A Tour of the Messines Ridge Part Twelve – Torreken Farm Cemetery No.1

IMG_9197

Torreken Farm Cemetery No.1 lies in the fields half a mile north west of Derry House, to the south east of the village of Wytschaete (Wijtschate).

IMG_9198

It doesn’t appear to be the easiest place to get to…

IMG_9200

…but by following this CWGC sign…

IMG_9222

…down this grass path past the farm building (note the CWGC marker in the foreground) and through the garden (yes, really)…

IMG_9201

…our route becomes clear.  What’s that white sign say?

IMG_9202

Great.  Just great.

IMG_9206

Actually I’d read about the bull at Torreken somewhere prior to our visit, but he didn’t appear to be in the vicinity today, and we reached the cemetery entrance without mishap.

IMG_9205

And no, there isn’t a Torreken Farm Cemetery No.2, nor can I find any solid evidence that there ever was one.  Anyone else do better?

IMG_9220

In June 1917 field ambulances of the Dorsetshire Regiment established an aid post in some German dugouts nearby.  These men of the Dorsets, the earliest burials here, were killed at the end of the Battle of Messines and are buried in Row A along the eastern boundary wall.

IMG_9207

Hmm.  Back to his old tricks I see.  Let’s try again.

IMG_9208

Ah, that’s better.  If you look at the cemetery plan (click the link below) you will notice that the cemetery entrance is no longer where it originally was.  I wonder why it was moved.  Anyway, the views above and below look across the cemetery from the northern corner.

Torreken Farm Cemetery No.1 Cemetery Plan

IMG_9209

IMG_9210

Note the five German headstones in the front row (Row G – also visible in the previous photo); there are 14 Germans buried beneath them, presumably captured men who succumbed to their wounds at the aid post here.

IMG_9211

The cemetery was used fairly regularly until March 1918, all the burials after mid-November 1917, such as those in the foreground in the pictures above & below, being Australian.

IMG_9213

The Australians also used this place as an aid post in late 1917 and early 1918, as well as siting a Battalion headquarters here.

IMG_9214

All but one of the 90 British and Australian burials here are identified.  The majority of graves in Rows A (far right) to Row C (far left) are from June & July 1917, although other burials have been added to these rows at a later date, most notably a number of men of The King’s (Liverpool Regiment) buried in Row B in September.

IMG_9215          IMG_9216

Views looking across the cemetery from the south corner.

IMG_9217

Looking north west past the Cross of Sacrifice from the eastern corner.  Wytschaete Church is clearly visible on the horizon, and you can see that the rise to the crest of the ridge here on the eastern side is considerably less pronounced than on the western side opposite the village, as we saw at the start of the tour.

IMG_9218

As ever, it’s time to move on.  Our next stop is in Wytschaete itself.

This entry was posted in Messines. Bookmark the permalink.

2 Responses to A Tour of the Messines Ridge Part Twelve – Torreken Farm Cemetery No.1

  1. Daran says:

    Hi I’m thinking of going over as my great uncle is buried there he was part of The 18th Batt Kings Own Liverpool Regiment he was in the pals,he was K.I.A in september 1917 along with another soldier out in the nite time he was only 19yrs old his name was George Fearon

    • Magicfingers says:

      Hi Daran. I urge you to go! You won’t regret it – you could follow part (or all!!) of this Messines Tour of mine. I shall be going over again myself in just a few weeks now. Can’t wait.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.