2nd Lt Jack Binns RFC-originally buried at De Ruiter Military Cemetery, Roeselare

[Mark Hone]

2nd Lt. Jack Binns, 19, of 29 Squadron RFC, was shot down on 4th September 1917 by German ace Kurt Wustoff, in a dogfight near Zonnebeke. He crashed behind enemy lines and was originally buried in De Ruiter Military Cemetery by the Germans. After the war, his body was moved to Tyne Cot Cemetery. Although I've visited the Ieper area many times , I've never actually been into Roeselare itself. From CWGC Concentration returns I've identified the location of his original burial as 20.w.17.a.90.85 and plotted it on the excellent tMapper program. I don't think that there's much to be seen at the site today and I have no idea how close it was to the place where Jack Binns crashed. I'm assuming that a German medical station was there but would be very grateful for any further information someone might have. 

[AOK4]

Hello,

The coordinates match indeed with the German cemetery. There was a Hauptverbandplatz nearby (hence the location of the cemetery). The name of the German pilot is Wüsthoff (with Umlaut and "h").

The cemetery was not only for dead from the Hauptverbandplatz, but also from dead that were evacuated from the battlefield (Germans always tried to give all of the dead, friend or enemy, a decent burial and evacuated the dead as much as possible, sometimes over a long distance).

Jan

[Mark Hone]

Thanks for this information, Jan. I wondered why Jack Binns was reinterred at Tyne Cot rather than the War Cemetery at Roeselare, but it's not actually that far away. We plan to lay a wreath on Jack's grave on our next school Battlefields Tour, revived after an enforced two year hiatus.  We have visited the grave many times over the years. He is the only former pupil of the school with a named headstone at Tyne Cot, although eight are commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial. However, we have never visited the site of his original burial. 

I apologise for spelling the German pilot's name incorrectly. He survived the war but died in a flying accident in 1926. 

[AOK4]

1 hour ago, Mark Hone said:

Thanks for this information, Jan. I wondered why Jack Binns was reinterred at Tyne Cot rather than the War Cemetery at Roeselare, but it's not actually that far away. We plan to lay a wreath on Jack's grave on our next school Battlefields Tour, revived after an enforced two year hiatus.  We have visited the grave many times over the years. He is the only former pupil of the school with a named headstone at Tyne Cot, although eight are commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial. However, we have never visited the site of his original burial. 

I apologise for spelling the German pilot's name incorrectly. He survived the war but died in a flying accident in 1926. 

Tyne Cot Cemetery (among other cemeteries) was used as a concentration cemetery when Binns was exhumed and reburied. Roeselare was at that time not an "open cemetery".

Jan

[LDT006]

6 hours ago, Mark Hone said:

was originally buried in De Ruiter Military Cemetery by the Germans

The German name for the cemetery was "Colliemolenhoek", see documents below from ICRC and RAF Museum.

His casualty form has more information on his "career".