Elzenwalle Brasserie Cemetery

Elzenwalle Brasserie Cemetery. Authors image

Elzenwalle Chateau

There used to be a lot of alder trees, elzen in Flemish, in the area which were commonly found in wetland. The wood is a soft hardwood used for making furniture, cabinets, charcoal and clogs. This CWGC cemetery is named after a brewery, the Kemmel Brouwerij, which stood opposite and is in fact a collection of small regimental burial grounds, of which Plot III in particular was made by the 22nd Battalion Canadian Infantry (Quebec Regt). The eight plots are numbered neither in order of date nor in order of position, and the short rows vary from one grave to fourteen, but they record the names of the units which held the trenches on this front from February 1915 to June 1917, and of some of those which, from June to November 1917, held the forward line won in the Battle of Messines. Nearby is the interesting Elzenwalle Chateau. The original chateau was completely destroyed during the war. The Belgian Art Nouveau architect Ernest Blerot, who had married Yvonne Gheua d’Elzenwalle in 1910, began to rebuild the chateau in 1921 using fragments of the old building along with wood from the shattered trees from the estate. It is in an Art Nouveau style that incorporates an Art Deco look and feel. The reinforced concrete dome was originally designed to house a wind generator to provide power to the chateau. The chateau is privately owned and is not open to visitors but can be viewed from the Kemmel road.

Authors image

Alias

8354 Private Stephen Dyer (served as Edward Davis). 3rd Battalion Worcestershire Regiment, 7th Infantry Brigade, 3rd Division. Killed in action 8 April 1915, age 27. Grave I.B.3. Son of Mrs. Mary Dyer, 20 South Road, Didsbury, Manchester. The Battalion was in the line in the Vierstraat sector. The War Diary entry on 8 April is brief simply recording that there were ‘2 killed and 3 wounded’ Men used aliases when enlisting for various reasons, including being underage, trying to hide from families or legal problems, re-enlisting after a misconduct discharge, or to avoid ridicule due to a foreign-sounding or disliked name. Other reasons included hiding a failed marriage, bankruptcy, or criminal record.

Canadian Infantry

There are forty men from the 22nd Battalion Canadian Infantry (Quebec Regiment), 5th Infantry Brigade, 2nd Canadian Division buried here. All in Plot III. I have chosen three. The Battalion was known as the ‘Van Doos’, English translation of vingt-deux.

Alias - 61112 Company Sergeant Major Roman Peter Obminski (served as Romain Pierre Devries), Killed in action 9 July 1916, age 28. Grave III.B.14. He listed his father, Jean Devries, as living in Antwerp, Belgium. He was employed as a Commis, a Junior Chef, although on his Medical Card he is listed as employed as a clerk, when he enlisted in Montreal on 22 October 1914. He was a tall man at 6ft 1in. The Battalion landed in England on 29 May 1915 and then went to France landing at Boulogne on 15 September 1915. He was slightly wounded in action, gun shot wound to the back and shoulder, on 8 November 1915 and treated at No.4 Canadian Field Ambulance and was fit enough to return to duty on 12 November. In July 1916, the Battalion was in the line in the St Eloi sector and were engaged in routine trench warfare. The War Diary records that on the afternoon of the 9 July four patrols of 15 men each, had gone out and they recorded that there were no casualties that day. On the 10 July the War Diary records that Trench Mortars were active and that 1 officer was wounded and 4 Other Ranks killed and 5 wounded. In august 1916, the Battalion was now in the line at Vierstraat. 416446 Private Henri Cabana, Killed in action 6 August 1916, age 28. Grave III.B.2. He was employed as a glass cutter when he enlisted on 25 February 1915. He was a widower and had three children who were cared for by his brother. His left foot and ankle were broken when he was run over by a motor car on 8 November 1915, and he spent three months in hospital and in convalescing at Trensham Hill, Bearwood, Wokingham. 61403 Private Albert Vermette, Killed in action 6 August 1916, age . Grave III.B.3. The War Diary records that there were no casualties on 6 August and that it was a quiet day with a little shelling.

Scottish Regiments

Royal Scots - 2268 Private Frederick Ernest Bennett, ‘B’ Company, 9th Battalion, Royal Scots, 81st Infantry Brigade, 27th Division. Killed in action 23 March 1915, age 21. Grave I.C.4 Son of John and Elizabeth Bennett, 26 Montgomery Street, Edinburgh. He had five older brothers one of whom lived at 35 Oswald Street, Falkirk, he also had an older and younger sister. He enlisted on 7 September 1914 and arrived in France at Le Havre with the Battalion on 25 February 1915. On the 23 March ‘A’, B’ and ‘C’ Companies were working on a new trench near St Eloi. ‘B’ Company were engaged in putting up wire entanglements in front of the trench between 8pm and midnight. The War Diary records ‘No2268 Pte F E Bennet killed’ and two Other Ranks wounded. Gordon Highlanders - 2786 Private William McDonald, 1st/4th Battalion Gordon Highlanders, Killed in action 24 March 1915, age 23. Grave I.C.7. Son of John and Robina Aitken McDonald, 19 York Street, Aberdeen. The Battalion were in the trenches at Vierstraat with the War Diary recording that on 24 March that ‘A’ and ‘B’ Companies were in ‘N’ Trenches and ‘C’ and  ‘D’ Companies relieved in K2 trenches by the East Surrey Regiment and returned to the Huts at La Clytte. They recorded the Battalion casualties as one man killed. Blackwatch - 200913 L/Cpl Thomas Burke Money, 4th/5th Battalion Black Watch (Royal Highlanders), 118th Infantry Brigade, 39th Division. Killed in action, 23 September 1917. Grave II.B.6. Son of Annie Money, 85 South Road, Lochee, Dundee, she was a widow. The night of 22/23 September the Division and the Battalion was to have moved up into the line at Shrewsbury Forest to relieve the 41st Division however, this failed to happen due to a late relief by the 8th East Lancs with the Battalion moving back to Beggars Rest Camp on the 23 September. The War Diary does not mention any action or activity with the appendix dealing with the action at Tower Hamlets on 26/27 September.

Suffolk Regiment

There are four men from the 1st Battalion Suffolk Regiment, 84th Infantry Brigade, 28th  Division buried here. I have selected two who were killed in action on the same day. 3/9369 Private John William Rawlings. Killed in action 18 June 1915, age 37. Grave I.F.3. Son of Mrs. Susan Rawlings, of Wisbech. Husband of Rose Louisa Rawlings, 5 Beagles Yard, Canal Side, Wisbech. They had a daughter. The 1911 Census shows him working as a Farm Labourer. He landed in France with the Battalion on 10 October 1914. 17308 Private John Ribbans. Killed in action 18 June 1915, age 19. Grave I.F.2. Son of Anthony and Susannah Ribbans, The Street, Erwarton, Ipswich. The Battalion was in the line in the St Eloi sector with their HQ in dugouts 100 yards south east of La Brasserie. In the morning an unexploded rifle grenade fired into P.3it was picked up and it accidentally exploded killing Rawlings and Ribbans and wounding two others.

British West Indies Regiment

The British West Indies Regiment was a unit of the British Army formed of volunteers from British colonies in the West Indies. The 1st and 2nd Battalions served in Egypt and Palestine while the 3rd, 4th, 6th and 7th Battalions served in France and Flanders, with the 5th Battalion acting as reserve draft unit. The 8th and 9th Battalions also served in France and Flanders, before being transferred to Italy in 1918, while the 10th and 11th Battalions also served in France and Italy. The Regiment was fifteen thousand strong with two hundred and sixty two men lost their lives overseas during the conflict, 105 to enemy action and 157 dying of disease; a further 573 were wounded. Not far from Winnipeg and Montreal Camps was De Drie Groens Farm. It was here that a segregation camp was built to house the labour battalions of the British West Indies Regiment. In his diary Achiel van Walleghem records his meeting with them, and his language is both racist and patronising to today’s reader: 'At Drie Groens niggers arrived from Jamaica, in the West Indies, to work hereabouts. Dressed like all British soldiers, they are both civilised and softly spoken. Generally, they are not very popular because they have long fingers and civilians, in particular, would much rather see them leave than arrive... I came across a letter to one of these black people from his mother, what Christian and motherly feelings she expressed, not one of our mothers express herself better. Extremely frightened by the shelling these black people stare afraid when they hear a shell approaching and, when it hits the ground nearby, they dash off as of possessed.' Following the bombing of the British West Indian camp the wounded were taken to the CCS at Gwalia Farm and Colonel David Rorie in his 'A Medico's Luck in the Great War' recorded the scene, the language is both racist and offensive to today’s reader: '..the place was suddenly filled up with wounded niggers. Naturally emotional, and, equally, scared to death, besides - in many cases - being badly injured, the black men made the dressing-room an inferno of shrieks, groans and cries which were impossible to still... as one gazed around the dim-lit hall of suffering at the gleaming teeth and rolling white eye-balls of the recumbent blacks on the operating tables and stretchers, the scene and din, inside and outside, suggested an impromptu revival meeting in nether regions.' There are two men from the Regiment buried here.10080 Private Bruce Ballantyne, 8th Battalion British West Indies Regiment, Killed in action 29 October 1917, age 18. Grave II.B.8. Son of the late Manuel and Laura Ballantyne (nee Perry). 10894 Private F Blanchard, 8th Battalion British West Indies Regiment, Killed in action 29 October 1917, age. Grave II.B.7. On the 29 October the Battalion had provided working parties to Xth Corps Heavy Artillery and the War Diary records that two men were killed and three wounded.

Location

Elzenwalle Brasserie Cemetery is located 5 km south west of Ieper town centre, on the Kemmelseweg, a road connecting Ieper to Kemmel (N331). From Ieper town centre the Kemmelseweg is reached via the Rijselsestraat, through the Lille Gate (Rijselpoort), and straight on towards Armentieres (N365). 900 m after the crossroads is the right hand turning onto the Kemmelseweg. (Made prominent by a railway level crossing). The cemetery lies 4 Km along the Kemmelseweg on the right hand side of the road.

Elzenwalle Brasserie Cemetery. Authors image

The cemetery was designed by G H Goldsmith

Burials

UK – 106

Canadian – 41