A Tour of Zillebeke Part Three – Blauwepoort Farm Cemetery

Just a couple of minutes drive east from Railway Dugouts, a CWGC signpost points us away from the road down a short track towards Blauwepoort Farm Cemetery.

Told you.  Kangaroos.  Well, wallabies actually, but they don’t know that.

Situated on the site of where Blauwe Poort Farm itself once stood (the farm still exists just a few yards to the west, as you can see in the first photograph above), the cemetery was started by the French in November 1914 and then used by the British between February 1915, when the Cheshire Regiment first occupied the trenches here, and February 1916.  Nigel Cave tells us in his excellent book* that all the burials here are of men killed in the fierce fighting for Hill 60.  The French graves were removed after the Armistice.

*Battleground Ypres series – Hill 60.

Blauwepoort Farm Cemetery entrance.  The Cemetery Plan, courtesy of the CWGC, can be found here:

Blauwepoort Farm Cemetery Plan

Seventeen men from the North Staffordshire Regiment lie here at Blauwepoort Farm, more than from any other regiment.  The six pictured were all killed on the same day in the autumn of 1915.  Left to right:

CORPORAL G. E. COLLINSNORTH STAFFORDSHIRE REGIMENT4030/09/1915D 2
PRIVATE R. SMITHNORTH STAFFORDSHIRE REGIMENTu/k30/09/1915D 2
PRIVATE W. SMALLEYNORTH STAFFORDSHIRE REGIMENTu/k30/09/1915D 2
PRIVATE S. ROWLEYNORTH STAFFORDSHIRE REGIMENTu/k30/09/1915D 3
PRIVATE L. H. BOND NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE REGIMENTu/k30/09/1915D 3
PRIVATE H. DAVIES NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE REGIMENT2630/09/1915D 3

More North Staffs men (and one from the South Staffordshire Regiment) in the foreground, with two later Durham Light Infantry graves behind.  Front row, left to right:

PRIVATE G. KNIGHT NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE REGIMENT1804/08/1915D 16
PRIVATE G. J. ROWLEYNORTH STAFFORDSHIRE REGIMENT2203/08/1915D 17
PRIVATE J. FIELDSOUTH STAFFORDSHIRE REGIMENTu/k02/08/1915D 18
A SOLDIER OF THE GREAT WAR
PRIVATE F. ALCOCK NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE REGIMENT1926/07/1915D 20

Second row, left to right:

SERJEANT J. HERON DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRYu/k15/02/1916E 2
PRIVATE W. CLISHDURHAM LIGHT INFANTRYu/k15/02/1916E 3

We are now looking over the cemetery wall at the rising ground away to the south west.  The ditch you can just see in the bottom left hand corner is what remains of the small moat that once partially encompassed three sides of the original farm.

Looking north west down the length of the cemetery.  The houses on the horizon line the road we have travelled from Railway Dugouts.

Another North Staffs grave (the North Staffs headstones we have seen previously are in the right background):

PRIVATE H. NASH NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE REGIMENT1924/07/1915B 18

In the second row, four men of the Norfolk Regiment, from right:

PRIVATE A. BULLARDNORFOLK REGIMENTu/k22/06/1915C 33
PRIVATE F. G. CLARKNORFOLK REGIMENTu/k07/06/1915C 32
LANCE CORPORAL C. FORDNORFOLK REGIMENT3720/05/1915C 31
PRIVATE E. R. HICKS NORFOLK REGIMENTu/k20/05/1915C 30

The Norfolk men in the previous picture are in the third row, the North Staffs and Durham Light Infantry men are in the background, and Private Nash’s grave is the single headstone to the right.  Front row, left to right:

PRIVATE W. E. HIPWELLTHE KING’S LIVERPOOL REGIMENT3217/04/1915A 17
PRIVATE J. FLAWNMIDDLESEX REGIMENTu/k07/05/1915A 18
PRIVATE A. W. SHAWKING’S OWN YORKSHIRE LIGHT INFANTRYu/k17/04/1915A 19
SERJEANT R. J. CHAPMANDEVONSHIRE REGIMENT 2305/07/1915A 20
PRIVATE W. F. MOOREMIDDLESEX REGIMENT 1919/05/1915A 21

Second row, left to right:

PRIVATE A. F. HAYESMIDDLESEX REGIMENT 2810/05/1915B 15
PRIVATE O. B. CHEASEMANMIDDLESEX REGIMENT 1913/05/1915B 16
SERJEANT J. ALLEYNMIDDLESEX REGIMENT u/k14/05/1915B 17

View looking east towards the cemetery entrance behind the Cross of Sacrifice.

More Norfolk men, left to right:

A SOLDIER OF THE GREAT WAR
PRIVATE F. W. COOKNORFOLK REGIMENT2311/07/1915B 4
PRIVATE F. G. ROBERTSNORFOLK REGIMENT3705/05/1915B 5
PRIVATE T. H. LAYTONNORFOLK REGIMENT2105/05/1915B 6

The French graves were originally located here in the northern corner of the cemetery, next to the lone grave of Corporal Todd (foreground – see next photo and the accompanying Cemetery Plan).

LANCE CORPORAL J. TODD KING’S OWN SCOTTISH BORDERERS2109/04/1915A 1

Time to move on.  We must continue our journey further east, where three battlefield cemeteries bear silent witness to the heavy fighting that occurred there, particularly during the spring and summer of 1915. And there’s a Demarcation Stone that we shall stop briefly at on the way.

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3 Responses to A Tour of Zillebeke Part Three – Blauwepoort Farm Cemetery

  1. Peter Blomfield says:

    Thanks for publishing the pictures. Private F. W. Cook, grave B4, was a brother-in-law of my father and is also remembered on his parents gravestone in Ipswich Cemetery.

    • brian lake says:

      hi Im trying to find where my great grandfather died, he died on the 11 july 1915
      but there is no known grave he was in the norfolk 1st batt regiment he was a serjeant
      richard campling. is it possible that these two men where killed at the same time ?
      do you have any information on how your relative died? I’ve tried to do some digging
      and i found that richard and few others where blown up because of a mine but i dont know where exactly or whether my info is correct….I might be waffling….lol but any info you might have on your relative might shed a few facts on richard campling
      thankyou fro your time
      brian

  2. Magicfingers says:

    You’re welcome. Glad you found the site Peter, and for adding your comment about Private Cook.

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