Bethleem Farm West Cemetery
- Admin
- Jul 6
- 6 min read
Bethleem Farm West Cemetery was made by units of the 3rd Australian Division (it was known to them as the '3rd Division General Cemetery'), who captured Bethleem Farm, which can be found to the north-east, on 7 June 1917 during the Battle of Messines. It continued to be used by the 14th (Light) Division until the end of 1917.
British burials
Four men from the 2nd Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers, 90th Infantry Brigade, 30th Division. The Battalion was in the vicinity of Bristol Castle, near Wulverghem. The War Diary recording that:
On 1 September two parties were caught in shell fire at 17th Battalion Manchester Regiment HQ at La Potterie Farm and this resulted in considerable casualties with two officers wounded, 21 Other Ranks wounded and four Other Ranks killed. The dead are: 40340 Private Samuel Shawcross, age 31. Grave D.23. Son of Edwin and Eliza Shawcross, of Stockport. He was married to Elizabeth and they had a son Jack. Elizabeth remarried. He was employed as a Yarn Doubler in a cotton mill in Stockport when he enlisted in the Territorials in Manchester on 28 January 1915. He was under training before embarking for the Base Camp at Etaples, France on 31 August 1916 and was posted to the Battalion on 13 September 1916. 20702 L/Cpl William McLean, age U/K Grave D.24 43402 Private John William Renwick, age 35 Grave D.25. He lived with his father Thomas at 87 Low Waters, Hamilton. He was employed as a House Painter 26939 Private Thomas Donnelly, age U/K Grave D.26. Thomas was born in Glasgow and enlisted there.
There are six men from the Machine Gun Corps buried here. Three of the burials are from the 42nd Machine Gun Company, one was attached to the 42nd Machine Gun Company from the Cavalry Machine Gun Corps, two from the 207th Machine Gun Company, and one from the 100th Machine Gun Company. The 42nd Machine Gun Company men were all Killed in action on 3 September 1917. On the night of 2/3 September the Company relieved the guns of the 90th Machine Gun Company in the trenches east of Messines at Les Quatre Rois Cabaret map ref O35b to U1b. The War Diary recording that one gun was destroyed by a bomb at about 1am and 4 Other Ranks killed. The dead are: 70540 Private Robert William Blood, age 30. Grave D.27. Son of Robert and Emily Blood, 24 Woodlands Road, Broseley, Salop. The 1911 Census shows Robert living in boarding accommodation and employed as a Bricklayers Labourer. He was still employed as a Labourer when he enlisted on 22 December 1914 in the Shropshire Light Infantry and transferred to the Machine Gun Corps on 29 November 1916 and was posted to the 42nd Company. 34286 Private James Henry Cotton, age 22. Grave D.28. The oldest of two sons of George and Eliza Jane Cotton, 12 Oxford Street, Saltburn-by-the-Sea, Yorkshire. He enlisted in the Northumberland Fusiliers and then transferred to the Machine Gun Corps. 19851 L/Cpl George William Bate, age 21. Grave D.29. Son of Thomas and A. Bate, 8 Brades Lane, Prees, Whitchurch, Salop. His brother 11119 Private John Thomas Bate, King’s Shropshire Light Infantry was killed in action on 9 August 1915, age 21. 39960 Private George Farbrother, age 23. Grave D.30. 3/1st County of London Yeomanry attached to the 42nd Machine Gun Company. The youngest son of the late Walter Hill Farbrother and of Clara C. Farbrother, 38 Temple Sheen Road, East Sheen, London. He enlisted in the 3/1st County of London Yeomanry a cavalry regiment on 20 May 1915. He joined the 3rd Machine Gun Squadron in the field from the Base Depot in Rouen on 3 May 1917. He was then attached to the 42nd Company.
ANZAC burials
There are 113 Australian and 27 New Zealand burials here. There is only one Australian officer burial and two New Zealand officers.
2nd Lieutenant Randall Gordon Virgoe, 10th Battalion, 3rd Brigade A.I.F. Killed in action 21 December 1917, age 20. Grave F.15. Son of William Randall Virgoe and Henrietta Florence Virgoe, of Brigalow Avenue, Kensington Gardens, Adelaide, South Australia. The Battalion War Diary records that they were in the line east of Messines. Much of the time was spent improving the trench line and the defensive positions under the guidance of the Royal Engineers. The War Diary entry for the period 21 to 24 December records that it was snowing, and there were continuous mists which facilitated working parties. The recorded the casualties for the period were 5 Officers and 27 Other Ranks.
The New Zealand dead are all from the fighting in August 1917 and are from the 3rd and 4th New Zealand Rifle Brigade. 2nd Lieutenant William Ernest Stevens, ‘A’ Company, 4th Battalion, 3rd New Zealand Rifle Brigade. Killed in action 15 August 1917, age 24. Grave B.21. The only son of T H Stevens, ‘Clifton’, Woodward Road, Auckland. He also had a daughter. He enlisted in the 5th (Wellington) Regiment and was subsequently discharged on 9 August 1914 as being medically unfit. He then enlisted in the Samoan Force and served with them from 15 August 1914 to 22 March 1915 and stated in his attestation form that he requested to be discharged. However, his records show that he was classed as unfit for further service in Samoa. He was working as clerk in the Civil Service when enlisted again in the New Zealand forces on 12 October 1915. William was commissioned after completing his Officer training on 2 June 1917, previously serving as a Sergeant in the Battalion, and rejoined the Battalion in the field on 21 July 1917. On the 15 August the Battalion was in the line with their HQ at Septieme Barn. The War Diary does not record any casualties and simply states that the day was quiet and the weather conditions were bad. However, the Battalion had been subjected to enemy attacks on the 14 August and had been bombarded throughout.
Lieutenant Edward Andamas Maude, ‘B’ Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd New Zealand Rifle Brigade. Killed in action 18 August 1917, age 35. Grave D.3. He was a farmer and unmarried and he had previously been on the reserve since 1 May 1913 serving with the Territorial unit the 10th (Nelson) Mounted Rifles when he resigned his commission on 1 December 1914. He enlisted on 25 July 1916 and joined the 1st Mounted Rifles (Canterbury Yeomanry) as a Lieutenant and embarked for England on 12 February 1917 arriving in Plymouth on 2 May. He joined the Battalion in the field on 11 June 1917. 20115
Rifleman Alfred Stephen Henry Death, ‘B’ Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd New Zealand Rifle Brigade. Killed in action 19 August 1917, age 22. Grave D.6. Son of Oliver and Selina Death, of Pahautanui, New Zealand. He was employed as a farmer when he enlisted on 1 May 1916. He had already been in hospital with a shrapnel wound to the right knee from 8 June to 11 July 1917 and rejoined the Battalion on 21 July in the field. On the 16 August the 3rd Battalion relieved the 4th Battalion in the line in the La Douve sector. ‘B’ Company were in the trenches located on the left and Battalion HQ was located at the junction of the Messines to Tilleul Road and Rive Douve on the northern bank and on the side of the road. On the 17 August ‘B’ Company was engaged in working on the front line posts around Farm de la Croix. The War Diary recording that: ‘Lieut E A Maude, killed in action in No.VII Post by MG.’ On the 19 August the War Diary records that the enemy machine guns and artillery were active. There is no mention of casualties however, Alfred was killed on this day.
Location
Bethleem Farm West cemetery is located 10 km south of Ieper town centre and 1 km southeast of Mesen, on a road called the Rijselstraat, which leads from Mesen market square. (Mesen itself is located 10 km from Ieper via the N365 connecting Ieper to Armentieres). The cemetery lies 1 km beyond Mesen market place along the Rijselstraat, on the right-hand side of the road, towards a farmstead (known as Nazareth or Schnitzel Farm). Visitors to this site should note a short, grassed access path which is unsuitable for vehicles.
The cemetery was designed by G H Goldsmith.
Burials
There are now 165 servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated in the cemetery including one New Zealand casualty commemorated by Special Memorial whose grave in the cemetery was destroyed by shell fire. The cemetery also contains one unidentified burial of the Second World War.
UK – 24
Australian – 113
New Zealand – 26
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