The churchyard was used for Commonwealth burials by fighting units from November 1914 to April 1915. There were only two houses left standing in the village in February 1915. The church, ruined in the war, was rebuilt in 1925. From 21 October to 19 November the First Battle of Ypres raged with the British losing their hold on Messines Ridge and being pushed down the hill into the valley below. Wulvergem village was close to the frontline. On the 30 April 1916, the 2nd Leinsters, 73rd Infantry Brigade, 24th Division, held the line near the village when the Germans made an unsuccessful gas attack. Wulvergem was in German hands from 14 April 1918 to 2 September, when it was retaken by the 30th Division.
Wulvergem
There was a dressing station in the estimanet on the corner of the junction of the Neuve Eglise to Lindenhoek Road, the estimanet is still there today on the corner. Captain Henry Owens, a medical officer with the 3rd Cavalry Field Ambulance, 1st Cavalry Division records in his diary for 23 October 1914: ‘Hacked over with Irwin and Ward to the dressing station at Wulverghem…. Only 5 or 6 slight cases. Slept at Wulverghem.’ He was still there on 25 October when his unit got orders to move south with the 2nd Cavalry Brigade however, he was back in Wulverghem on 31 October writing in his diary ‘..About 12 went out to the Advanced Dressing Station at Wulverghem. Sent on a good many Indian troops.’ On 1 November he was sitting with his Field Ambulance on the Wulverghem to Neuve Eglise road and noted in his diary ‘..Began shelling Wulverghem just as they were coming through (this was some of his unit that had gone up to Messines to collect some wounded) Our men holding a line about half a mile beyond Wulverghem (towards Messines). He was back in the area in October 1917 and recorded in his diary: ‘One day I walked down to Wulverghem with Fry, the village where we had a dressing station on 1st November 1914 in a little estimanet. The pave road was still there, more or less intact, but every trace of the village and the houses had vanished. A few little bits of the walls of the church were still there and a few tombstones. I noticed a cross put up to Captain Macarthur-Onslow (16th Lancers), killed on 5th November 1914.’ This was Captain Arthur William Macarthur-Onslow, 16th (The Queen’s Lancers), killed in action on 5 November 1914, age 37. He is buried in Wulverghem-Lindenhoek Road Military Cemetery Grave III.C.4.
All the men buried in the Churchyard Cemetery are from the fighting at First Ypres in October/November 1914, and from the winter of 1914/15 in holding the line. I have taken a small sample from the CWGC register.
Four men from 2nd Battalion King’s Own Scottish Borderers
11333 Private John Cairns, Killed in action 1 November 1914, Grave Special Memorial 1. He was born and lived in Selkirk and enlisted at some point in the Regiment. His medal index card indicates that he qualified for the 1914 Star & Clasp and landed with the Regiment in France on 15 August 1914. This suggests that he was a regular soldier or on the Special Reserve. 11174 Private William James Goodman, Killed in action 1 November 1914, age 27. Grave A.4. Son of John and Annie Goodman, Littlethorpe, Narborough, Leicestershire. 7418 Private Hugh Hendry, Killed in action 1 November 1914, age 33. Grave A.5. Husband of Isabella Hendry, 26 Murray Street, Montrose. They had a daughter Mary Anne born on 29 November 1911. He was a regular soldier who landed with the Regiment in France on 15 August 1914. 7420 Private David Smith, Killed in action 1 November 1914. Grave A.3. He was married to Agnes and they had two children Hugh and Agnes. The family home was at 49 Ardgowan Street, Port Glasgow.
The action leading to their death - The battalion was involved in the desperate fighting to hold the Messines Ridge. On the 31 October the battalion arrived at Wulvergem from Merville by bus to support the 1st Cavalry Division who were hanging onto a north to south line through the centre of Messines. The battalion was to attack on the south of Messines and would probably take the form of a bayonet charge. The attack began at 1pm from the Steenbeek river with ‘A’ and ‘C’ Company deployed. To the south ‘A’ Company worked up in advance of the line held by the cavalry in the centre but were held up by rifle and machine gun fire. ‘C’ Company pushed through the line held by the cavalry to the east side of the village and cleared the convent and the houses around the church with the bayonet. By night fall the Germans still held the north east corner of the village. On the 1 November at 8am the commanding officer of the 5th Dragoon Guards advised the battalion that the infantry on his left had fallen back and that he had given preparatory orders to with draw from the Messines. The orders were withdrawn as the attack on the left had been checked however, the British artillery were under the impression that the order had been carried out and proceeded to shell the village along with the Germans. The British shells destroying a great number of the houses including two that were occupied by 1st Platoon of the Battalion resulting in dead and wounded. The order to retire was then received and the Battalion moved to the line prepared east of Wulvergem with the cavalry relieving the battalion at 10.30pm and they went into billets at Neuve Eglise.
Victoria Cross won in nearby action
On the 20 November 1914, in the trenches near to what is now Lone Tree Cemetery, Bandsman Thomas Edward Rendle, 1st Duke of Cornwell’s Light Infantry, 14th Infantry Brigade, 5th Division, won his Victoria Cross. A shell landed close to the parapet burying 15 men alive. Rendle helped to dig out the survivors and calmly took them to the rear one by one while under rifle and artillery fire. Later in the afternoon while the Germans had resumed their bombardment of the trench line Lieutenant R.M Colebrook, attached from the 3rd Royal Hampshires, was wounded in the leg. There was a gap in the line between where he lay and the adjoining trench. In order to reach him both Lieutenant Wingate and Bandsman Rendle had to crawl across the gap and Rendle bandaged the wound in Colebrook’s leg. Wingate was called away and Rendle proceeded to dig a small channel across the gap between the damaged trench and the undamaged trench, each time he threw up the earth he exposed himself to German fire, and to drag and carry Colebrook on his back across the gap to the undamaged trench. He then took Colebrook to the rear.
Shot at Dawn
10459 Corporal George H Povey, Age 23, Menin Gate Panel 19-22. Son of Mrs. Dinah Povey, of 51, Primrose Street, Connah Quay. 1st Cheshires, 15th Brigade, 5th Division. Together with four Privates under his command, they were in the front line during the early hours of 28 January 1915 at Wulverghem. A German patrol came across and rifle fire broke out in the confusion a rumour started that the Germans had broken into the British front line. As a result, Povey and the four Privates ran back to the support line. At their trial the men maintained that they had heard a call to clear out and when it was found that the line had not been taken all five had been arrested. The Privates were all imprisoned and Povey was executed on 11 February 1915. His grave could not be found after the war and he his commemorated on the Menin Gate. After the execution a rumour circulated that the men had been asleep and had been startled and panicked and fled back to their support line.
Cemetery Location
Wulvergem Churchyard is located 13 Km south of Ieper town centre, on a road leading from the Rijselseweg N365, which connects Ieper to Wijtschate, Mesen and onto Armentieres. From Ieper town centre the Rijselsestraat runs from the market square, through the Lille Gate (Rijselpoort) and directly over the crossroads with the Ieper ring road. The road name then changes to the Rijselseweg. On reaching the town of Mesen the first right hand turning leads onto Mesenstraat. 3 Km along Mesenstraat lies the village of Wulvergem. The churchyard lies next to the village church on the Dorpstraat.
Burials
The churchyard contains 38 Commonwealth burials and commemorations of the First World War. Six of the burials are unidentified and 23 graves destroyed by shell fire are now represented by special memorials.
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