World War One Cemeteries

[Guest Brian K. Holford]

My wife and I have just returned from visiting the Boulougne Eastern Cemetery to pay our respects to a great uncle who died in the British base hospital, Boulougne. I was quite curious as to a number of questions. Nearly six thousand soldiers are buried in the cemetery, and I am unable to find any record or litrature describing the hospital, staffing, mode of transport from the front, medical records, etc,etc.

All the head stones are laid flat in groups of three, I can understand the need for space at the time, but why not more space provided at the time?. Many, if not most of those boys must have suffered terribly from their injuries before death occured. There are so many unanswered questions, can any provide some answers, please.

[Terry Denham]

Welcome to the Forum, Brian

You ask some big questions in your posting but I am sure other Pals will comment on the hospitals, transport etc.

As far as cemeteries are concerned, the people responsible for creating them tried to use as little space as possible - after all, in most cases it was not their land to use. It belonged to French/Belgian citizens even though they may have been displaced at the time.

In due course agreements were drawn up with the French/Belgian governments granting certain rights over the cemetery lands but individual negotiations between the army/IWGC and local communities still had to take place especially when the post-war concentrations took place. Land could not just be comandeered for cemetery use.

The headstones are laid flat in this particular cemetery due to an instability in the geology of the ground.

[Marc Thompson]

Just to add to what Terry has said Boulogne Eastern Cemetery was repeatedly extended to the south until June 1918 when the land ran out. The site for a new cemetery at Terlincthun was then chosen in the countryside between Boulogne and Wimereux.

Marc

[Terry Denham]

and further still....

Terlincthun is a large site and is still the 'open' CWGC cemetery for the region.

[Sue Light]

Brian

Casualties would have been transported from their place of injury or illness in many different ways, depending on how far their journey was to be, but probably the main form of transport from Casualty Clearing Stations back to base hospitals was by ambulance train. Railway transport for casualties was used as far back as the Crimean War, and on a regular basis in the South African war, but in August 1914 there were no suitable trains already in service, and throughout the first two years many trains were still improvised from any available rolling stock. By 1916 most of the larger ambulance trains had been specially constructed for their purpose, although on a more local level nearer the front, there were many small 'trains' running on narrow gauge track.

This description of a standard Ambulance Train comes from 'Hospital Ships and Ambulance Trains' by John Plumridge:

These trains had sixteen coaches lettered S, G, A, B, C, D, E, F, L, M, N, O, P, H, R and T, which was the sequence in which the train was marshalled.

Coach S was a brake van and infectious ward and was divided into six sections – one 5 ft long for the guard and one 10 ft. long for his living accommodation; another was for the attendants and stretchers whilst the other three sections each accommodated six lying cases.

Coach G was the staff car and this had nine separate sections – three with sleeping, dining and toilet facilities for the nursing sisters; the remaining sections slept the medical officers and contained their mess room and a toilet. The mess room had a dining table, chairs, cupboards and shelves with a seat capable of being used as a bed. This car had a stove and its own hot water system for use when the train was standing in sidings. There was a shower at each end of the coach.

Coach A served a dual purpose being a kitchen car with room for sick officers and sleeping accommodation for three cooks plus a toilet. The kitchen section had a standard army range with a copper boiler with recesses in the hot plate for the boiling pans. It had a dresser, washing up sink and its own supply of hot and cold water. The cold water tanks were in the roof; they held 300 gallons and were fitted with gauges. Similar tanks were fitted in all other coaches.

Coaches B, C, D, and E were ward cars each with thirty-six beds arranged in three tiers, eighteen on either side; they had toilet and washing facilities at the end.

Coach F, the pharmacy car, was divided into five sections; one for the pharmacy itself and separate sections for the treatment room and office and two store rooms. The pharmacy, which had its own water supply, had a hot water heater, a sink, cupboards and shelves. It was immediately adjacent to the treatment room in which there was a portable operation table and a sterilizing tank. The door to the treatment room had a clear opening of 8 ft. enabling stretchers to be carried in direct from outside the train. In addition to tables, chairs and a cupboard there was a safe in the office section.

Coaches L,M, N and O were also thirty-six bedded ward cars constructed to the same pattern as the others.

Coach P was an ordinary corridor coach of seven or eight compartments which was devoid of upholstery and could hold 56 sitting cases; it had an upper berth above for ‘bad’ sitting patients. There were toilet facilities at one end and a pantry at the other.

Coach H was the second kitchen fitted up similarly to coach A; it was also the mess car for both NCOs and privates.

Coach R was the sleeping compartment for the other ranks of the staff; it was similar to a ward car except that shelves for packs, equipment, etc. replaced the upper tier of the beds. It also had its own self-contained heating apparatus.

Coach T was a second brake van and store car of five sections; two for stores, one which included a meat safe for supplies; one for the guard when the train was in motion and the other as his living room.

The trains were 950 ft long and weighed 450 tons.

Regards - Sue

[Muerrisch]

I can confirm [as if needed!] that CWGC answered my written query re. the flat stones at Boulogne East by referring to the unstable nature of the ground. Of course, the stones get terribly mud-splashed in rain.

This cemetery has a tremendous feel, due to the surrounding views and the unusual posture of the headstones. I have some amazingly atmospheric black and white shots taken there. Somewhere or other, departs muttering into what is laughably referred to as archive ............

[Guest Brian K. Holford]

Many thanks to all who responded to my question with regards Boulougne War cemetery

[Hedley Malloch]

Are all the headstones at Boulogne laid flat? From memory I think that the other ranks have flat headstones, three deep and at the back, but officers have erect standard pattern headstones and are buried singly at the front. I came away with the impression that the three deep files of flat headstones was the product of over-crowding as the ORs were packed in whilst the officers were given the space their superior status was deemed to deserve. Even in death they were not equal.

This is not a criticism of the CWGC who have had to manage a situation they inherited. But Boulogne does reflect the fact (which one can see elsewhere on the Front) that burial and commemoration arrangements were sometimes influenced as much by social class as by soil conditions.

[Greenwoodman]

Not every officer's headstone is upright. Here is Campbell VC.

[Greenwoodman]

A view from the cemetery entrance. The flat stones are in the plot midlle left and stretch away to the rear of the cemetery.

[Greenwoodman]

And a triple. I cannot remember for certain whether any officers headstones were in the section which contained the triples.

[Muerrisch]

I came away with the impression that the three deep files of flat headstones was the product of over-crowding as the ORs were packed in whilst the officers were given the space their superior status was deemed to deserve. Even in death they were not equal.

Without any trouble at all, I can give another example of a flat stone for an officer: Captain Thomas Lewis Prichard [sic] 2RWF 9 November 1914. He was clearly as unequal as the VC. Funny old thing.

[Hedley Malloch]

Two questions:

1. What proportion of erect headstones mark the graves of other ranks and what proportion by officers?

2. What proportion of flat threes mark the graves of other ranks and what proportion by officers?

[Paul Reed]

From memory, the majority (if not all) the erect graves, as opposed to those laid flat, are in fact WW2 graves. This cemetery has a very large WW2 plot, including at least one George Cross winner from the RAF.

There are seperate rows of officers headstones for WW1, which was common in base area cemeteries anyway, but they are all laid flat as far as I recall.

[paul guthrie]

For over fifty years until this year there was a man here with two headstones and a man without one. I think the next WFA Bulletin will have a story about this.

[Bert Heyvaert]

I believe the base-hospital at Boulogne became a campment and headquarters for the War Graves Commission after the war. I have a nice picture here from the cemetery in its very early days, must have been made not long after the war, as there are still small railway lines visible and the place looks a mess. I can't scan it here, but am willing to send you a copy if you give me your adress. It was from here that 'mobile gardening parties' left each monday to the desolate battlefields during the aerly days. Maybe the CWGC hold some files on the hospital and how it was made into a campment, if that's of any interest to your research.

Bert.

[christine liava'a]

Some general questions in regard to bodies and cemeteries

If a war corpse were to be found now, what state would it be likely to be in?

Just bones?

How quickly do corpses disintegrate in European conditions?

and in dry tropical ones?

Did all the bodies have coffins to be buried in?

Where did all the coffins come from?

These small cemeteries that seem to be all over the war area?

Did a local commander decide where to put the bodies, or were areas set aside before they even started fighting?

When a known body was buried, was it usual to have a funeral service?

What about unidentifiable bodies or remains?

Rather a gruesome topic, but after seeing all your photos I started wondering!

[Muerrisch]

Regarding a proper funeral service, except under the most difficult circumstances the standing procedure for all 2RWF burials was "to be met by padre and given a proper service". This is a loose quote which I could tighten up if needs be. I know 1RWF were similarly punctilious, including using a Union Flag to cover the bodies before burial.

[Bob Coulson]

Christine,

On a couple of your points,

Yes a body now would be just bones and odd fragments of uniform/boots.

Coffins were not always available, a body would be wrapped in sacking before burial.

Before some of the larger battles burial areas were allocated beforehand.

Bob.

Just confirming what Bob has said, plus adding that coffins were a rarity. Normal burial would be in sandbag, tarpaulin type wrapping of body. Chris

[Geoff Parker]

I was at Bologne Eastern Cemetery last year and as Paul said previously, nearly all (including officers) the WWI head stones are laid flat. All the head stones near the entrance are all WW2, lot of them belong to aircrew shot down during the German occupation. There are also Portuguese WWI (if I remember correctly) head stones that stand upright about half way down the cemetery on the right.

I read somewhere that the ground was unstable and that is why the headstones were laid flat (as with Wimereux cemetery) Although when I visited Bologne Eastern I was surprised to see the Portuguese and WW2 head stones upright.

Geoff

[Peter Beckett]

Christine,

if you look at the Diggers webpage http://www.diggers.be/

you will see what Aurel and the crew find and the conditions. Heaps of good photos about finds, burial, identifications (successful and not so successful)

Peter

[paul guthrie]

I remembered the village with the bizarre Portueguese Memorial, it's Le Touret. Near Nueve Chapelle and La Bombe crossroads.