Bridge House Cemetery
- Admin
- Oct 26
- 5 min read
Bridge House Cemetery is one of the smallest CWGC cemeteries in the Ypres Salient. The nearby farm was part of the German Second Line at the start of the Third Battle of Ypres and was taken on the first day of the battle, 31 July 1917 by the 55th (West Lancashire) Division. The farm was regularly used as a dressing station by various units however, it was the 59th (North Midland) Division Field Ambulance who established a cemetery here at the end of September 1917. The Division had been transferred to the II ANZAC Corps in preparation for the Battle of Polygon Wood. All the graves but five are those of soldiers of that division, eight are from the Field Ambulance, date from 26-28 September and the Battle of Polygon Wood when the farm was used as a dressing station, All except one, Private W Baker, 14th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles, Grave C.1, who was killed in action during the Battle of Langemarck when the battalion suffered heavy casualties in front of Pond Farm located further along the road and buried here on 16 August 1917. There are burials from the 59th Division medical and engineers buried here. What is remarkable about this small cemetery is that it survived the shelling and bombardment of the area by the Germans in the subsequent actions.
Captain Noel Chavasse, V.C. & Bar, M.C.
Further down the road towards Wieltje on the north side of the Wieltje to Passchendaele road was Setques Farm, now demolished, and it was here that Captain Noel Chavasse, medical officer with the 1/10th Battalion (Liverpool Scottish) King’s (Liverpool Regiment), 166th Brigade, 55th (West Lancashire) Division, already the holder of the Military Cross and a Victoria Cross, established a regimental aid post in a German dug-out. Being a German dug-out the door was at the back facing the now German front line. Chavasse, already suffering from a head wound received on 31 July which probably fractured his skull and from which he refused to go down the line to a CCS, was sitting in the dug-out resting at the small table on 2 August when a shell entered and killed or wounded everyone within. He was evacuated to No.32 Casualty Clearing Station at Brandhoek with an abdominal wound where he died of his wounds. He was awarded his second Victoria Cross posthumously. He is buried in Brandhoek New Military Cemetery.
Tank Corps
95049 Serjeant Frederick Chymist MSM, ‘E’ Battalion, 5th Tank Corps. Killed in action 26 September 1917. Grave B.18. He was married to Annie Jane and they lived in Stafford. They had no children. ‘E’ Battalion, was formed in 1917 and was one of the original units of the Tank Corps. On the 26 September 10 tanks of No.14 Company, ‘E’ Battalion supported the attack of the British 3rd Division astride the Ypres to Roulers Railway with the aim of capturing Zonnebeke in what was called the Battle of Polygon Wood. The 3rd Division attack was to primarily protect the left flank of the 4th Australian Division. The 3rd Division achieved its objectives of taking Zonnebeke. The objective of the tanks was Otto Farm however, Fredrick’s tank received a direct hit during the German barrage and he and two other members of the crew were killed.
North Midland Field Ambulance
There are eight men from the 2nd/2nd and 2nd/3rd (North Midland) Field Ambulance buried here. They were killed by a bomb dropped by enemy aircraft at number 44 dugout. All were members of the Field Ambulance stretcher bearer party. They are burials from 25/26 September 1917. At the frontline, due to the conditions, it usually took four men to carry one man on a stretcher and it could take up to seven or eight men to carry one casualty. As a result, this severely limited the number of wounded that could be brought in before loss of blood, shock and the extreme weather conditions led to death. Learn more about the Evacuation Chain and Treatment of the Wounded
421329 Private Arthur Page. 2nd/3rd attached 2nd/2nd (North Midland) Field Ambulance, age 33, Grave B.3. He was married to Olive and they had a twelve year old son, who was listed as an ‘illegitimate step child’ in the pension records, and they lived at 58 Dales Street, Wolverhampton. Arthur enlisted in the Territorials in May 1914, and was employed as a Labourer. 421191 Private John Bernard Norris, 2nd/3rd (North Midland) Field Ambulance, age 25. Grave A.21. He was living at 180 Waterloo Road, Wolverhampton, and was employed as a Warehouseman when he enlisted in the Territorials on 5 October 1914. His parents were deceased and he had a brother, William. 417319 Private James Neal, 2nd/2nd (North Midland) Field Ambulance, age 34. Grave B.1. Son of Thomas and Anna Neal, of Derby; husband of Elizabeth Neal, 1 Leonard Street, Derby. He was employed as a Carriage Cleaner when he enlisted in the Territorials on 15 October 1914. 417414 Private Charles Oakley, 2nd/2nd (North Midland) Field Ambulance. Grave B.2. Son of John and Rachel Oakley, House 3, Court 2, St Michaels Lane, Derby. 419372 Private Charles Albert Smart, 2nd/2nd (North Midland) Field Ambulance, attached 2nd/5th Battalion North Staffordshire Regiment, age 19. Grave A.20. Son of Magnus and Emma Smart, 42 Matlock Street, Leicester. He enlisted in the Territorials on 20 March 1915.
419062 Private Ashby Alexander White, 2nd/2nd (North Midland) Field Ambulance, age 20. Grave B.4. Son of Ashby and Emma Elizabeth White, 26 Elm Street, Leicester. He was employed as a Weaver when he enlisted, aged 15 years 7 months, in the Territorials on 7 May 1912. 417225 L/Cpl George Spendlove, 2nd/2nd (North Midland) Field Ambulance. Grave B.5. He was married to Elizabeth and they lived at 13 Whitecross Street, Derby with their two children. Elizabeth remarried in May 1918. 419325 Private Everard Clarence Harvey, 2nd/2nd (North Midland) Field Ambulance, age 23. Grave A.19. He was employed as a Pattern Maker when he enlisted in the Territorials on 21 February 1915. He was married to Nellie and they lived at 110 King Street, Loughborough. They had no children.
Location
Bridge House Cemetery is located 5 kilometres north east of Ieper town centre on the Roeselarestraat, a road leading from the Brugseweg (N313), connecting Ieper to Brugge. Two streets connect Ieper town centre onto the Brugseweg; Torhoutstraat leads from the market square onto the Kalfvaartstraat. At the end of Kalfvaartstraat is a large junction on which Brugseweg is the first right hand turning. 5 kilometres along the Brugseweg, just before the village of St-Juliaan, lies the right hand turning onto the Peperstraat. 1 kilometre along the Peperstraat lies the right hand turning onto Roeselarestraat. The cemetery is located immediately after this junction on the left hand side of Roeselarestraat.
The cemetery was designed by A J S Hutton.
Burials
The cemetery contains 45 First World War burials, four of them unidentified.
UK – 45
4 of which are unidentified
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