In June 1955 George Gray went to look for his brother’s grave. These are the notes he made on that trip.
Left home at 6:45. Arrived London 8am. Had a wash and a shower. Boarded boat-train at 9 am. Moved off 10:30 Arrived at Dover about 12:30 pm. Boat sailed at 1 pm, arrived Ostend 4 pm. Spent a quiet evening on the sea-front.
Went with the party to see places of interest. After I got info, spent another quiet time on the front.
Tuesday 7th June. 9:30 am Went into the Cloth Hall and saw the ??? address from the 1st ?? DLI, then went to the Imperial Graves Commission (and) learnt that Tom had no known grave, but was mentioned on the Memorial Louverval Cambrai.
Called once more to see the Burgo Master who was on a visit to Brussels. Had a look inside cathedral. Went on the 12 o’clock train to Bisere on the French side. Was thrown out of a cafe by the P…. Got a lift recommend(ed) by the Customs men to Armentieres. Was running heavily - got the train at 1:40 to Hazebrouck. Changed. Waited hours. Sent a PC home, arrived at Bethune 5 pm. Booked in at the Hotel Beinard got bus to Loos (3), had a good look round saw 2 cemeteries including Dud Corner Cemetery saw Cousins George ??? on the memorial, no bus back - here lies a story - back at the Hotel Beinard at 11:20 pm.
Wed 8:15, walked to Cambrai - no bus service - arrived at 11:30. Delighted by the reception received by the gardeners?? Gave them ?? donation. Adjourned to cafe and had lunch. Went into the church where I was carried in and out 20 Han 1917. Was taken on scooter by Mr. Barlow to see Mr. Passmore and was invited to stay the night. Went with B to La Bassee to change T Cheque. Had a good (look) round Guards Cemetery Windy Corner (4). (A list of cemeteries follows).
Then went back and had a meal at Mr. Passmore’s after a good confab went on the scooter to see the cemeteries itemised on the previous page after social calls at ???? got back at 10:30. Gave ? 1000 fr.
Thursday. Got the 7:45 train to Lille. Arrived 8:45. Had a look at Lille and I am writing this at 11:30. The train goes at 11:35. Arrived Ghent at 1:30. Left for Ostend 1:33 arrived Ostend 2:20. Had a good wash and change. Very cold. Had a walk round until dinner then went to the pictures.
Friday. Just walked round the town all the morning. Went into the park in the afternoon and went to the Garden of Eden (??) at night (very good show which included the Dancing Waters).
Saturday. Had a good crossing.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) The Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, often referred to simply as the Menin Gate, bears the names of more than 54,000 soldiers who died before 16 August 1917 and have no known grave.
Between October 1914 and September 1918 hundreds of thousands of servicemen of the British Empire marched through the town of Ypres's Menin Gate on their way to the battlefields. The memorial now stands as a reminder of those who died who have no known grave and is perhaps one of the most well-known war memorials in the world.
https://www.cwgc.org/find/find-cemeteries-and-memorials/91800/ypres-memorial
(2) Sanctuary Wood Cemetery is located 5 Kms east of Ieper town centre, on the Canadalaan, 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. 3 Kms along the Meenseweg lies the right hand turning onto Canadalaan. The cemetery itself is located 1.5 Kms along Canadalaan on the right hand side of the road. 100 metres beyond the cemetery at the end of the Canadalaan is the Hill 62 Memorial.
Sanctuary Wood is one of the larger woods in the commune of Zillebeke. It was named in November 1914, when it was used to screen troops behind the front line. It was the scene of fighting in September 1915 and was the centre of the Battle of Mount Sorrel (2-13 June 1916) involving the 1st and 3rd Canadian Divisions. There were three Commonwealth cemeteries at Sanctuary Wood before June 1916, all made in May-August 1915. The first two were on the western end of the wood, the third in a clearing further east. All were practically obliterated in the Battle of Mount Sorrel, but traces of the second were found and it became the nucleus of the present Sanctuary Wood Cemetery.
At the Armistice, the cemetery contained 137 graves. From 1927 to 1932, Plots II-V were added and the cemetery extended as far as 'Maple Avenue', when graves were brought in from the surrounding battlefields. They came mainly from the communes immediately surrounding Ypres, but a few were taken from Nieuport (on the coast) and the following smaller cemeteries:- BEYTHEM COMMUNAL CEMETERY, RUMBEKE (one United Kingdom burial of October, 1918). DEERLYCK GERMAN CEMETERY (two United Kingdom burials of October, 1918; two others were taken to Dadizeele New British Cemetery). DONEGAL FARM GERMAN CEMETERY, DRANOUTRE, on the more Southerly road from Dranoutre to Lindenhoek (one unidentified British officer). EISKELLAR GERMAN CEMETERY, GHELUVELT, the cemetery of the 106th Infantry Regiment, between Veldhoek and Herenthage Chateau (one unidentified; one other burial was taken to Harlebeke New British Cemetery). FLANDERS FIELD AMERICAN CEMETERY, WAEREGHEM, one of the American Military Cemeteries (one R.A.F. Officer). HOLLEBEKE CEMETERY No.60 (or THREE HOUSES GERMAN CEMETERY) (one unidentified; others were taken to Oosttaverne Wood Cemetery, Wytschaete). INGELMUNSTER GERMAN CEMETERY (two R.F.C. three other British were taken to Harlebeke New British Cemetery). KASTELHOEK GERMAN CEMETERY (No.61), HOLLEBEKE, on the road from Houthem to Zillebeke (five United Kingdom soldiers who died January-February, 1917; others were taken to Harlebeke New British Cemetery). KLEIN-ZILLEBEKE GERMAN CEMETERY, ZILLEBEKE, between Klein-Zillebeke and Zwarteleen (three unidentified). KORTEKEER GERMAN CEMETERY No.12A, LANGEMARCK, on the road running North from Kortekeer, which is between Langemarck and Bixschoote (three United Kingdom graves of 1914). KRUISEECKE GERMAN CEMETERY, COMINES, on the road from Becelaere to Wervicq (two unidentified; other British were taken to Zantvoorde British Cemetery). L'ALOUETTE GERMAN CEMETERY, NEUVE-EGLISE, 2,000 metes due East of Neuve-Eglise village (three unidentified). LANGEMARCK GERMAN CEMETERY N0.9, on the Pilckem road (five United Kingdom soldiers). LANGEMARCK NORTH GERMAN CEMETERY, on the road to Koekuit and Clercken (one unidentified). MENIN COMMUNAL CEMETERY (one United Kingdom grave of 1914). MESSINES GERMAN CEMETERY No.2, at the North-East corner of the village (seven United Kingdom graves of 1915). MESSINES GERMAN CEMETERY No.3, a little East of the Church (one United Kingdom grave and one Canadian). MOTOR CAR CORNER CEMETERY GERMAN EXTENSION, PLOEGSTEERT (seven unidentified who fell in 1918). PETIT-PONT GERMAN CEMETERY, PLOEGSTEERT, between Petit-Pont and Hill 63 (two unidentified M.G.C. Officers). RABSCHLOSS GERMAN CEMETERY No.64, MESSINES, 1500 metres West of Hollebeke village (one unidentified). REUTEL GERMAN CEMETERY, BECELAERE (ten unidentified; other British were taken to Perth Cemetery (China Wall), Zillebeke). SLYPSKAPPELLE CHURCHYARD, MOORSLEDE (two United Kingdom soldiers and one Newfoundland; one other is still buried there). TERDEGHEM CHURCHYARD (Nord, France) (four R.G.A. and one Canadian). THOUROUT GERMAN CEMETERY No.2, due East of Hooghe, on the road running North from Thourout (two R.A.F., September, 1918). Most of these burials were from the 1914 Battles of Ypres and the Allied offensive of the autumn of 1917.
There are now 1,989 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated in the cemetery. 1,353 of the burials are unidentified. Many graves, in all five plots, are identified in groups but not individually. In Plot I is buried Lieutenant G.W.L. Talbot, in whose memory Talbot House at Poperinghe was established in December 1915. The first list of the graves was made by his brother the Reverend N.S. Talbot, MC, later Bishop of Pretoria.
The cemetery was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.
https://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/54700/sanctuary-wood-cemetery/
(3) Loos-en-Gohelle is a village 5 kilometres north-west of Lens. Dud Corner Cemetery is located about 1 kilometre west of the village, to the north-east of the D943 the main Lens to Bethune road. The Loos Memorial forms the side and back of Dud Corner Cemetery and commemorates over 20,000 officers and men who have no known grave, who fell in the area from the River Lys to the old southern boundary of the First Army, east and west of Grenay.
The name "Dud Corner" is believed to be due to the large number of unexploded enemy shells found in the neighbourhood after the Armistice. The only burials here during hostilities were those of four Officers of the 9th Black Watch and one Private of the 8th Royal Dublin Fusiliers, close to Plot III, Row B; the remainder of the graves were brought in later from isolated positions near Loos and to the North, and from certain small cemeteries, including:- TOSH CEMETERY, LOOS, was on the North side of the village, close to the communication trench called Tosh Alley. It contained the graves of 171 soldiers from the United Kingdom (118 of whom were Irish) and five from Canada. It was used from October 1915 to September 1917. CRUCIFIX CEMETERY, LOOS, was a little West of Tosh Cemetery. It was used from September 1915 to May 1916, and it contained the graves of 53 soldiers from the United Kingdom. LE RUTOIRE BRITISH CEMETERY, VERMELLES, was close to Le Rutoire Farm, which is on Loos Plain, near the village of Vermelles. It was used in 1915, and contained the graves of 82 soldiers from the United Kingdom and six French soldiers.
There are now nearly 2,000, 1914-18 war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these, over half are unidentified and special headstones have been erected to 15 soldiers from the United Kingdom who are believed to be buried among them. The great majority of the dead buried here fell in the Battle of Loos 1915; but some were killed in succeeding years.
Originally, the regimental memorials for the following units were brought into the cemetery:- 10th Scottish Rifles and the 17th London Regiment, dating from the Battle of Loos, and those of the Royal Montreal Regiment and the Royal Highlanders of Canada, dating from the Battle of Hill 70 in August 1917. These memorials were later removed. Special memorials are erected in this Cemetery to twelve soldiers of the 2nd Welch Regiment, killed in action on the 12th October 1915, and originally buried in Crucifix Cemetery, Loos, whose graves could not be found on concentration. The cemetery now covers an area of 5,550 square metres, and is bounded by a low rubble wall except on the road side, where the War Stone is raised on a grass terrace and flanked by buildings.
https://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/58700/dud-corner-cemetery,-loos/
(4) Cuinchy is a village about 7 kms east of the town of Bethune and north of the N41 which runs between Bethune and La Bassee. About 1 km north-west of the village are cross roads known as Windy Corner, and Guards Cemetery is a little west of these cross roads.
A little west of the crossroads known to the army as 'Windy Corner' was a house used as a battalion headquarters and dressing station. The cemetery grew up beside this house. The original cemetery is now Plots I and II and Rows A to S of Plot III. It was begun by the 2nd Division in January 1915, and used extensively by the 4th (Guards) Brigade in and after February. It was closed at the end of May 1916, when it contained 681 graves.
After the Armistice it was increased when more than 2,700 graves were brought in from the neighbouring battlefields - in particular the battlefields of Neuve-Chapelle, the Aubers Ridge and Festubert - and from certain smaller cemeteries, including:- BALUCHI ROAD CEMETERY, NEUVE-CHAPELLE, on the road from Pont-Logy to the "Moated Grange". It contained the graves of fifteen soldiers from the United Kingdom who fell in the winter of 1914-15. EDWARD ROAD CEMETERY No.3, RICHEBOURG-L'AVOUE, on the South side of the Rue des Berceaux, near another "Windy Corner" (Plot I only, which contained the graves of five men of the 1st East Surreys who fell in October 1914). INDIAN VILLAGE NORTH CEMETERY, FESTUBERT, near the intersection of "Prince's Road" and the front line of early 1915. It contained the graves of fifteen soldiers from the United Kingdom who fell in May and July 1915. LORGIES COMMUNAL CEMETERY, which contained two British graves of October 1918. PONT-FIXE SOUTH CEMETERY, CUINCHY, on the West side of "Harley Street" (the road going South from Windy Corner), a little South of the Canal. This was a row of graves stretching Westward behind houses, and contained the bodies of 42 soldiers from the United Kingdom who fell in 1915.
Guards Cemetery now contains 3,445 burials and commemorations of the First World War. 2,198 of the burials are unidentified but there are special memorials to 36 casualties known or believed to be buried among them. Other special memorials commemorate six casualties buried in Indian Village North Cemetery, whose graves were destroyed by shell fire, and five Indian soldiers originally buried in the Guards Cemetery but afterwards cremated in accordance with the requirements of their faith.
The cemetery was designed by Charles Holden.
https://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/4003815/guards-cemetery,-windy-corner,-cuinchy/
