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Remembered Today:

Beveren-IJzer Churchyard (Alveringem)


Cnock

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Apparently not 7 years, 3 months and 11 days..., Aurel. :thumbsup:

The people from CWGC I spoke about our remarks, who were at Zonnebeke, changed it, after the investigation they promised me.

(What a sentence.... :blink: )

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  • 2 weeks later...

Beveren (Leie) Churchyard

Cnock

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Beveren-Leie

Cnock

post-7723-1274611234.jpg

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Beveren-Leie Churchyard

Cnock

post-7723-1274612184.jpg

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  • 4 weeks later...
After all there was a (Belgian) military hospital in Beveren-aan-de-IJzer. It was at the crossroads IJzerstraat - Lindestraat, 2 km (1 1/4 mile) from the centre of Beveren. (And in fact nearer to Stavele centre.)...

...The French-Belgian graves were where that lawn is now, and there are still 6 Belgian graves. (The other 66 graves were moved to the Belgian cemetery of Adinkerke.)

Aurel.

I wonder if you can help me a little here (its more of a translation thing than anything else)?

As you may know from some of my recent postings on here (and from a year or two ago on forumeerstewereldoorlog), I'm currently researching a Belgian soldier who died in the hospital at Beveren a.d.Ijzer in June 1917 but who is buried in de Panne BMB. I'd have automatically thought that he would have initially been buried in Beveren and then moved to Adinkerke BMB, but wondered why he ended up in de Panne?

I've got Urbain de Deyne's De Belgische militaire begraafplaatsen en ereperken in West-Vlaanderen in front of me as I type and read that most who died at Beveren were buried at (or ,later, transferred to) Adinkerke, but this cemetery was full by 1917 and ,so, de Panne was used as an extension. Is this correct? (my reading of Dutch (double or single :rolleyes: ) isn't too bad these days (for an Englishman!), but I sometimes get a little lost - especially when cross-referencing items in the language).

Just a simple "yes - that's correct", or a "no - stick to trying to read in French and German you illiterate so-and-so" will do! :lol:

Thanks,

Dave.

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Dave,

You have no idea how hard it was for me NOT to write : "Stick to ...." :-)

But after several attempts, I was successful !

Serious ...

I don't have De Deyne's book, and so I don't know if your translation was correct ... I suppose it was, but I wouldn't mind if you quoted De Deyne in Dutch for me (or other members) to have a look if what you understood is correct.

I have tried to find an answer to your question. But in vain.

In my brief notes about Beveren Cemetery I only find that the cemetery was moved to Adinkerke. That's all. No source. No mention that when Adinkerke became full some were moved to De Panne. (But of course this is possible !)

(Does Urbain De Deyne mention a source ?)

On the Dutch WW1 Forum there was a Topic started end of Decc. 2007, but I have had a look, and there is no mention of "Beveren".

http://www.forumeerstewereldoorlog.nl/viewtopic.php?t=12127

On another webpage I found that De Panne Cemetery was started in WWI (I think it must have been in the last year of the war ?), and that many were DoW's of the military cemetery L'Océan in De Panne. And for Adinkerke Cemetery, that it was started at the end of the war too, AND that afterwards many were moved there from smaller cemeteries in the "Westhoek".

No mention of graves that were moved to De Panne because Adinkerke was full ...

Sorry this is not much help.

Aurel

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I don't have De Deyne's book, and so I don't know if your translation was correct ... I suppose it was, but I wouldn't mind if you quoted De Deyne in Dutch for me (or other members) to have a look if what you understood is correct.

Thanks Aurel.

(sources are plentiful...but which he has used and for what, he doesn't specify!)

anyway, here's what I think is relevant in the Adinkerke chapter (he mentions the beginnings being as from September 1914...but I think he's referring to burials in the municiple churchyard)...

"In 1917 was de militaire begraafplats in Adinkerke volledig volzet en was men genoodzaakt uit te zien naar een andere oplossing. de keus viel op het duinengebied 'Duinhouek' in de Panne, waar ook de gemeentelijke begraafplats ligt.Tot die tijd werden inwoners van de Panne begraven in Adinkerke.Nu is het andersom."

I read that (rightly or wrongly) as (basically)saying that the military cemetery in Adinkerke was full by 1917 and further (military)burials, from then on, took place in the municiple cemetry at De Panne. However, he mentions the de Panne military cemetery only being operational as from January 1918...so that's where I think I've got confused! (Maybe he's talking about civilian burials from the two towns?)

Dave.

(PS...just for interest's sake in this thread (and to partly answer my own question elsewhere on this forum regarding the hospital), here's a bit on Beveren (no translation needed...I got this bit :thumbsup: )...

"Beveren a.d.Ijzer had tijdens de oorlog 1914-18 een Belgische militair hospitaal. Het complex besloeg meerdere ha.,en werd operationeel in 1916. Toen de legerleiding vermoedens had dat de frontlijn meer naar het zuiden gelegd zou worden, verhuisde men in 1917 de chirurgische afdeling naar he Cabourghospitaal in Adinkerke. Overleden soldaten werden op het gemeentelijk kerkhof begraven, maar werden nadien weggenomen."

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Dave,

This won't be much help I'm afraid ...

Somehow I remember that the cemetery was not started until beginning 1918.

So : 1917 is confusing ...

As to the hospital in Beveren.

My information (don't remember the source :-( ) says that the hospital was at the crossroads IJzerstraat - Lindestraat, which is approx. 2 km from Beveren church, and in fact closer to Stavele church. I was a little surprised to see that the soldiers who died in the hospital, were buried 2 km away, and not near the hospital. But I guess that was for psychological reasons, not to demoralize the wounded men ?

Aurel

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Thanks Aurel.

...so I read it correctly then? (I'm getting better at it!!! :D )

(and thanks for the location too...that is actually a big help to me)

Cheers.

Dave.

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  • 9 years later...

I know the original post was in 2010, but thanks to Heather13's response it has come to the top again. I didn't join the forum until 2015, but the post has some relevance to the Perth Academy "Flowers of the Forest" project.

 

The first headstone photo is that of Herbert Wilson Leitham, a former pupil of the school. I've attached his biography page from the school's memorial book.

 

The second paragraph is taken from the St Andrews University Roll of Honour, which is available on-line. It says he died of wounds received at Winkel St. Eloi, Belgium, which I had just taken as read. A look at google maps suggests that this could be Sint-Eloois-Winkel in Belgium? This is 34 miles from Beveren-Ijzer, but I'm assuming he could have been brought back there from the front-line, where there would be better medical facilities?

 

Thanks are also due for the very clear photo of the headstone and the inscription.

 

Dave

Leitham HW.jpg

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