Wulverghem-Lindenhoek Road Military Cemetery

Wulverghem-Lindenhoek Road Military Cemetery. Authors image

The cemetery was begun in December 1914 by four battalions of the 5th Division and was called at first Wulverghem Dressing Station Cemetery. It was used until June 1917, and again in September and October 1918, and at the Armistice it contained 162 graves, the present Plot I.

Wulverghem village

Location of St Quentin Cabaret. Linesman Map

There was a dressing station in the estimanet on the south side of the village, this was St Quentin Cabaret, 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 (now Nieuwkerke) 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.’

Captain Arthur William Macarthur-Onslow, 16th (The Queen’s Lancers), 3rd Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division. Killed in action on 5 November 1914, age 37.Grave III.C.4. He was the fourth son of Captain Arthur Onslow, R.N. and Elizabeth Macarthur-Onslow, of Camden Park, New South Wales, Australia. He was educated at Rugby, and at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he studied for law. Macarthur-Onslow joined the 16th (The Queen’s Own) Lancers (“The Scarlet Lancers”) as a University Candidate and was promoted Second Lieutenant on 7 February 1900, and Lieutenant on 3 October 1900. Like the three of his brothers who also became professional soldiers – one became a Major-General and two became Brigadiers – Arthur William served in the Second Boer War (Queen’s Medal with three clasps; King’s Medal with two clasps).Near the end of the South African war he was wounded slightly in the head by a bullet. He married Christabel Allen (formerly Macarthur-Onslow) in 1911, she later remarried Captain Hugh Evelyn Allen in 1916. In 1910, he was appointed Instruction Officer at Cambridge in connection with the Territorial Army scheme, on 27 March 1911 he was selected for duty with the New Zealand Military Forces as Brigade Major and Instructional Officer of Mounted Troops, and on 2 September 1911 he took up these duties in the Canterbury District while remaining an officer in the Special Reserve of his old Regiment. On the outbreak of the war he rejoined his regiment near Mons as its Assistant Adjutant. He was killed in action on 5 November during the shelling of his trench along with Major Clive Macdonnell Dixon, he is buried in Neuve Eglise Churchyard Cemetery, and ten other ranks.

Major James Alexander Browning Mentioned in Despatches, 2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen’s Bays), 1st Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division. Killed in action 31 October 1914, age 36. Grave II.E.21. Son of Mr. E. C. Browning. He was married to Lilian and they had two sons and lived at Stonycroft in Aldershot. He was educated at Eton and then Sandhurst and was commissioned into the Queens Bays as a Second Lieutenant on 11 May 1898. On 16 august 1899 he was promoted to Lieutenant and on 16 March 1900 to ADC to Major-General H.F. Grant, Inspector General of Cavalry. In 1901 was Adjutant and captain and was promoted to Major in 1911. On 21 October 1914 Lieutenant-Colonel Wilberforce was invalided and he took command of the regiment. He was killed during the fighting at Messines on 31 October when he was directing troops while standing in the open. The War Diary records that they had fallen back to take up positions behind a hedge which was heavily shelled.

Lieutenant Frederick James Harris Mentioned in Despatches, ‘C’ Company, 9th Battalion (Glasgow Highlanders) Highland Light Infantry, 100th Infantry Brigade, 33rd Division.

Killed in action 13 April 1918, age 20. Grave II.G.29. The eldest son of Frederick William and Nellie Harris, of Glasgow. They also had three other sons and a daughter. Frederick attended Allan Glenn School in Glasgow and then studied engineering at Glasgow Technical College. On the 12/13 April 1918, the Battalion was heavily engaged in stemming the German advance around Neuve Eglise. The War Diary records that Frederick was killed when he was inspecting his posts.

Major John De Havilland Chisholm Batten, Royal Field Artillery

Killed in action 7 August 1917, age 28. Grave III.A.15. One of three sons of Lieutenant Colonel James Forbes Chisholm Batten and Mrs Anne Douglas Chisholm Batten. He left Winchester School in 1908 and went straight to the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich was commissioned in the Royal Field Artillery in 1909. He saw service in India and on the outbreak of the war was at home and went with the BEF to France. He was wounded at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle in 1915 and was promoted to Captain that same year. He served in Gallipoli and returned to the Western Front in 1916 and was again wounded on the Ancre. He was killed in action near Wytschaete on 6 August. His older brother 2nd Lieutenant James Chisholm-Batten was killed at Vermelles and is listed on the Loos Memorial.

Major John Francis Selby Lloyd. Authors image

Major Francis Selby Lloyd, 6th Battalion North Staffordshire Regiment, 137th Infantry Brigade, 46th Division. Killed in action 18 June 1915, age 33. Grave I.B.20. The youngest son of Francis Henry and Alice Lloyd, Stowe, Lichfield. He was married to Eleanora May Lloyd (nee Lawrence). On leaving Cambridge University with a B.A. he became a director of the Weldless Steel Tube Company, his father being the chairman, in Birmingham. He was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant on 13 February 1901 with the 2nd Volunteer Battalion of the Prince of Wales's (North Staffordshire) Regiment, ‘E’ (Lichfield) Company and promoted to Captain on 1 April 1908 on the formation of the Territorial Force. He was promoted to Major in May 1915. The Battalion were in billets at Aldershot Camp near Westhof Farm and Neuve Eglise (now Nieuwkerke) and were holding the trenches SP.6 and SP.7 at Burnt Farm opposite Messines. The War Diary simply records the casualties on 18 June 1915 as ‘1 Officer killed, 1 Officer wounded, 3 killed, 1 died of wounds, 5 wounded.’

Boy Soldiers - There are four boy soldiers buried here

In the Ypres Salient, we are drawn to the graves of 6322 Private John Condon, 2nd Battalion Royal Irish Regiment, killed in action in May 1915, age 14 and the youngest known battle casualty of the war, although this is now questioned, and the grave of 5750 Valentine Strudwick, 8th Rifle Brigade, killed in action in January 1916, age 15. Strudwicks grave attracts a great deal of attention because of its location at Essex Farm and that locations association with Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae and the poem ‘In Flanders Fields.’ There are many more ‘Boy Soldiers’ buried across the Salient and who are not remembered in the same way and these include three from Falkirk District Private William Jamieson, age 17, Private James Duchart, age 16, and Private Herbert Richmond, age 17, There were many reasons why underage boys enlisted in 1914 and 1915 boredom with their jobs, looking for adventure, and escaping family pressures. The checks on age and qualification to enlist were more relaxed than later in the war. The army preferred younger recruits, there was a history of boy soldiers in the army going back over one hundred years. At Waterloo the army had a number of boy soldiers in their ranks. The army preferred younger recruits as they would follow orders and accept discipline more readily than older men. The boys had a belief in their own indestructibility and were prepared to take more risks. We tend to also forget the number of boys who served in the Royal Navy and we do not seem to have the same passionate response to their service as we do those who fought on the Western Front. With regards to army, the difference was the sheer number who served on the Western Front and there were more boy soldiers in 1915 than served in Wellington’s army at Waterloo. For further reading on this subject I recommend Richard Van Emden’s excellent book Boy Soldiers of the Great War.

457399 Private Harry Sherman Pope, ‘A’ Company, 3rd Battalion (Toronto Regiment), 1st Canadian Infantry Brigade, 1st Canadian Division. Killed in action 8 January 1916, age 15. Grave I.E.33. Son of Alfred and Catherine J. Pope, 2555 Mance Street, Montreal, Canada. He enlisted on 15 June 1915 giving his age as 18 years and 11 months and that he was employed as a plumber. The War Diary records that ‘Pte Pope was shot and killed while working on a CT Trench (Communication Trench) 14B to 14S  near Tea Farm  3/7134 Private E Battershill, ‘D’ Company, 1st Battalion Devonshire Regiment, 14th Infantry Brigade, 5th Division. Killed in action 15 March 1915, age 17. Grave V.B.11. Son of Mr. F. T. and Mrs. B. J. Battershill, 120 Hele Road, St. Mary Church, Torquay. The Battalion were in the line opposite Messines and the War Diary records the casualties as ‘1 other rank killed…’ 3316 Private Albert Mogg, 1st/5th Battalion King’s Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment), temporarily attached to the 5th Division. Killed in action 12 March 1915, age 17. Grave I.C.16. Son of Henry and Annabella Mogg, 19 Tunstall Street, Morecambe, Lancs. The War Diary records that ‘A’ Company were in the trenches and that two were killed. G/1207 Private Frederick William Thurston, 8th Battalion The Buffs (East Kent Regiment), 17th Infantry Brigade, 24th Division. Killed in action 18 July 1916, age 17. Grave I.D.28. Son of Richard and Elizabeth Thurston, 31 Northend Villas, Erith, Kent. The Battalion War Diary records that they were in the line at Kingsway at RE Farm on the ridge near Wulverghem and opposite Messines. They record that it was a quiet day with casualties of one other rank killed and one wounded.

Falkirk District Man

Wounded in action, he subsequently died of his wounds, during the fighting on 20 November 1914 in the trenches east of Wulverghem was Trooper John Mutter DCM from Muiravonside. He won his DCM here.

Cemetery Location

Wulverghem-Lindenhoek Road Military Cemetery is located 13 Kms south of Ieper town centre, on a road leading from the Kemmelseweg N331 connecting Ieper to Kemmel. From Ieper town centre the Kemmelseweg is reached via the Rijselsestraat, through the Lille Gate (Rijselpoort) and straight on towards Armentieres (N365). 900 metres after the crossroads is the right hand turning onto the Kemmelseweg (made prominent by a railway level crossing). 2 Kms after passing the village of Kemmel lies the left hand turning onto the Hooghofstraat. The cemetery lies 1.5 Kms along the Hooghofstraat on the right hand side of the road.

The cemetery was designed by Charles Holden.

Cemeteries concentrated here

Graves were brought in from the surrounding battlefields and the following smaller burial grounds: AUCKLAND CEMETERY, MESSINES, on the North bank of the Douve between Messines and Wulverghem, contained the graves of twelve New Zealand soldiers (including nine of the 2nd Auckland Regiment) who fell on the 7th June 1917.CORNWALL CEMETERY, MESSINES, 150 metres West of Auckland Cemetery, contained the graves of 21 soldiers from the United Kingdom (including 20 of the 1st D.C.L.I.) who fell in December 1914 to January 1915.FRENCHMAN's FARM, WULVERGHEM, nearly 600 metres North of the village, contained several groups of graves; and in them were buried 29 soldiers from the United Kingdom and one French soldier who fell in 1914-15. NEUVE-EGLISE NORTH CEMETERY was on the Neuve Eglise-Lindenhoek road. It contained the graves of 20 soldiers from the United Kingdom who fell on the 2nd and 3rd September 1918, and of whom 16 belonged to the 1st Royal Irish Fusiliers. NEUVE-EGLISE RAILWAY HALTE (or RAILWAY SIDING) CEMETERY was at the light railway station on the South side of the village. It contained the graves of 14 soldiers from the United Kingdom (including seven of Queen Victoria's Rifles) who fell on the 5th January 1915. These formed Plots II-V. Within these later plots almost the whole period of the war is represented, in particular the defence of the Kemmel front in April 1918 and the final advance of September 1918.

Burials

There are now 1,010 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated in this cemetery. 352 of the burials are unidentified, but there are special memorials to two casualties believed to be buried among them and to seven others buried elsewhere whose graves were destroyed in the fighting of 1917-18.