With the British Army in Flanders & France

You may remember, way back in Part Two of this tour, that I mentioned that we would find ourselves north east of Zillebeke Lake later in the year, and as you can see, we most certainly have! Sited next to the road just a handful of yards north of Zillebeke village, Perth Cemetery (China Wall) was begun by French troops in November 1914, and it was not until June 1917 that the first British burials were made here, The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) becoming the first non-French troops to use the cemetery.  Between June and October 1917 some 130 British burials were made in what is now Plot I, but as the tide of war moved east, slowly and bloodily, towards the Passchendaele ridge, the cemetery became redundant.  It was only after the war that the number of burials was hugely increased as men, some French but the majority British, were brought here from battlefield graves, and a considerable number of smaller cemeteries, for reinterment. Continue reading →