Zandvoorde Churchyard
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Zandvoorde Churchyard. On 30 October 1914, the village of Zantvoorde (now Zandvoorde) was held by the 1st and 2nd Life Guards, numbering between 300 and 400 men. It was bombarded for over an hour with heavy guns and then taken by the 39th German Division and three attached battalions. The whole front of the 3rd Cavalry Division was driven back to the Klein-Zillebeke ridge. The village could not be retaken and remained in German hands until 28 September 1918. Nearby is Zantvoorde British Cemetery made after the armistice.
The 3rd Cavalry Division action at Zandvoorde 1914
On the 23 October 1914, the 3rd Cavalry Division began their nine days in the trenches at Zandvoorde. The 10th (Prince of Wales’s Own) Royal Hussars (6th Cavalry Brigade) relieved the 2nd Battalion Scots Guards (10th Brigade) from the trenches at Zandvoorde. The 6th and 7th Cavalry Brigades were to take turns in manning the trenches with the two Brigades relieving each other every forty-eight hours. The trenches were nothing more than a series of holes that resembled large graves (prophetic) and were overcrowded. They were described as pits dug in the sandy soil each holding around a dozen men. There were short sections spaced far apart and with no communication laterally or from behind. The dispositions followed the contours of the ridge in full view of the enemy and incoming German artillery fire averaged 120 shells per day with numerous casualties each day. To hold Zandvoorde ridge under these circumstances and in rudimentary trenches was an act of disciplined courage. The Cavalry soldier was ill-
equipped for trench warfare unlike his infantry counterpart, he did not have the webbing pouches and haversack in which to carry his equipment. These early trenches were not those to be seen later in the war with bullet-proof parapets, loopholes for firing, dugouts and trench periscopes for observation. The later trenches followed a zig-zag pattern to prevent one shell killing everyone in a straight line trench and he later design had communication trenches connecting the frontline with the rear areas which allowed the infantry to walk in and out of the trench line. The iconic steel helmet offering limited protection against shrapnel was not to be introduced for another year. Household Cavalry Memorial at Zandvoorde marks the site of the original grave of Lord Charles Sackville Pelham, Lord Worsley. See Ypres Town Cemetery and Extension
The four casualties buried at Zandvoorde Churchyard are from the 10th (Prince of Wales’s Own Royal) Hussars, 8th Cavalry Brigade, 3rd Cavalry Division. All four were killed in action on 26 October 1914. The War Diary records: ‘Enemy sniping during the morning and shelling started at 8.30am. Patrol of 12 men sent out in the early morning to try and stop the sniping 1 man killed and 1 wounded shelling lasted most of the day very heavy in the afternoon. Capt Rose, Lt Turnor + 3 men killed. 7 men wounded and machine gun disabled.’ 2975 Private Roy Stuart MacKenzie, Grave 4. He was born in Brighton and
lived in Tooting, London with his wife Freda Lilian. He was employed as a Tailors Cutter when enlisted on 5 September 1908. Captain Sir Frank Stanley Day Rose, age 37. Grave 1. Son of Sir Charles Day Rose, 1st Bart. Sir Charles is said to have been one of the models for ‘Toad’ of Toad Hall in the 1908 book Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame and Grahame’s illustrator used parts of Hardwick Hall in his drawings. His father was also M.P. for the Newmarket constituency. Sir Frank was married to Lady Daphne Rose, of Hardwick House, Whitchurch, Oxon and they had three children. He succeeded his father second Baronet in 1913. He was educated at Eton and then Trinity College, Cambridge and joined the 10th Hussars in May 1900 and saw service in the South African war and was Mentioned in Despatches in 1902.Two of his brothers, he had three brothers and a sister, died in the
South Africa war Captain Ernes Rose killed in action near Welkom, and Bertram Temple Rose dying in Ladysmith. Lieutenant Christopher Randolph Turnor, age 28. Grave 2. He was the fourth child and second son of Algernon Turnor, C.B. and Lady Henrietta Turnor. His father was the former Financial Secretary to the Treasury, and Private Secretary to the Earl of Beaconsfield from 1874 to 1880. Christopher was educated at Revd the Marquis of Normanby’s Private School, Mulgrave Castle, Eton, and Christ Church, Oxford. He was gazetted Second Lieutenant on 20 December 1908 joining the 10th Hussars and joined his Regiment in India in January 1909 and then promoted to Lieutenant on 17 September 1910. He served with the Regiment in India and South Africa before returning with the Regiment to England in September 1914 and they then went to France on 6 October 1914. After the war his parents commissioned a stain glass window for Zantvoorde Church in his memory. 1378 Lance Corporal James Henry Waugh, age Grave 3. He was the son of William Archibald Waugh and was a Coal Miner when he enlisted on 14 October 1907.
Learn more about the German command post at Zandvoorde
Location
Zantvoorde Churchyard is located 8 Km south east of Ieper town centre, on the Zandvoordeplaats, a road leading from the Meenseweg (N8), connecting Ieper to Menen.
From Ieper town centre the Meenseweg is located via Torhoutstraat and right onto Basculestraat. Basculestraat ends at a main cross roads, directly over which begins the Meenseweg. 7.5 Km along the Meenseweg lies the right hand turning onto Zandvoordestraat. At the end of the Zandvoordestraat is the right hand turning onto Zandvoordeplaats. The churchyard itself is located 50 metres along the Zandvoordeplaats on the left hand side of the road.
Burials
Zandvoorde Churchyard contains four Commonwealth burials of the First World War.
UK – 4
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