Ypres Reservoir Cemetery

Cemetery Details

Location Ieper (Ypres), Provincie West-Vlaanderen (West Flanders) - Flanders, Belgium
Co‑ordinates N50.8538871, E2.8778612
Description

2,613 Commonwealth servicemen of the WW I are buried or commemorated in this cemetery.
(1,034 of the burials are unidentified).

The largest cemetery within Ypres is  Ypres Reservoir Cemetery.

This is in the north-west of the town, and was located next to an Advanced Dressing Station where many casualties who had survived as far as this following transfer from the front lines were buried.

There were originally 3 cemeteries near the town's western gate, 2 between the prison and the reservoir (these 2 were both concentrated into the 3rd, which is located on the north side of what was the prison - hence an earlier name for this cemetery, Ypres Prison Cemetery - it was also previously known as Ypres Reservoir North Cemetery).

The cemetery was begun in October 1915, and used from then on throughout WW I, and contained around 1100 graves after the Armistice.

The register gives the interesting information that the graves of the men in Plot 5 Row AA are those of 16 soldiers from the 6th Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry who were killed on the 12th of August 1915. They were billeted in the vaults of the cathedral (see map) and killed by shelling from what was known as the "Ypres Express", a large calibre German gun firing from the Houthulst Forest. The bodies were not recovered until after the Armistice.

 

Sourced and submitted by Julianne T Ryan.  29/11/2014.  Lest we forget.

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Names

Showing 8 people of interest from cemetery

PATCH, Francis Edward

Service number 2377
Sergeant
14th Field Artillery Brigade
AIF WW1
Born 20 Sep 1889

ADAMS, William Affleck

Service number OFFICER
Major
3rd Pioneer Battalion
AIF WW1
Born 10 Jun 1869

JARVIS, Russell Thomas Sydney

Service number 11994
Lance Corporal
9th Field Ambulance
AIF WW1
Born 1 Jan 1884

LEA, Harry Noel

Service number 3419
Private
17th Infantry Battalion
AIF WW1
Born 15 Dec 1895

MARTIN, Arthur Giles

Service number 1321
Private
12th Infantry Battalion
AIF WW1

BACKHOUSE, Geoffrey De Talworth

Service number 31615
Gunner
36th Heavy Artillery Group
AIF WW1
Born 1890

MARRIS, William John

Service number 1351
Sapper
8th Field Company Engineers
AIF WW1
Born 1 Mar 1893

BLANCH, George Arthur

Service number 2932
Private
36th Infantry Battalion
AIF WW1
Born 19 Jan 1891

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