Spanbroekmolen British Cemetery
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Spanbroekmolen British Cemetery, CWGC, Ypres, is named after a windmill which stood nearby and contains the graves of men from the Battalions of the Royal Irish Rifles killed in action on 7 June 1917, and three men killed on 8 June 1917, during the Battle of Messines in 1917. The cemetery stands in a slight valley and there is a 200m path that leads to the cemetery from the road. The nearby farm buildings behind the cemetery are those of Peckham Farm the site of one of the mine craters blown on 7 June 1917. This crater was visited by King George V in July 1917, and this gives us some idea of how safe this area had become following the success of the British attack on 7 June. On the 12 March 1915, the 1st Battalion Wiltshires and 3rd Battalion Worcesters, both 7th Brigade, 3rd Division, attacked and captured a section of German trenches here and held them for a few hours before withdrawing. They had casualties of twenty officers and 400 hundred Other Ranks. Lieutenant Cyril Gordon Martin, V.C.,CBE, D.S.O., won his V.C. here during this action. He led No.2 section from 56th Company, Royal Engineers, and despite a flesh wound to his hip, he led a party of six bombers from the 3rd Battalion Worcesters against a part of the German line and drove them out and held the ground against counterattacks for over two hours, before receiving the order to withdraw. The Second Supplement of The London Gazette, 16 April 1915: ‘For most conspicuous bravery at Spanbroek Molen on 12th March, 1915, when in command of a grenade throwing party of six rank and file. Although wounded early in the action, he led his party into the enemy’s trenches and held back their reinforcements for nearly 2½ hours, until the evacuation of the captured trench was ordered.’ The six bombers received the DCM. He was later promoted to Brigadier and served in World War II and died in 1980.
Spanbroekmolen British Cemetery was destroyed in later fighting but found again after the Armistice.
Spanbroekmolen British Cemetery, CWGC, Ypres, is a short distance along the road from the Peckham Farm and Maedelstedt Farm mine craters, blown on 7 June 1917. Also located within a short walk you will find the Spanbroekmolen and Kruisstraat mine craters. On the 7 June 1917 the British Second Army launched its attack along the Messines Ridge with the detonation of nineteen mines comprised of one million pounds of ammonal explosive beneath the German defenders. The Battle of Messines was the most effective integration of mines with an infantry attack that was supported by an artillery barrage which stupefied the German defenders. The overall objectives of the British Second Army attack were to seize the villages of Wytschaete and Messines and to move beyond them to establish a line, the Black Line, just over the crest of the ridge. The first phase would see nine divisions move forward and had a series of subsidiary objectives to take supported by the fire of the artillery that lifted and moved forward at a precise time.
Royal Engineers
Chemical Warfare Pioneers
On the night of the 8/9 October 1916, ‘K’ Company were in the trench area held by the 36th Division and at 1.30am discharged gas cylinders containing ‘White Star’, this was a Phosgene-Chlorine mixture, towards the German trenches. The valves were open for 15 minutes and closed at 1.45am and raiding parties were to enter the German trenches. The raid was made by two officers and 15 men of the 10th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles with an NCO and pioneer of ‘K’ Company included. Three prisoners were taken and they were brought back the two ‘K’ Company men. The War Diary records that the casualties were ‘2 men of the Special Company killed.’ The circumstances of how they died was not explained. The dead are buried in Pond Farm Cemetery ‘K’ Special Company was part of the 3rd Battalion, Special Brigade Royal Engineers, formed in January 1916 for chemical warfare during WWI. As a ‘cylinder company,’ it specialized in launching gas attacks. From 1917, they were equipped with the Livens Projector, a crude but effective mortar which fired chemical ammunition and oil bombs. The attack on 31 July 1917, the opening day of the Third Battle of Ypres, by the 51st (Highland) Division at Hill Top Ridge was supported by Livens Projectors firing oil bombs. The company operated gas cylinders and later Livens Projectors to dispense chemical ammunition and oil bombs. Part of the reorganisation of gas services into the Special Brigade in January 1916. The 3rd Battalion consisted of J, K, L, and M Companies. Often manned by soldiers transferred from infantry units. K Special Company was generally known to consist of sections 55 to 60. Read more about Gas and Chemical Warfare
36th (Ulster) Division
This Division was reconstituted following its near annihilation on the opening day of the Battle of the Somme in July 1916. On the 7 June 1917, the Battalions of the Royal Irish Rifles attacked through this area, following the mine explosion at Spanbroekmolen, and captured the Wytschaete to Messines Road. The Spanbroekmolen mine was blown fifteen seconds late and the fall-out from the mine explosion caught the 8th Battalion (East Belfast) Royal Irish Rifles in No Man’s Land. Two of the men are buried here. 12787 Rifleman James McMullan Forsythe, 8th Battalion, age 20. Grave C.8. Son of Stanfield and Elizabeth Forsythe, 55 Belvoir Street, Belfast. 41544 Rifleman James Stacey. Grave D.6. He was married to Alice Annie and they lived with their three children at 1 Oxford Terrace, Crown Street, Dagenham, Essex. He enlisted in Barking with the Norfolk Regiment before being transferred to the Battalion.
Artillery
The 155th Siege Battery served on the Western Front and operated with 6-inch howitzers as a 4-gun battery, often attached to Heavy Artillery Groups (HAGs) which were later converted to RGA Brigades. They were involved in heavy artillery operations against enemy strong points, bunkers, and counter-battery work. It should be noted that the 155th Siege Battery RGA is distinct from the 155th Heavy Battery (East Cheshire) RGA, which transferred to Italy on November 17, 1917. It is difficult to follow the activities of individual units of the RGA as they were moved about as and when required. 10125 Gunner Frank Orlando Cage, 155th Siege Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery. Killed in action 7 June 1917, age 40. Grave D.9. He was married to Julia Ann, and lived with his two children and three step children at 23 Bastall Hill, Plumstead. His records record his service number as 285125 however, the CWGC records show it as 10125. He was working as a Farm Horseman when he enlisted.
Location
Spanbroekmolen British Cemetery is located 8 Km south of Ieper town centre, on a road leading from the Rijselseweg N365, which connects Ieper to Wijtschate and onto Armentieres. From Ieper town centre the Rijselsestraat runs from the market square, through the Lille Gate (Rijselpoort) and directly over the crossroads with the Ieper ring road. The road name then changes to the Rijselseweg. On reaching the village of Wijtschate the first right hand turning is the Hospicestraat leading onto the village square. The Wijtschatestraat leads from the village square, 1.5 Km beyond which lies the Scheerstraat on the left hand side. The cemetery itself lies 500 metres along the Scheerstraat on the left hand side of the road.
The cemetery was designed by J R Truelove.
Burials
There are 58 casualties of the First World War buried or commemorated in the cemetery. Special memorials commemorate six servicemen who were known to have been buried in the cemetery but whose graves were later destroyed.
UK – 58
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