A Tour of Ploegsteert Wood – Part Ten

Lancashire Cottage Cemetery is situated about three quarters of a mile east of Ploegsteert Village along what was once the main route to the front lines, only a short distance down the road in front of the hamlet of Le Gheer (now simply Gheer).  Begun by the East Lancashire Regiment and the Hampshire Regiment in November 1914, the cemetery was used regularly until early 1916, and occasionally afterwards.

View from the western end of the Cemetery looking east.  The headstones nearest the camera comprise Plot III, while Plot II begins just past the shadow of the tree, with Plot I in the distance. The cemetery entrance is to the left of the tree, the road is just beyond the cemetery wall, and in the left background Ploegsteert Wood can just be seen to the north of the road.  The front line ran from north to south down the eastern edge of the wood (from left to right in the photo) just half a mile away from here.  Here’s the CWGC cemetery plan:

Lancashire Cottage Cemetery Plan

Two special memorial headstones, both “Known to be buried in this cemetery”.  Left to right:

PRIVATE T. J. DAVIES	SOUTH LANCASHIRE REGIMENT	u/k	08/11/1915	Spec. Mem
PRIVATE A. CHAPMAN	CHESHIRE REGIMENT	u/k	08/11/1915	Spec. Mem

Four Durham burials from the last few months of the war, tucked away in the south east corner of the cemetery.  Left to right:

PRIVATE H. IREDALE	DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY	19	01/10/1918	III E 1
PRIVATE G. W. GROUNSELL	DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY	19	29/09/1918	III E 2
PRIVATE J. SHEARD	DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY	18	30/09/1918	III E 3
LANCE CORPORALT. H. CORNER	DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY	25	30/09/1918	III E 4

View looking east from Plot II towards the Cross.  Note the German headstones beneath the southern wall of the cemetery.  The headstone nearest the camera is that of Private B. Broomfield (see next photograph).

  

The lone headstone of Private Broomfield.

Baldrick, here looking particularly stylish, peruses the German headstones.

Three East Lancashire Regiment burials from 1914, left to right:

LANCE CORPORAL S. LINNEY	EAST LANCASHIRE REGIMENT	26	10/11/1914	I A 1
PRIVATE E. BICKERSTAFFE	EAST LANCASHIRE REGIMENT	u/k	11/11/1914	I A 1
PRIVATE R. THOMPSON	EAST LANCASHIRE REGIMENT	36	09/11/1914	I A 1

Three East Lancashire Regiment burials from 1915, left to right:

PRIVATE E. HIGHAM	EAST LANCASHIRE REGIMENT	32	29/01/1915	I E 12
LANCE CORPORAL J. SELF	EAST LANCASHIRE REGIMENT	18	29/01/1915	I E 12
PRIVATE J. T. DEWSNIP	EAST LANCASHIRE REGIMENT	u/k	28/01/1915	I E 12

Lancashire Cottage Cemetery is unusual in that, apart from a few examples in the previous and next two photos, many of the headstones are spaced some distance from each other, as this view across Plot I looking south west shows.

There are some unusual headstones in this cemetery too.  Here the headstones to the left and right are each inscribed with two names, whilst the middle one is blank except for the cross, presumably because of the lack of room for a cross on those on either side.  The names on the headstone to the left are:

SERJEANT J. P. CORBETT	EAST LANCASHIRE REGIMENT	24	02/11/1914	I A 2
LANCE CORPORAL P. DEAKIN	EAST LANCASHIRE REGIMENT	u/k	02/11/1914	I A 2

The names on the right are:

PRIVATE G. SCHOLES	EAST LANCASHIRE REGIMENT	u/k	03/11/1914	I A 2
PRIVATE H. CLARKE	EAST LANCASHIRE REGIMENT	u/k	02/11/1914	I A 2

On this occasion the two end headstones are inscribed with three names each, and again the middle one has just a cross.  The names on the headstone to the left are:

PRIVATE G. RAYNER	EAST LANCASHIRE REGIMENT	33	12/11/1914	I A 5
PRIVATE W. LYNES	EAST LANCASHIRE REGIMENT	u/k	14/11/1914	I A 5
PRIVATE R. GREEN	EAST LANCASHIRE REGIMENT	35	13/11/1914	I A 5

The names on the right are:

PRIVATE W. VAREY	EAST LANCASHIRE REGIMENT	u/k	09/11/1914	I A 5
PRIVATE G. WILSON	EAST LANCASHIRE REGIMENT	u/k	12/11/1914	I A 5
PRIVATE M. JOYCE	EAST LANCASHIRE REGIMENT	25	11/11/1914	I A 5

A decorated Corporal of the Devonshires.

CORPORAL H. R. COLLINS DCM, MM

DEVONSHIRE REGIMENT

25

04/09/1917

II E 12

And that, as they say, is that.  Or at least it was.  Originally, our tour of Ploegsteert Wood ended at this point, but soon we shall continue our journey along the southern boundary of the wood to the hamlet of Gheer (visible on the horizon in the picture below).  From there we shall head north, following the front line up the eastern edge of the wood, before finally turning west and ending our tour back at Prowse Point Military Cemetery, where it all began.

Watch this space folks.  There’s more to come…

A Tour of Ploegsteert Wood Part Eleven