a party of Germans in front of them, engaged the enemy and drove them back to their own lines, an officer being badly wounded in the leg by a shell splinter on getting back to the Middlesex trenches but the incident started an artillery duel between the British and German gunners, 8th Brigade Headquarters under the impression that the Middlesex were being attacked sent the “S.O.S.” signal which resulted in every gun in the sector plastering the German trenches which drew retaliatory fire from the enemy. Working parties in rear of the firing line and ration parties were thrown into confusion, a working party out in front of the line had to be withdrawn and in several places the firing line was blown in. The duel lasted about 45 minutes and 2nd Lieutenant Ochs and two men were (apparently) killed, and another officer and several other ranks wounded. One other rank can be identified: Private Samuel Lixenfield commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres. The Medical Officer Captain Arthur Ernest Bullock was killed by a stray bullet at the “dumping ground” and is also buried in Brandhoek Military Cemetery.
Grave in Brandhoek Military Cemetery of Lieutenant Colonel Charles Conyers 2nd Battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers. Killed in action 12th May 1915 aged 46 years. Headstone bears inscription “In proud memory. Killed whilst leading a charge of the 2nd Leinsters. Greater love hath no man.” He was killed at St. Eloi serving with the 2nd Battalion the Prince of Wales’s Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians). Son of Mr and Mrs Charles Conyers, husband of Minnie Dorothea Conyers, of Nantinan, Ballingrane, Co. Limerick. Served in the South African Campaign.
Grave in Brandhoek Military Cemetery of Lieutenant Colonel J Clarke 1/9th Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders CB died 10th May 1915 aged 56 years. Headstone bears inscription “Be thou faithful unto death And I will give thee a crown of life.” The Battle of Frezenberg Ridge was one of the phases of Second Ypres and lasted from 8th to 13th May 1915. The dawn of 10th May began with another German bombardment the focus being the area either side of the Menin Road roughly the junction between 80 and 81 Brigades. The 1/9th was in 81 Brigade, 27th Division. Fire intensified about 1030 and about 1330 in the vicinity of the Menin road, the Germans commenced their attack under the cover of a small amount of gas. The 2nd Camerons, 81 Brigade, held the line across the Menin road and part of its D Company dug in just north of the road was forced to give ground, the remainder of the Battalion hung on despite their flank being partly opened with the Germans making repeated attacks to drive them back. B Company of the 1st Royal Scots came up to assist the defence along the north of the road, occupying the line until replaced later in the day by a company of the 1st Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. Later the whole of the 1st Argylls advanced across an area of a mile in depth swept by shell fire to reinforce the line near Hooge. The 9th Argylls also moved forward at this time to support the Camerons. The Germans continued to make infantry attacks throughout the afternoon of the 10th May but, as on previous occasions, they met with rapid rifle fire from the British trenches and made very little headway. By 1800 the German infantry attack had all but ceased. In this action Colonel Clarke was killed.
Grave in Brandhoek Military Cemetery of Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Frederick Sargeaunt Royal Engineers. Died 31st July 1915 aged 44 years. Son of Col. R. A. Sargeaunt (Royal Engineers, Retired) and Emily Alberta Sargeaunt, of Westridge, Aspley Guise, Beds., husband of C. M. Sargeaunt of “The Elms,” Headley, Bordon, Hants.
Grave in Brandhoek Military Cemetery of Lieutenant Thomas Farquhar Lucas 20th Balloon Company, Royal Flying Corps killed 16th June 1917 aged 30 years. Formerly 3rd Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment. Headstone bears inscription “He did his best.” Both he and his fellow officer Captain Wickson (Next entry) were killed when their observation balloon fell to earth and they are buried next to each other. Eldest Son of Sir Edward Lucas Bt., 5 The Avenue Newmarket Cambs.
Grave in Brandhoek Military Cemetery of Captain Edward Arthur Wickson 20th Balloon Company, Royal Flying Corps killed 16th June 1917 aged 33 years. Formerly 51st Battalion Canadian Infantry Headstone bears inscription “He who dies for others Dies a perfect man.” Son of Henry and Jessie Wickson; husband of Alice Wickson of 187 Joseph Avenue Toronto Ontaria.
Graves in Brandhoek Military Cemetery of 12 men of the 42nd Battalion Canadian Infantry (Highlanders) who died on 3rd August 1916.
Graves in Brandhoek Military Cemetery of 10 men of the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards who died of wounds holding the Canal Bank sector near Boesinghe between 1st March and 24th July 1916 including No. 1498 Lance Corporal Harry Lawrence, died 19th June 1916. Born Crewkerne, enlisted Tonypandy, Glam.
Brandhoek New Military Cemetery, Vlamertinghe, West Flanders. 300 yards West of and opened subsequent to Brandhoek Military Cemetery was used in July – August 1917. Records 514 U.K., 11 Aust., 6 Can., and 28 German burials.
Grave in Brandhoek New Military Cemetery, West Flanders of Captain Noel Godfrey Chavasse, VC & Bar, MC, RAMC. Attached 1/10th (Scottish) Battalion The King’s (Liverpool Regiment). Died of Wounds 4 August 1917 aged 32.
Noel Chavasse was one of 7 children, 4 sons and 3 daughters, born to The Right Reverend Francis James Chavasse, Bishop of Liverpool and Mrs. Edith Jane Chavasse of The Palace 19 Abercromby Square Liverpool. Noel was born in 1884 with his twin brother Christopher Maude Chavasse. Christopher Chavasse was ordained and joined the Army Chaplains Department early in August 1914. His younger brother Francis Bernard born in 1888 qualified as a Doctor and became the Medical Officer of the 17th Battalion King’s (Liverpool Regiment). His youngest brother Aidan was born in 1892 and served with the 11th Battalion King’s (Liverpool Regiment) before transferring also to the 17th Battalion. He was wounded on the 3rd July 1917 but his body was never found so has no known grave and is commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial. Dorothea Chavasse born in 1883 worked throughout the war, raising “comforts” for the fighting troops, whilst the twins Edith and Mary born 1886 became voluntary nurses.
The 1/10th (Scottish) Battalion was a Territorial Battalion formed at Fraser Street Liverpool on the 4th August 1914 and landed at Havre on the 2nd November 1914 as part of 9th Brigade 3rd Division. On the 6th January 1916 it became part of 166th Brigade of the 55th Division and remained in that Division until the Armistice. This was a Territorial Division dominated by battalions of the Kings (Liverpool Regiment). One of these was the kilted Liverpool Scottish, the 1/10th Kings Liverpool recruited from Scottish families in the Liverpool area.
The Battalion served first in the Kemmel sector in Flanders and in March 1915 was in the trenches in the area of Hill 60, moving in April 1915 to the St. Eloi sector. At the close of the Battle of Ypres in 1915 the German trenches between the Menin Road and the Ypres-Roulers railway formed a salient. Behind their lines lay the Bellewaarde Ridge and the lake, the Ridge giving the enemy good observation over the British lines. Hooge, at the southern point of this salient lay battered and ruined between the British and German lines. Early in June 1915 it was decided to attack this salient and if possible gain possession of the ridge, the attack to be carried out by the 9th Brigade of the 3rd Division. The attack was to be made in three phases and the Liverpool Scottish were to capture the third objective, moving up during the first phase of the attack to the front line vacated by the troops of the first phase. The Liverpool Scottish moved up to Railway Wood on the 15th June and when the German artillery opened heavy shell-fire on the trenches of the 9th Brigade, several of the Liverpool Scottish were killed or wounded. Zero hour was at 4.15 a.m. on the 16th June preceded by two hours artillery bombardment of the German line. Without much resistance the first German line was captured though there was a certain amount of hostile rifle and machine-gun fire and heavy shelling. Many dead and wounded Germans were found and consolidation began with troops of the 7th Brigade in support began to dig communication trenches across the old No Man’s Land to the enemy’s old front line. The Liverpool Scottish and the 1st Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment then advanced and crossed the first line of captured trenches and cleared the German second line without great difficulty. But then the attacking troops came under the fire of the British artillery, partly because red and yellow screens to be displayed on the objective lines could not be observed by the artillery due to the early morning mist and smoke from the shells so the Artillery continued to shell enemy positions reached by the attackers. As well all the telephone lines were cut by German artillery soon after the attack commenced. The result was that although the German third line was reached and some troops got as far as the hostile trenches east of Bellewaarde Lake they had to withdraw because of heavy losses from the fire of the British guns. The whole area was also under very heavy shell-fire from the enemy’s artillery, bombing attacks and counter attacks were going on and there was a great deal of hand-to-hand fighting in which both sides lost heavily. By 9.30 a.m. part of the old German line was held, the 5th Fusiliers were still bombing their way towards part of the German second line whilst the Liverpool Scottish were in the captured line helping in the work of consolidation after being forced to retire where they remained until relief just before midnight on the 16th. Of 24 officers who went into action only Lieutenants Wall and Roddick and Lieutenant Chavasse R.A.M.C. came back unscathed. In other ranks the Battalion lost 379 killed, wounded and missing. Lieutenant Chavasse had been ordered to remain on a main road about half a mile from the trenches where he had his dressing station but this had to be vacated by a shell-burst. He then went up to the trenches and found 30 wounded needing attention. At dusk he got out of the trench and covered all the ground the Battalion had advanced over and examined every shell-hole until satisfied everyone was accounted for. For this action Lieutenant Chavasse was awarded the Military Cross but this was not gazetted until the 14th January 1916 and there is no citation.
In August 1915 Noel Chavasse was promoted to the rank of Captain.
The Liverpool Scottish remained in the Ypres salient until January 1916. On the 6th January it was transferred to 166th Brigade of the 55th (West Lancashire) Division then being re-formed around Hallencourt near Abbeville. Early in February 1916 the 55th Division relieved the 88th French Territorial Division in the front line south-west of Arras from Wailly to Bretencourt. The period from February 16th to the end of July was a period of trench warfare
The Battalion arrived on the Somme on the 25th July 1916 and moved forward to Mansell Copse on the 30th July 1916 ready to play its part in the attempt to capture the German stronghold of Guillemont. The first attack took place at 4.20 a.m. on the 8th August and XIII Corps orders were that the attack was to be continued on the morning of the 9th August. 166th Brigade was to attack on the left and the Liverpool Scottish and the 1/5th Loyal North Lancashire was in the front line. The Battalion was attacking from a position East of Trones Wood in an easterly direction towards Guillemont village, over ground over which the 55th (West Lancs) Division made a number of attacks after the capture of Trones Wood on the 14th July 1916.
In the attack on Guillemont on the 9th August 1916 four separate advances were beaten back with heavy losses. The Liverpool Scottish was ordered to move up to the front line in front of Guillemont at 8 p.m. on the 8th August. It was 4 a.m. on the 9th August before the Battalion reached the assembly trenches, only 20 minutes before Zero, when only the Liverpool Scottish were ready to attack with the 5th south Lancs., in support The first waves of the right and left companies advanced close under the artillery barrage. The enemy’s barbed-wire entanglements were found uncut, and although the gallant men got to within a few yards of the wire, they were held up and had to fall back to their jumping-off line. Four attacks were made but ultimately the battalion only occupied its original front-line trench. The casualties of the Liverpool Scottish were very heavy and the battalion was brought out of action by a subaltern 2nd Lieutenant G D Morton Acting Adjutant. No casualty list appears but at the end of August 1916 under Casualties for Month shows 5 officers and 84 other ranks killed, 8 officers and 206 other ranks wounded and 5 officers and 27 other ranks missing. One of those responsible for attending the wounded on that day was the medical officer of the Liverpool Scottish – Captain Noel Gordon Chavasse MC. Here at Guillemont he continued to tend the wounded in the open all day, frequently exposing himself to the view of the enemy. He organised parties to get the wounded away most successfully. . That night he spent four hours searching the ground in front of the enemy’s lines for wounded lying out. On the following day he carried an urgent case for 500 yards to safety under very heavy shell fire. During this performance he was wounded in the side by a shell splinter. The same night he took a party of 20 volunteers and succeeded in recovering three more of the wounded from a shell hole 25 yards from the German trench, buried the bodies of 2 officers and collected a number of identity discs although fired on by bombs and machine guns. Altogether Captain Chavasse was the means of saving the lives of 20 seriously wounded men under the most trying circumstances besides the ordinary cases which passed through his hands. At one time when all the officers were shot down he helped to rally the firing line. For these gallant acts Captain Chavasse was awarded the V.C.
Extract from the London Gazette dated 26th October 1916 records “For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty. During an attack he tended the wounded in the open all day, under heavy fire, frequently in view of the enemy. During the ensuing night he searched for wounded on the ground in front of the enemy’s lines for four hours. Next day he took one stretcher-bearer to the advanced trenches, and under heavy shell fire carried an urgent case for 500 yards into safety, being wounded in the side by a shell splinter during the journey. The same night he took up a party of twenty volunteers, rescued three wounded men from a shell hole twenty-five yards from the enemy’s trench, buried the bodies of two Officers, and collected many identity discs, although fired on by bombs and machine-guns. Altogether he saved the lives of some twenty badly wounded men, besides the ordinary cases which passed through his hands. His courage and self-sacrifice were beyond praise.”
On the 2nd October 1916 the Battalion left the Somme sector and entrained at Abbeville for Proven, the major rail centre in the Ypres sector. The 55th Diviision relieved the 29th Division in October 1916. The sector the Division took over ran from Wieltje (about a mile and a half north east of Ypres) to south of Railway Wood, which lies to the North of the Ypres – Gheluvelt road, a frontage of about a mile.
The Third Battle of Ypres was the major British offensive in Flanders launched on 31 July 1917 and continued until November. The ultimate aim was the destruction of German submarine bases on the Belgian coast but encouraged by the success on the 7th June 1917 when the 2nd Army smashed the ‘impregnable’ German defences along the Messines-Wytschaete Ridge General Sir Douglas Haig believed that the German Army was close to collapse and prepared for a conventional breakthrough attempt. The Battle was not designed merely to rob the Germans of command of the high ground surrounding the salient by capturing the immediate ridges, and Passchendaele Ridge and Klerken Ridge beyond that, but to thrust north-east to Roulers and Thourout and then swing due north towards the Belgian coast. The first objective was in effect the Passchendaele Ridge which was not taken in fact until the end of the campaign, a campaign which almost certainly should have been ended earlier, 10th November 1917.
After a 10 day preliminary bombardment a total of 12 divisions attacked on 31st July 1917 along an 11 mile front east of Ypres. However the Germans had had time to prepare a defence in depth and held off the main British advance around Menin Road and restricted attackers to small gains around Pilkem Ridge.
The 55th Division attacked at 3.50 am with two brigades, the 165th and the 166th with the 164th in support. 166 Brigade attacked from a line just to the north of the village of Wieltje in a NE direction towards objectives S of St Julian. The dressing station was initially in ‘the shelter of the great Wieltje dugout.’ But as first objectives were taken battalion HQ moved from Wieltje dug out to Bossaert Farm about 1200 yards from the start line and within yards of this location Captain Chavasse established his regimental aid post in a captured German dug-out north of the road from Wieltje to the Passchendaele Ridge the entrance of which faced north-east, that is towards the German lines and the Ridge. This position was some 500/600 yards west of Bridge House Cemetery, Langemarck, West Flanders. He was wounded on a number of occasions between the 31st July before the mortal wound on the 2nd August 1917. Zero hour on the 31st July 1917 was at 3.50 a.m. and it appears whilst standing and waving to indicate the position of the aid post, Captain Chavasse was hit in the head by a shell splinter but he walked back to the dressing station where the head wound was dressed. The Liverpool Scottish followed the 1/5th Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, their zero hour being 5 a.m. and by 7 a.m. Capricorn Trench, the far side of the Steenbeck, had been taken and by 8 p.m. steady and remorseless rain began to fall but most of the day’s objectives were held. In the early hours of the 1st August Captain Chavasse was in the doorway of the dug-out calling each man queueing in the rain forward for treatment when a shell came into the dug-out itself killing one of those awaiting treatment. He may well have been wounded again in the head, as it is recorded that a stretcher-bearer found him in the dug-out which had 6 inches of water on the floor with his head bandaged and Captain Chavasse refused to go back telling the bearer to bring in the next wounded man. At 3 a.m. on the 2nd August 1917another shell flew into the dug-out killing or maiming all of the inhabitants including Captain Chavasse whose worst wound was a gaping hole in the abdomen which bled profusely. He managed to drag himself up the stairs and along the trench to the road and was brought down as quickly as possible through 46th Field Ambulance and taken to a special hospital for abdominal cases at No. 32 Casualty Clearing Station at Brandhoek. Here he was operated on but his wounds were such that he could not be saved and he died at about 1 p.m. on the 4th August 1917.
He was posthumously awarded a Bar to his VC.
Extract from the London Gazette 14th September 1917 records “For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty, when in action. Though severely wounded early in the action whilst carrying a wounded soldier to the Dressing Station, Captain Chavasse refused to leave his post, and for two days not only continued to perform his duties, but in addition went out repeatedly under heavy fire to search for and attend to the wounded who were lying out. During these searches, although practically without food during this period, worn with fatigue and faint with his wound, he assisted to carry in a number of wounded men, over heavy and difficult ground. By his extraordinary energy and inspiring example, he was instrumental in rescuing many wounded who would have otherwise undoubtedly have succumbed under the bad weather conditions. This devoted and gallant officer, subsequently died of his wounds.”
Headstone bears inscription “Greater love Hath no man than this That a man lay down His life for his friends.”
Awarded the Victoria Cross and Bar, the Military Cross, the 1914 Star, the Victory and British War Medals. His Service Record, like all those Temporary officers in the RAMC, was destroyed after 1920 as they were "only needed for the War."
Grave in Brandhoek New Military Cemetery of Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Henry Boardman, 8th Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, DSO, died of wounds 5th August 1917 aged 40. Mortally wounded in the Battle of Pilckem Ridge (31 July – 2nd August 1917). Son of E C and M Boardman of Ratcliffe Manchester, husband of Mrs H S Boardman of “Kenyon Hall” Kenyon, Manchester. M.A. of Peterhouse Cambridge.
Grave in Brandhoek New Military Cemetery of No 6037 Company Sergeant Major Edmond Power 2nd Battalion Royal Irish Regiment MC died of wounds 8th August 1917. A regular who had served at Mons and was one of the rare Warrant Officers to hold the Military Cross. Born Ballybacon, Co.Tipperary, enlisted Clonmel, Co.Tipperary, residence Clogheen, Co. Tipperary. Son of Edmond and Johanna Power of Ballyvera Ardfinane Cahir Co. Tipperary.
Grave in Brandhoek New Military Cemetery of Captain Frank Rhodes Armitage, Royal Army Medical Corps, DSO died of wounds 30th July 1917 aged 34 years, attached 232nd Brigade Royal Field Artillery. A Territorial and the son of Dr A Armitage.
Grave in Brandhoek New Military Cemetery of Captain Hugh Dudley Willis, Royal Army Medical Corps, died of wounds 12th August 1917 aged 34 years, attached 3rd Worcester Regiment. At dawn on the 10th August 1917 the 25th Division was to attack the Westhoek Ridge, the 3rd Worcesters being in 7th Brigade and in close support to the attacking battalions. Following the opening of fire by the British Artillery the enemy replied and the Battalion in close support suffered more than the attacking troops who had crossed the crest-line of the ridge and pushed down the other side to be met with blockhouses. Companies of the 3rd Worcesters were ordered forward and the objectives were gained but then began the severest trial. The Germans began an intense bombardment of the captured ridge and German counter-attacks developed but the enemy was repulsed although machine-gun fire still swept the captured ground. By dark the Worcesters reckoned their losses, some 50 in all, light considering the intensity of the fire. Next day the defence of the captured ridge was continued. Lewis-gun teams from the Battalion went forward over the ridge to assist the 13th Cheshire, the attacking battalion. All movement was perilous under the hail of German shellfire but a counter attack on the flank was checked by Lewis-guns. Two great losses befell the Battalion during that morning which deeply affected all ranks; the Reverend E M Evans MC who had been attached to the Battalion as Chaplain for more than two years was killed and the not less devoted Medical Officer Captain H D Willis was mortally wounded. Son of Captain Horace G and Emily R Willis of The Glenfall, Glos.
Brandhoek New Military Cemetery No 3 Vlamertinghe, West Flanders. This the third Cemetery in the village was begun in August 1917 when the other two cemeteries were filled, and closed in May 1918. Records 849 U.K., 54 Can., 46 Aust., 18 N.Z., 5 S.A., 1 BWI, 4 French and 1 Chinese burials.
Grave in Brandhoek New Military No 3 Cemetery of Lieutenant Colonel Stafford James Somerville, 1st Battalion attached 9th Battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers, died of wounds 16th August 1917 aged 46 years. Headstone bears inscription “God will give you to me again with joy and gladness forever.” On the 16th August 1917 the Battalion, part of 108 Brigade (36th (Ulster) Division was with the 13th Royal Irish Rifles the attacking battalion advancing from a position south of the village of St Julian in a North Easterly direction the objective being the German line from Gallipoli Copse to Aviatik Farm. Zero hour was at 0445 but there was heavy shelling of assembly trenches and rear areas. The German artillery barrage came down but fell mostly on the assembly trenches and behind them so it had little effect on the leading waves but there were a number of German pill-boxes, Gallipoli, Somme, Aisne House, Hindu Cott, Schuler Farm, Border House and Jew’s Hill held in strength by the enemy and German machine-guns opened fire almost simultaneously with the British barrage. The ground was a veritable quagmire and the concrete works had to be fought for. The Battalion on the extreme right attacking from the Pommern Redoubt pressed up across Hill 35 driving the Germans before them from the gun-pits on its forward slope. The 13th Royal Irish Rifles was held up by one of the strongest forts on the front, Somme, which could not be overcome and troops began to fall back, and whilst a few troops reached the objective the positions were impossible to hold and by 1000 the Brigade was back at its starting point. In this action Colonel Somerville was mortally wounded. Son of the Rev. Dudley Somerville (Chaplain to the Forces) of Stoke Damerel, Devon; husband of Mrs F A Somerville of 34 York Street Portman Square, London.
Grave in Brandhoek New Military No 3 Cemetery of No 34726 Corporal William Bathgate of 113th Field Ambulance, died of wounds 15th August 1917 aged 31 years and was laid to rest by his brother Robert Bathgate, Sergeant 112th Field Ambulance. Headstone bear inscription “Forever with the Lord, inserted by his mother.” William Bathgate was the son of Mrs Helen Bathgate of Leith, being born in North Leith Edinburgh and enlisted in Leith in 1914.
Grave in Brandhoek New Military No 3 Cemetery of Lieutenant Colonel T C Irving, Commanding 4th Canadian Division Engineers, DSO died on 29th October 1917 aged 38. Son of Mr and Mrs T C Irving of Toronto and husband of Jessie Irving of Brunswick Avenue Toronto.
Bleuet Farm Cemetery, Elverdinghe, West Flanders. 1 mile E of the village. The farm itself was a dressing station during the Flanders offensive in 1917. Records 437 UK, 3 S.A., 1 Can., 1 Newfld., 1 French and 1 German burials. The cemetery was begun in preparation for the offensive in 1917 and was in use from June to December 1917.
Bleuet Farm Cemetery, Elverdinghe, West Flanders. Another view of the Cemetery.
Grave in Bleuet Farm Cemetery of No 18427 Private Frederick George Oliver Coldstream Guards died of wounds 12th September 1917 aged 33 years. Headstone bears inscription “In loving memory from his wife Edith and his little daughter Ivy.” Son of Albert and Ann Oliver of Kirdford, Horsham and husband of Edith Stenning (formerly Oliver) of Stroud Green,Billinghurst, Sussex.
Grave in Bleuet Farm Cemetery of No 3081 Company Sergeant Major William Grimwood 2nd Battalion Irish Guards killed in action 20th July 1917. Headstone bears inscription “Sacred Heart of Jesus, Have mercy on him, St Patrick pray for him.” On the 17th July 1917 the Battalion went into the line holding the whole of the 2nd Guards Brigade frontage which was West of the Yser Canal and about 500 yards East of Boesinghe. Platoons were in the front line trenches, support trenches further back and 3 platoons of No 2 Company in Bluet Farm. The preliminary British bombardment had begun on the 15th July and German retaliation caught No 2 Company coming up to Bluet Farm in a barrage of gas shells and the Transport was gassed late at night on the Elverdinghe road and held up for two hours, the Transport Officer Lieutenant R Nutting being badly gassed but being the only person who knew where Bluet Farm was lay on the mess cart guiding the convoy to its destination. The next three days were spent in stacking and sorting stores of all kinds under continuous fire, the front line companies work being to repair a very great deal of trench damage and make assembly trenches for the coming attack. On the night of the 18th, probably through a misreading of the many lights going up put down a heavy barrage just behind the German line and the enemy replied by putting a barrage down just behind the British line killing Lieutenants James and Wilson and a number of the men. On the night of the 19th July the British field-guns came into play and a “short” from one of these killed the irreplaceable C.S.M. William Grimwood of No. 4 Company. Husband of Christina Grimwood of 3 Johns Lane East, Christchurch, Dublin.
Grave in Bleuet Farm Cemetery of No G/1533 Private Thomas Hawkins 7th Royal West Surreys executed 22nd November 1917 for desertion.
Grave in Bleuet Farm Cemetery of No L/11661 Private Arthur Westwood 8th East Surrey Regiment executed aged 20 years on 23rd November 1917 for desertion. Headstone bears inscription “Resting with loved ones Far away In Gods great universe Mother.” Son of William and Ellen Westwood of 27A Leagrave Road Fulham London.
Grave in Bleuet Farm Cemetery of N0 322497 Rifleman Frederick Slade 2/6th Battalion London Regiment (City of London Rifles) executed 14th December 1917 aged 24 years for disobedience. Son of Mrs Kate A Slade of 69 Manor Lane, Lee, London
Belgian Battery Corner Cemetery, Ypres, West Flanders. The cemetery was begun by the 8th Division at the start of the Battle of Messines in June 1917 and used until October 1917. It was mainly for burials from the nearby Dressing Station. Belgian Battery Corner was the name given by the Army to a point where two road fork and it is believed that the Battery after which the corner was named was the 1st Groupe Regiment d’Artillerie Provisioire that was posted near here in 1915 but this is by no means certain. Records 430 U.K., 122 Aust., 8 N.Z., 7 Can., 2 Ind., 1 Unknown burials and 2 special memorials to Australians whose graves have been lost.. Artillery units account for 206 of the men buried in the cemetery which was behind the front-line during the war.
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