Hedge Row Trench Cemetery
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Hedge Row Trench Cemetery, CWGC, Ypres was begun in March 1915 and used until August 1917, sometimes under the name of Ravine Wood Cemetery. Hedge Row communication trench was located in The Bluff and was constantly targeted by German artillery, and the cemetery suffered very severely from shell fire, and after the Armistice the positions of the individual graves could not be found or reconstructed. The headstones are therefore arranged symmetrically round the Cross of Sacrifice. Every headstone is in fact a Special Memorial with ‘Known To Be Buried Here’ on each headstone.
The Bluff was created from the spoil thrown up from a large cutting when the Ypres to Comines Canal was being constructed. The trench lines ran between Verbrandenmolen on the left and The Bluff and the early trenches were constructed by the French in 1914. The British then took over the line and the trenches were numbered, as opposed to being named trenches, and the fighting here went on for four years. Writing in her ‘Battle Book of Ypres’,
Beatrix Brice quotes Lieutenant-Colonel H, d’Arch Smith, 2nd Suffolks who describes the work in reclaiming land from the overflowing water, and consolidating their trenches: ‘We floundered in the mud, we endeavoured to stop or rather to divert the endless flow of water which the Boche, being as always in higher ground than ourselves, cleverly poured into our trenches to join streams that flowed in from our back area. In fact we became amphibious. With keenness, ingenuity, and cunning we dug where we could, erected parapets where we could not, and filled hundreds of sandbags, with a sort of porridges of mud as a foundation before anything could be built up… The arrival of timber and of ready-made duck-boards helped matters, and support and communication trenches began to look as though they might resist a puff of wind, though the front-line ones had not much more strength than what a barrier of barbed wire lent them.’
Mine Warfare at the Bluff
The Ypres-Comines canal was excavated here before the War and the spoil from the workings was thrown up on either side and this was known as the Bluff and further along the canal, Spoilbank. Trench lines were established here from 1914 first by French troops and then by the British. Mine warfare was a prominent feature with many craters are still visible today. An extraordinary incident occurred on 30 December 1915 which was recorded in his diary by Billy Congreve, Brigade-Major,
76th Brigade, 3rd Division: ‘Some excitement today. About 7am this morning, all the water in the big Bluff crater suddenly disappeared with a rush and left exposed in the south-west corner of it the entrance to a Boche gallery. Brisco (2nd Lieutenant R B Brisco, Royal Engineers) at once went up and started off down the gallery by himself, leaving a man armed with a rifle at the entrance. After going about sixty feet, he heard somebody coming towards him, so he slowly retired. When he had got close back to the entrance again he waited and, as soon as the Boche showed his head round the corner, fired with his revolver. He missed. The man who was with him, in his excitement, let off his rifle. It flew up and hit Brisco a whack on the nose that nearly knocked him out, so the Boche got away. I went up in the afternoon to see how things were and found the crater almost dry. Many tons of water must have run down the Boche gallery…… I found three grenadiers of the RWF sitting on top of the block! These I hurriedly withdrew to a safe distance. About half an hour later the Boche blew up his gallery from the inside without doing us any damage, so now all is quiet…’ Read more about the Mine Craters of Messines Ridge.
Retaking The Bluff – March 1916
Before the attack on Verdun the Germans initiated a series of diversionary attacks along the allied line. One of these attacks was against the British line at the Bluff in the Ypres Salient. They exploded a mine in front of the Bluff on 22 January and shelling half a mile of front line trenches, including the Bluff itself, on the 14th February. The front line was defended by the 17th Division’s 51st Brigade which had relieved the 76th Brigade on 7th February. The Bluff was held by a single platoon of the 10/Lancashire Fusiliers when the Germans attacked. Their positions were blasted by artillery and the men sought cover in the Bluff’s tunnels. This was a fatal mistake as the Germans exploded a small mine beneath and buried the occupants. The captured trenches were consolidated and repeated attacks to retake them failed. It was concluded by the commander of V Corps that to retake The Bluff and the lost trenches would require a more detailed plan and the attack to be undertaken by troops who knew the ground. For this reason 76th Brigade were recalled from reserve and placed under the command of 17th Division for the attack on 2 March. Brigadier General H.C.C. Uniacke, GOC Royal Artillery, V Corps, was brought in to arrange artillery co-operation. All four of 76th Brigades Battalions would be taking part in addition to 7/Lincolns and 10/Sherwood Foresters from the 51st Brigade. The plan was for the 2/Suffolks, supported by the 10/Royal Welch Fusiliers to storm The Bluff as well as the canal bank where the German mine workings were suspected. Companies of the 1/Gordon Highlanders were to attack on the left and the 8/King’s Own to attack the centre. The difficult area was The Bluff because of its height and the ability for surveillance. It was considered impossible for the 2/Suffolks to cross No Man’s land without supporting artillery cover. To do this would forewarn the Germans. It was estimated that two minutes was all the time the Suffolks needed to cover the ground. It was Uniacke who came up with the answer. He would arrange for a battery to fire a salvo at The Bluff, followed by another salvo two minutes later and this pattern would be fired at irregular intervals day and night leading up to the day of the attack. Only at zero hour would one salvo be fired and while the Germans were taking cover expecting the second salvo the Suffolks would cross and storm the German positions. At 4.30am after the guns fired for two minutes being the usual salvo the Germans had been expecting at 4.32am as the fire ceased the assault went in. the Germans were taken by surprise and except for the loss of one of the tunnelling parties and three platoons of ‘A’ Company, Gordon Highlanders who were practically annihilated by machine-gun fire, all objectives were achieved. Two men from Falkirk District died in the action by the Gordon Highlanders Private John Anderson of Larbert and Private Charles Mason of Plean, Falkirk.
Royal Scots - There are eleven men of the 11th Battalion Royal Scots, 27th Infantry Brigade, 9th (Scottish) Division, buried here. All the deaths are from October 1915. Of these, I have selected three of the four, the fourth is buried elsewhere, killed on 11 October 1915. The Battalion was in the line occupying trenches 31 to 32S at The Bluff during the afternoon the British heavy artillery opened a barrage against the location of a German mine shaft in front of Trench 32. The Battalion moved men back to 32R however, the shells landed short and killed four men and wounded two. 15055 Private James Bennett, age 19. Grave A.3. Son of Mrs. Elizabeth Bennett, 13 Crail Street, Parkhead, Glasgow. 15115 L/Cpl Robert Brown, Grave A.2. Son of Margaret Brown, 651 Main Street, Tollcross Road, Glasgow. He went to France on 11 May 1915 and joined the Battalion in the field. 12542 Private John Phinn, age 20. Grave A1. Son of Patrick and Roseann Phinn, 22 John Street, Tollcross, Glasgow.
1/7th Battalion Sherwood Foresters (Notts and Derby Regiment), 139th Infantry Brigade, 46th Division. Five men from the Battalion were killed in action on 30 September, not 1 October, when the Battalion was in the line at Trenches 29 to 31 on The Bluff. The enemy exploded mines under trench 33 and 29 and bombarded trench 31R and the wood behind. At the same time the shelling the front line trenches with trench mortars. The bombardment lasted from 6.25pm until 8.30pm. The War Diary records that Lieutenant Cordeux was killed by the bombardment in 31R along with the four Other Ranks. They were buried in what is today Hedge Row Trench Cemetery. Lieutenant Edward Henry Noble Cordeux, age 19. Grave G.8. Son of Robert Henry and Ethel Cordeux, Bunney Park, Nottingham. He was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant on 28 September 1914 and promoted to Lieutenant and posted to the 7th Battalion on 30 August 1915.715 Sergeant Reginald Horace Grundy, age 23. Grave G.9. ‘A’ Company. Son of Tom and Kate Grundy, 39 Beauvale Road, Nottingham. He had two brothers and four sisters. He was age 17 when he enlisted in the Territorial Battalion on 16 February 1909 and is listed in the 1911 census as being employed as a Clerk. 3270 Private H C Hardy, age Grave C.3. 2381 Private Joseph Asher, age 28. Grave G.10. Son Frederick and Elizabeth Asher, 46 Cobden Street, Old Radford, Nottingham. They had three daughters and Joseph was one of three sons. He was living with his mother, unmarried, and employed as a Curtain Maker when he enlisted. 1839 Private William Tollington, age 18. Grave G.11. Son of William and Eliza Tollington, 24 Mount Court, Mount Street, Nottingham. William was one of three sons and two daughters. He was aged 17 when he enlisted in the Territorials on 30 May 1913.
Canadian
There are two Canadian’s buried here both Sappers and killed on the same day, 16 June 1916.390 Sapper James Charles Murray, 5th Field Company, 2nd Canadian Engineers, age 20. Grave H.5. Son of Richard and Mary Murray, 32, 7th Avenue East, Vancouver, British Columbia. The family emigrated from Leith, Edinburgh to Canada. James was employed as an electrician and was serving in the 2nd Field Troops a Militia Company when he enlisted in Winnipeg on 30 March 1915. He landed in France at Le Harve on 15 September 1915 and he was granted leave from 28 May to 7 June 1916. 500071 Sapper Charles Armstrong Polwart, 5th Field Company, 2nd Canadian Engineers, age 27. Grave H.6. Charles emigrated from Glasgow and was employed as a Surveyor and was serving in the 6th Field Company a Militia Company when he enlisted on 9 July 1915. He had a brother who lived in Pollockshaws, Glasgow and a sister, Margaret, and she was living at 230 Calder Street, Glasgow and was listed as his Next of Kin. He landed in France from the Canadian Camp at Shorncliffe on 17 September 1915 and joined the 5th Field Company. He was granted a period of leave from 30 March to 8 April 1916. The War Diary places the 2nd Canadian Engineers HQ at Railway Dugouts and providing work parties for consolidation work at Observatory Ridge following the Canadian attack to retake Observatory Ridge on 13 June 1916. On the 12 June the consolidation party was dug-in around the Support Line at Rudkin House. On the 13 June they were heavily shelled and the trenches were blown in burying many men. It was decided that given the exhausted state of the men and the difficulty in getting through to the front line trenches due to the intense bombardment that it was decided to withdraw the men four at a time. The men were under continuous shell fire and were continually being buried and dug out by their comrades. The War Diary records that the total casualties from this consolidation party were thirty nine killed and wounded, 3 Officers wounded. Engineer casualties were two killed and four wounded.
Boy Soldiers
In the Ypres Salient, we are drawn to the graves of 6322 Private John Condon, 2nd Battalion Royal Irish Regiment, killed in action in May 1915, age 14 and the youngest known battle casualty of the war, although this is now questioned, and the grave of 5750 Valentine Strudwick, 8th Rifle Brigade, killed in action in January 1916, age 15. Strudwicks grave attracts a great deal of attention because of its location at Essex Farm and that locations association with Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae and the poem ‘In Flanders Fields.’ There are many more ‘Boy Soldiers’ buried across the Salient and who are not remembered in the same way and these include three from Falkirk District Private William Jamieson, age 17, Private James Duchart, age 16, and Private Herbert Richmond, age 17, There were many reasons why underage boys enlisted in 1914 and 1915 boredom with their jobs, looking for adventure, and escaping family pressures. The checks on age and qualification to enlist were more relaxed than later in the war. The army preferred younger recruits, there was a history of boy soldiers in the army going back over one hundred years. At Waterloo the army had a number of boy soldiers in their ranks. The army preferred younger recruits as they would follow orders and accept discipline more readily than older men. The boys had a belief in their own indestructibility and were prepared to take more risks. We tend to also forget the number of boys who served in the Royal Navy and we do not seem to have the same passionate response to their service as we do those who fought on the Western Front. With regards to the army, the difference was the sheer number who served on the Western Front and there were more boy soldiers in 1915 than served in Wellington’s army at Waterloo. For further reading on this subject see Richard Van Emden’s excellent book Boy Soldiers of the Great War. There
is one Boy Soldier buried here. S/9892 Rifleman Walter Alfred Stokes, 3rd Battalion Rifle Brigade, 17th Infantry Brigade, 6th Division and transferred to the 24th Division on 14 October 1915. Killed in action on 29 October 1915 age 17. Grave Special Memorial E.3. One of three sons and two daughters of Walter and Milly Stokes, 18 Thurlow Street, Walworth, London. He was employed as a house painter and like many Boy Soldiers he lied about his age when he enlisted on 20 April 1915 stating that he was ‘19 years and 2 months’. The 1911 census shows him still at school and aged 13. The Battalion had relieved the 8th Battalion The Buffs at I.34 on 20 October. The War Diary does not record any casualties on 29 October but does record two other ranks killed on 31 October.
Location
Hedge Row Trench Cemetery, CWGC, is located 4 km southeast of Ieper town centre, on the Verbrandemolenstraat a road leading from the Komenseweg, connecting Ieper to Komen (N336). From Ieper town centre the Komenseweg is located via the Rijselsestraat, through the Rijselpoort (Lille Gate) and crossing the Ieper ring road, towards Armentieres and Lille. The road name then changes to Rijselseweg. 1 km along the Rijselseweg lies the left hand turning onto Komenseweg. 2.5 km along the Komenseweg lies the right hand turning onto the Vaartstraat. 900 metres along the Vaartstraat lies the left hand turning onto the Verbrandemolenstraat. 400 metres along the Verbrandemolenstraat a short distance from the road is the cemetery.
The cemetery was designed by J R Truelove.
Burials
The cemetery contains 98 First World War burials.
UK – 94
Canadian – 2
Known Unto God - 2
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