John_Hartley Posted 4 March , 2006 Share Posted 4 March , 2006 Just a quick confirmation, please If I am travelling towards Ieper, along the canal bank road (east side), is Yorkshire Trench off the side road that is just before the N38 crosses it (i.e more of less in between Essex Farm & Bard Cottage - but other side of the canal, of course)? John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick H Posted 4 March , 2006 Share Posted 4 March , 2006 Thats right John but the entrance onto the industrial site road is easy to miss Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaymen Posted 4 March , 2006 Share Posted 4 March , 2006 John Yes I think so The directions I had when there a few months ago were as follows - but I was approaching from Ypres. Location - Back of Ind. Est. Go past Essex Farm on right, cross canal on the right, go into Ind. Est. then 4th Left.!! Well I found it, so you should be OK Glyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Hartley Posted 4 March , 2006 Author Share Posted 4 March , 2006 Thanks, chaps. I'd lost the directions Aurel had given me previously and, having boasted to my forthcoming passengers that I know the area "like the back of my hand", did not want to be lost in the industrial estate, looking a complete prat. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurel Sercu Posted 4 March , 2006 Share Posted 4 March , 2006 The directions to Yorkshire Trench are on my website, in the fourth article about Yorkshire Trench (FAQ's about Yorkshire Trench). This is a direct link to the this article. You will have to scroll down to the very end. http://www.wo1.be/diggers/E/activiteiten/y...ench/vragen.htm Aurel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papineau Posted 4 March , 2006 Share Posted 4 March , 2006 There is also a map on this site: http://battlefields1418.50megs.com/yorkshire_trench.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Hartley Posted 4 March , 2006 Author Share Posted 4 March , 2006 Aurel/Papineau Thanks. Have got it marked on my map now. I knew it was well signposted coming from Ieper, but I'll be driving towards town (having previously been to Artillery Wood cem.). John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurel Sercu Posted 4 March , 2006 Share Posted 4 March , 2006 Aurel/Papineau (...) well signposted coming from Ieper, but I'll be driving towards town (having previously been to Artillery Wood cem.). John John, If you start from Artillery Wood Cemetery, there is no need to go to Ypres first of course. For Yorkshire Trench is almost close by. - Either you take the road next to the Peugeot Garage, which you can already see from Artillery wood Cem., or which you certainly will have to pass by (it's a new asphalt road which I hope is already open, not a concrete road, which is a dead end). This road will take you directly to Y.T. - Or you find the canal, and make sure you keep on the east bank. After a kilometer of so you will see the tall metal chimney, and that's where you turn left into the Bargiestraat. Aurel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Hartley Posted 10 March , 2006 Author Share Posted 10 March , 2006 Aurel Thanks for the info, mate. I'm going to Artillery Wood to show my in-laws the grave of Robert Rogers which, you may recall, you took a photo of for me a long while back. He's commemorated on one of my local war memorials. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6th Shropshires Posted 10 March , 2006 Share Posted 10 March , 2006 Hi John Hope you do not mind if I hi-jack your thread a little. Aurel your website is great and I read this bit with insterest Why was the trench named Yorkshire Trench ? This is a difficult question, and we're afraid we don't know the answer (yet). In the second half of 1915, when the 49th (West Riding) Division was on the Boezinge Canal Site, there were units here from Yorkshire : the 1/4th and 1/5th Bns. of the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, the 1/4th and 1/5th Bns. of the York and Lancaster Regiment, and the 1/7th and 1/8th Bns. of the West Yorkshires. This 49th Division did not come back to this part of the northern Salient after 1915. As far as we know the Divisions that followed them in 1916-1917, the 14th, 20th, Guards and 38th (Welsh) Division, were not directly related to Yorkshire. Yet, the Yorkshire Trench - i.e. its location on trench maps - dates from September 1916, nine months after the 49th Division had left. The name 'Yorkshire Trench'itself is found in war diaries dating from the same period, and is found on a trench map for the first time in January 1917. Was the name given by units that were not from Yorkshire? Referring to the presence of the Yorksire units prior to their arrival? To this we can add that other (trench) names on the Boezinge Canal site refer to Yorkshire: - Colne Valley: around the small town of Colne near the Yorkshire border - Huddersfield Road: Huddersfield 20 km south west of Leeds - Skipton Road: Skipton 30 km north west of Leeds - Barnsley Road: Barnsley in South Yorkshire, 25 km south of Leeds - Mirfield Trench: Mirfield a small town between Huddersfield and Leeds The 6th Division also held this area from 15th April 1916 tuntil about mid June, there were two Yorkshire Regiments, the 1st West Yorkshire Regiment and the 2nd Yorkshire and Lancaster Regiment. So Yorkshire Trench and other places may have got their names from them but then again Skipton Road was there before they arrived ? Annette Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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