Zantvoorde British Cemetery, West Flanders. 6 miles SE of Ypres, NE of village. Made after the Armistice by concentration of graves from battle-fields. Records 1,525 UK., 22 Can., 2 Aust., 1 Ind. burials and 33 special memorials.

Grave in Zantvoorde British Cemetery of Major (Brevet Lieutenant Colonel) Henry William, Viscount Crichton DSO MVO Royal Horse Guards (The Blues) killed in action 31st October 1914 aged 42 years Headstone bears inscription “Until the day dawns And the clouds flee away.” Viscount Crichton. Son of the 4th Earl of Erme of Crom Castle Ireland, husband of Viscountess Crichton (now Lady Mary Stanley of Sopworth Chippenham, Wilts). The Royal Horse Guards, with 1st and 2nd Life Guards formed the 7th Cavalry Brigade, part of 3rd Cavalry Division. The troopers fought as infantry and on the 30th October 1914 were in trenches in front of Zandvoorde on which the greater part of the German 260 heavy guns seems to have been concentrated. An overwhelming infantry attack followed and a retirement to the second line was ordered but the greater part of two squadrons of the Life Guards and the Royal Horse Guards machine guns were cut off and annihilated. On the 31 October the 3rd Cavalry Division was the only Reserve available to General Haig but at 0730 the 7th Brigade was returned to General Allenby as part of 3rd Cavalry Division. In operations in this area Viscount Crichton lost his life.

Grave in Zantvoorde British Cemetery of Major Humphrey St Leger Stucley, King’s Company, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards killed in action 29th October 1914 aged 37 years. Headstone bears inscription “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you.” Major Stucley was Second in Command of the 1st Battalion sailing from Southampton and landing in Zeebrugge on the 7th October 1914. The 1st Battalion was in trenches south of the cross roads at Gheluvelt and was cut off from view of the Menin Road by intervening houses and gardens and it was densely foggy. The Battalion was heavily shelled by British guns, presumably the fire was intended for the German infantry which was known to be somewhere near. There being no sign of the attack at down which had been envisaged it was decided to send the two Battalions in support back for their rations but had been gone hardly half an hour when the Germans opened a very heavy fire from the left rear. The enemy had managed to penetrate the line and the whole Battalion was forced to leave the fire trenches and occupy the support trenches. Major Stucley set off to bring up the King’s Company, the only support available. The shell fire had practically ceased and there then arose steady machine-gun fire from the houses around. Headed by Major Stucley the King’s Company steadily advanced for some 200 yards suffering many casualties. The enemy’s machine guns were pouring a murderous fire into the other two companies and the problem was how to stop the German advance, the enemy having taken all the houses near the Menin road and the Germans advancing shoulder to shoulder under 100 yards from the British line. Major Stucley disdained all cover and dashed forward at the head of the King’s Company determined to save the situation. In the hail of bullets he fell shot through the head. One Company retired to the brickyard whilst others hung doggedly on to their support trenches for another half an hour. A Company of the Gordon Highlanders came up to assist but despite a counter attack on the Germans all had eventually to retire. The Germans did not appreciate that between them and Ypres were just the remains of a battalion. Losses in the Battalion were very heavy so that only 4 officers and 100 men went into billets that night at Hooge. Son of the late Sir George Stucley 1st Baronet of Moreton, and Lady Stucley, husband of Rose Stucley of 26 St George’s Road London SW1. Served in the Egyptian Campaign of 1898 and the South African War. (See also below)

Grave in Zantvoorde British Cemetery of Captain James Anson Otho Brooke V.C. 2nd Battalion Gordon Highlanders killed in action 29th October 1914 aged 30 years. Headstone bears inscription “I have fought a good fight, I have kept the faith. Gloria Finis.” Extract from the London Gazette records “For conspicuous bravery and great ability near Gheluvelt on the 29th October, in leading two attacks on the German trenches under heavy rifle and machine-gun fire regaining a lost trench at a very critical moment. He was killed on that day. By his marked coolness and promptitude on this occasion Lieutenant Brooke prevented the enemy from breaking through our line at a time when a general counter-attack could not have been organised.” Action in which Major Stucley was killed. Son of Sir Harry Vesey Brooke KBE and Lady Brooke of Fairley, Countesswells, Aberdeenshire. Awarded the Sword of Honour at Sandhurst.

Grave in Zantvoorde British Cemetery of Lieutenant-Colonel Beauchamp Tyndall Pell, DSO, 1st Battalion Queens (Royal West Kent Regiment) died of wounds 4th November 1914. Headstone bears inscription “God is our God For ever and ever He shall be our guide unto death.” On the night of 30th/31st October 1914 the 1st Battalion the Queen’s was in the line south of the Menin Road and east of the village of Gheluvelt with 3 companies immediately below the road. To their left and astride the road was the 2nd Battalion the Welch Regiment and to their left the 1st Battalion the South Wales Borderers; to the right of the Queens was the 2nd Battalion of the Kings Royal Rifle Corps and the 4th company of the Queens. Just after 6 am on the 31st October 1914 a German infantry attack was made against this line but except near the orchard at the junction of the line held by the Queens and the Kings Royal Rifle Corps the attack was repulsed with heavy losses. The orchard of which the Germans had possession enabled them to enfilade the front line of the Queens and all attempts by counter attack to retake it failed. The Germans commenced heavy artillery fire so that the right half of the Welch were simply “blown out” of their trenches and part were withdrawn to the support line. The retirement could not be seen from south of the road and the support line proving only to be a sunken lane more exposed than the front line the whole of the Welch were withdrawn. The 1st Queen’s under Major C F Watson – Colonel Pell having been mortally wounded early in the morning- with the detachment of the KRRC held on although enemy gun and rifle fire swept the ground with an intensity never before experienced. The farm, in the area held by the Queens was set alight and the German infantry then charged but were met by British rapid fire but weight of numbers told in the end the Germans having brought up artillery. After Gheluvelt church and the buildings round it had been shattered to a mass of broken bricks and rubble and houses set on fire the survivors of the Queens fell back but found the enemy in possession of the village and were surrounded and shot down from front, flank and rear and only two officers and twelve other ranks survivors of the Queens fell back but found the enemy in possession of the village and were surrounded and shot down from front, flank and rear and only two officers and twelve other ranks succeeded in escaping and rejoining the 3rd Brigade.  Son of the Reverend Beauchamp H St Pell and Julia C M Pell;  husband of Alice M Pell of The Rectory Wilburton Isle-of-Ely. Born at Ickenham Middlesex.

 Grave in Zandvoorde British Cemetery of No 240693 Sergeant Lewis McGuffie V.C. 1/5th Battalion King’s Own Scottish Borderers killed in action 4th October 1918.  Headstone bears inscription “Oh for the touch of a vanished hand and the sound of the voice that is I still.”  The Battalion was in 103rd Brigade 34th Division and the operation on the 28th September 1918 and the task of the 34th Division was to establish itself on the Ypres-Comines canal south of Hollebeke and this involved capturing Wytschaete Ridge.  Direct assault being discounted it was decided to work up as closely as possible to the ridge when a turning movement by the 41st Division from the north should loosen the enemy’s hold on the ridge.  The advance began at 5.30 a.m. 28th September by strong patrols under cover of a smoke barrage.  The Battalion was advancing in an Easterly direction towards Bois Quarante and Grand Bois  and took German prisoners and their machine guns at Piccadillly Farm south west of St. Eloi, the enemy was also forced out of command bunkers in Croonart Wood but the Battalion was held up by German machine guns firing from Dammstrasse north east of Wytschaete.  A British artillery barrage on this position came down but because of delays, by that time 5th Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders had stormed and taken the place, so the troops had to withdraw from the new gains.  When the shelling stopped the Battalion advanced against the Dammstrasse again and the opposition was overcome.  At the storming of Piccadily Farm, Sergeant McGuffie had to take charge of a platoon in consequence of officer casualties and was responsible for the capture of several dugouts and more than a dozen prisoners.  Later with complete disregard of personal safety he rushed out single-handed and cowed a German escort into restoring a party of British prisoners.  Later on in the day he was prominent in firing rifle grendades into the front entrance of a blockhouse.  On the 14th October 1918 the Battalion was engaged in capturing the village of Gheluwe, 2 miles from Menin on the road to Ypres.  About 15 other ranks were killed, one of whom was Sergeant McGuffie. Extract from the London Gazette records “For most conspicuous bravery and resourceful leadership under heavy fire near Wytschaete on 28th September 1918.  During the advance to Piccadilly Farm, he, single-handed entered several enemy dugouts and took many prisoners, and during subsequent operations dealt similarly with dugout after dugout, forcing one officer and twenty-five other ranks to surrender.  During the consolidation of the first objective he pursued and brought back several of the enemy who were slipping away, and he was also instrumental in rescuing some British soldiers who were being led off as prisoners.  Later in the day when in command of a platoon, he led it with the utmost dash and resource capturing many prisoners.  This very gallant soldier was subsequently killed by a shell.  Son of Mrs Catherine McGuffie of 1 North Main Street Wigtownshire. Born Wigtown, enlisted Wigtown residence Wigtown.

 Graves in Zandvoorde British Cemetery of Second Lieutenant Henry Leslie Marvin, Royal Flying Corps, killed in action 26th October 1917aged 22 years.  Headstone bears inscription “So loved, so mourned, so missed.”  Son of Henry Ward Marvin and Ella Marvin of 21 Red Down Road Coulsdon Surrey.  Second Lieutenant Clarence Harry Barton, Royal Flying Corps killed in action 26th October 1917 aged 25 years.  Headstone bears inscription “Greater love hath no man.”  Son of Frank Burrell Barton and Louise Barton of 90 Lordship Park Stoke Newington London.  Both members of 6th Squadron who took off from Abeele Aerodrome, about 14 miles west of Ypres,  where the squadron was based and were shot down near Zillebeke on 26th October 1917.

 Zillebeke Churchyard, Zillebeke, West Flanders.  The Churchyard is in the centre of the village of Zillebeke which is about a mile and a half south east of Ypres.  The village was always behind the British front line until the Spring of 1918 when the line was withdrawn to just west of the village.  Reoccupied on the 8th September 1918.  However the village was always subject to German shelling.  The churchyard was used for burials and there are a total of 32 Commonwealth burials and memorials to 1st World War casualties.  There are 16 burials from 1914, 2 from 1915 and 6 from 1916.  Special Memorials commemorate 1 casualty from 1914 and 1 from 1915 and there are 6 unknown.  Sir Morgan Crofton, a Captain with the 2nd Life Guards, describes the village and churchyard first on the 20th November 1914.  “…and found a fearful state of wreckage.  Every house had been hit, whole fronts were torn away.  The steeple had been knocked off the Church which was filled with bricks and rubbish.  Outside in the churchyard marked by rough wooden crosses were the newly made graves of Lord Bernard Gordon-Lennox, Lord Congleton and Symes-Thompson, all of the Grenadier Guards, and also Lt. Peterson of my Regiment, and about 20 others all of whom had been killed in the attack of Nov 6th when Dawnay and O’Neill were also killed.”  On the 9th February 1915 he recorded “The body of Zillebeke Church had almost disappeared, and so had the steeple, the ruined tower alone remained.  Every single house had been smashed to atoms.  In some cases the entire front had been torn away and the house stood open like a doll’s house. ……The Churchyard had several shell holes in it, which had uprooted the monuments, smashed open the vaults and laid bare the coffins and the dead.  These vaults were half full of rainwater and in many cases the zinc or tin coffins were floating about, with their occupants exposed or bobbing over the sides.  The stench was too bad to stay long ….”.  He noted that the wooden crosses on some graves remained.  One grave of Lieutenant William Wyndham was certainly destroyed by shell fire, he being commemorated by one of two special memorials.  The church itself was totally destroyed by the end of the war although in the early months of 1915 the tower and clock were still in existence, the tower roofless with no steeple, and most of the nave was in place.  Edmund Blunden serving with the 11th Royal Sussex Regiment in the early months of 1917 records “The church tower was not yet altogether down, but one lost its architectural distinctions in one’s quick movement over the road under German observation; one’s eye managed to register nevertheless a number of wooden crosses.”  The Register records 17 1914 burials, one of whom is commemorated by a Special Memorial, all of whom were killed between the 6th and 20th November 1914 in the final phase of the 1st Battle of Ypres.  There are 4 burials from 1915 again one being commemorated by a special Memorial, in May, June and December and for 1916 5 burials, 1 in March and 4 in June.  The reconstruction of the Church began in 1923 and it is almost an exact replica of the old totally destroyed church.

The Zillebeke Churchyard Record is in two parts.  The first is the biographical details of the casualties buried in or commemorated in the churchyard followed by a summary of their military service.  The second part is an outline of the fighting around Zillebeke in which the casualties were involved. 

Grave in Zillebeke Churchyard of 2nd Lieutenant Howard Avenel Bligh St. George 1st Life Guards killed in action 15th November 1914 aged 19 years.  Headstone bears inscription “Firmitas in Coelo.”

Grave in Zillebeke Churchyard of 2nd Lieutenant Baron Alexis de Gunzburg 11th Hussars killed in action 6th November 1914.

 Grave in Zillebeke Churchyard of Lieutenant John Henry Gordon Lee-Steere 2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards killed in action 17th November 1914. 

Unusually his headstone remains as the private headstone originally placed at the grave by his family and is inscribed, after details of the action in which he lost his life, “He asked Life of Thee.”

 Grave in Zillebeke Churchyard of Major Lord Bernard Charles Gordon- Lennox 2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards killed in action 10th November 1914. 

 Grave in Zillebeke Churchyard of Lieutenant Lord Henry Bligh Fortescue Parnell (5th Baron Congleton). killed in action 10th November 1914. . Headstone bears inscription “Son of Major General Purnell 4th Baron Congleton.  Beloved and Honoured.”

Grave in Zillebeke Churchyard of Lieutenant Colonel Arthur de Courcy-Scott  killed in action 5th May 1915 while commanding 1st Battalion Cheshire Regiment.  Headstone bears inscription “Jesus Put Forth his hand and touched him.”

Grave in Zillebeke Churchyard of Lieutenant Michael George Stocks 2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards killed in action 10th November 1914 aged 21 years.  Michael Stocks

Grave in Zillebeke Churchyard of Captain Cholmeley Symes-Thompson 2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards killed in action 17th November 1914.    Headstone bears inscription “Your Joy No man taketh from you.  John 16/32.”

Grave in Zillebeke Churchyard of No 12647 Lance Corporal Neil Thomson 11th Battalion Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment) killed in action 9th December 1915.  

  Grave in Zillebeke Churchyard of Lieutenant Colonel Gordon Chesney Wilson M.V.O. Royal Horse Guards (The Blues) killed in action 6th November 1914.  Headstone bears inscription “Life is a city of crooked streets, death the market place where all men meet.”

The images for the remaining known graves and memorials  with text have still to be loaded onto the website.