With the British Army in Flanders & France

Ploegsteert Wood lies some eight miles south of the city of Ypres (Ieper) and therefore, technically, just south of the area known as the Salient.  There were no major battles fought here, although the Battle of Messines will loom large in our narrative throughout, and the wood itself remained in British hands for much of the war, but every day, week after week, month after month, year after year, men from both sides fought and died in the trenches and dressing stations within and surrounding the wood.

Our tour begins as we turn off the Ploegsteert-Messines (Mesen) road, where CWGC signposts point the way towards the British cemeteries on the northern edge of, and within, Ploegsteert Wood.  Prowse Point Military Cemetery, our first port of call, was originally in use between November 1914 and April 1918, although, at the time of writing,  the last burial, that of Australian Private Alan James Mather, took place as recently as July 2010.

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