Elverdinge was behind the Allied front line throughout the war, and Hospital Farm and Ferme-Olivier Cemeteries, both in the commune, were used in the earlier years for Commonwealth burials.
The cemetery, which was begun in April 1918, during the Battles of Lys, was named after a nearby stores dump. It was used by fighting units and field ambulances until the following October and was enlarged after the Armistice when more than 200 graves were brought into Plots III and IV from the battlefields of the Ypres Salient and the following cemetery:-
The graves of 26 American soldiers, who fell in July-September 1918, and two French soldiers were removed to other burials grounds.
The cemetery was designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield.
Cemetery Location
Hagle Dump Cemetery is 7.5 Kms west of Ieper town centre on the Sint Pietersstraat, a road leading from the N308 Poperingseweg, connecting Ieper to Poperinge. From Ieper town centre the Poperingseweg (N308) is reached via Elverdingsestraat then directly over two small roundabouts in the J. Capronstraat. The Poperingseweg is a continuation of the J. Capronstraat and begins after a prominent railway level crossing. 6 Kms along the Poperingseweg, after passing through the villages of Vlamertinge and Brandhoek, lies the right hand turning onto Galgestraat. 1 Km along the Galgestraat lies a staggered crossroads. The cemetery lies 300 metres after this crossroads on Sint Pietersstraat.
Cemeteries concentrated here
BRIELEN MILITARY CEMETERY, which was close to the South side of Brielen village, contained the graves of 31 French soldiers, 16 from the United Kingdom and four Canadian, and was used from April 1915 to September 1917.
Shot at Dawn
45980 Pte Walter Dossett, Age 22, Grave I.E.7 Son of William and Lily Dossett, of Sheffield. He arrived on the Western Front in 1916 and served with three different Machine Gun Companies, 143rd part of 48th Division, 118th part of 39 Division, and 63rd part of 21 Division before he was transferred to 1/4th (Hallamshire), York and Lancasters, 148th Brigade, 49th (West Riding) Division. He deserted during the German spring offensive in 1918. He was tried and executed near Vlamertinghe on 25 June 1918.
Interestingly, a soldier of the 49th Divisional Ammunition Column, Private Scullin, recorded in his diary the events recounted to him by a colleague. He wrote: ‘An ambulance drew up and Private Dossett was brought out under escort. The prisoner was taken to a nearby rifle range where he was bound to a chair. The blindfold was then applied and a piece of white paper pinned over Dossett’s heart. The firing squad had been selected from machine gunners in 21st Division.’ (In ‘Shot at Dawn’ Putkowski and Sykes P247)
Epitaph - UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN
202893 Pte George Ainley, Age 20, Grave II.D.5 Son of George and Alice Mary Ainley, of 82, Randall Street., Sheffield, Yorks. 1/4th King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, 147th Brigade, 49th (West Riding) Division. He had been court martialled on a charge of self-inflicted wound on 28 January 1918. In between this trial and his next in July 1918 he had deserted no less than three times. At his trial in July his commanding officer submitted a report to the court to the effect that Ainley was lacking a sense of responsibility and that his military character was not good. He was executed near Hagle Dump on 30 July 1918.
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