With the British Army in Flanders & France

Half a mile east of London Rifle Brigade Cemetery our second stop, Gunners Farm Cemetery, is somewhat smaller; 172 men were buried here in the year between July 1915 and July 1916 (there are three later burials and four Germans, two of whom are unidentified).

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Page from the 12th Bn. War Diary detailing the events of late June 1916.

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On this tour we shall visit six CWGC cemeteries that lie between Ploegsteert village and the town of Armentières, just across the French border a couple of miles to the south.  Six small cemeteries, somewhat off the beaten track and seldom visited, the final resting places of 1291 soldiers from Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.  No major battles were fought here, and until the Gemans overran the area in April 1918, the trenches on both sides remained more-or-less static throughout the War.  The men buried here were killed during the day-to-day fighting that took place all along the front line, many the result of shellfire, some from snipers’ bullets, and some as a result of the ubiquitous trench raids which both sides carried out on a regular basis.  You will find a map showing the locations of all the cemeteries on this tour, as well as those visited in the ‘Tour of Ploegsteert Wood’, if you click the Tour Maps link near the top of the page.

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