Today’s post is a guest one from A Son of the Rock (Jack).
Poelcapelle War Cemetery, Flanders, Belgium
Poelcapelle is today spelled Poelkapelle. The village is a few miles north-east of Ypres (Ieper.) The British War Cemetery (Commonwealth War Graves Commission) is by the N313 road from Bruges (Brugge) to Ypres.
I’ve been to Tyne Cot but nevertheless still gasped when I entered Poelcapelle Cemetery. There are nearly 7,500 burials here, the vast majority, 6,230, of which are “Known unto God”.
View of interior from entrance:-
Graves:-
Some of the unidentified soldiers of the Great War:-
Lines of graves:-
Cross of Sacrifice and Stone of Remembrance:-
Memorial to some of those whose earlier graves were destroyed in later battles:-
As usual the graves are beautifully kept. A Soldier of the Great War, Known unto God and Private F J Patten, Hampshire Regiment, 4/10/17, aged 21:-
Two Soldiers of the Great War:-
There is one World War 2 grave at Poelcapelle. Private R E Mills, Royal Berkshire Regiment, 30/5/1940, aged 19:
Cross of Sacrifice and Stone of Remembrance:-
It breaks my heart to think of all those young men, those boys. Truly a sobering post. Thanks for reminding us what we should never forget.
Joan,
It is a complete waste of life and some of them were as young as 15, a boy drummer I think.
It’s appropriate and touching that these places are so carefully and, I think, lovingly tended.
“Their bodies are buried in peace; but their name liveth for evermore.”
Valerie,
They really are beautifully kept. I suppose to the locals it’s normal to live amongst so many war cemeteries, some of them literally a corner of a foreign field. They’ll certainly never be able to forget their history.
A lovely guest post, Katrina. Very moving. I have a cousin once removed in Tyne Cot, so seeing this post was extra poignant. I believe we owe it to Rudyard Kipling for introducing Known unto God, replacing Unknown soldier. Kipling never knew where his son was laid to rest, although we know it for him now. All evokes so many emotions.
Cathy Middleton,
I think that Kipling pulled strings to get his son into the army, that must have made his loss all the worse. If you’re interested you can click on the link below which will take you to Jack’s Tyne Cot posts, from when we visited a year or so ago.
https://jackdeighton.co.uk/?s=tyne+cot