zijde26 Posted 13 January , 2004 Share Posted 13 January , 2004 To All, Beneath you will find a scan of an old postcard showing the very beginning of an English Cemetery in Ypres. Does anyone know what '267' means ? What is the today name of this cemetery ? Gilbert Deraedt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris_Baker Posted 13 January , 2004 Share Posted 13 January , 2004 It looks like simply Number 267, Menin Road. The site of a former house or something? I would guess it might be Menin Road South cemetery? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacky Platteeuw Posted 13 January , 2004 Share Posted 13 January , 2004 Looking closely I thought for a moment that it could be Birr Cross Roads but, I suppose this is a picture of 1919-1920, it is to big. I agree with Chris that it is Menin Road South. What indeed fascinate me it is the number on the card. As can be clearly seen the card is from a booklet with possibly 12 cards. I always had a feeling that just after the war an inventory off all British Cem's has been made. This theory is confirmed by this postcard I suppose. Anyone know of the excistance of such an inventory or list with the original locations of the Cem's before any concentration?. Jacky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurel Sercu Posted 13 January , 2004 Share Posted 13 January , 2004 Gilbert, Somehow the answer to your question is related to this : http://www.xs4all.nl/~aur/layout/frames.htm?geo/14a.htm A link to Marco Hovelink & Peter van den Heuvel's website "An Unfortunate Region". Yet, I know you won't find your number 267 on it. But my experience is that often the number on these postcards is wrong. I found out with a post card naming Birr Cross Roads Cem, but with a different (wrong) number. I do not know what the origin of the map in An Unforunate Region is, but does Sydney Hearst (spelling ?) ring a bell ? Not really in my head, but maybe in someone else's ? And also this : there is a cemetery on that map with the number 2467-8. And this apparently is the Ypres Communal Cemetery. Which has access from the ... Menin road. Could that be the one ? Aurel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacky Platteeuw Posted 13 January , 2004 Share Posted 13 January , 2004 The book is called 'Silent Cities' by Sydney Hurst. However I don't think the numbering on the maps are related to the one on the postcard. This is the first time I see, for a British Cemetery, a postcard with a number. On the German side this numbering of Cem's is very common. Jacky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurel Sercu Posted 13 January , 2004 Share Posted 13 January , 2004 Gilbert, Are you really sure the number is 267 ? I have the same postcard (a scan), and there is no doubt : mine shows 287 (when zooming in it removes the last shred of a doubt). You might say : only a detail.... I don't think so. (But first I have to take back my naming it "Ypres Communal Cem.) For me this might be Birr Cross Roads indeed. For the number on Marco's map for Birr Cross Roads Cem is ... 281. And, admit it, 281 is very similar to 287. Were the ..1 and the ..7 confounded ? Aurel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurel Sercu Posted 13 January , 2004 Share Posted 13 January , 2004 Jacky, On the other hand, you may be right. Looks too big for Birr Crossroads. We'll discuss this tomorrow morning (actually this morning already !) at the Ypres Documentation Centre. (This time no wine please. Being 60 years + 1 week does not call for a celebration !) Aurel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Denham Posted 13 January , 2004 Share Posted 13 January , 2004 IWGC allocated unique numbers to all their cemeteries in each country but the number on the postcard does not match their sequence and so it probably pre-dates their system. In their system 267 is Houyet Churchyard but, interestingly, number 287 is blank suggesting that it had been cleared. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Coulson Posted 14 January , 2004 Share Posted 14 January , 2004 Could it be Ypres Town Cemetery? Bob. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zijde26 Posted 14 January , 2004 Author Share Posted 14 January , 2004 To All, Many thanks for the answers. Reexamination of the ' number ' of the cemetery shown on this postcard said that this number should be ' 287 '. This could also fit with the fact that this cemetery had been cleared nowadays. Gilbert Deraedt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Reed Posted 14 January , 2004 Share Posted 14 January , 2004 Might the number relate to one of the Ypres League publications i.e Immortal Salient? I don't have my copies to hand to check. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacky Platteeuw Posted 14 January , 2004 Share Posted 14 January , 2004 I have been looking a little closer and it is not that big as I supposed. So there is another possibility in my opinion. Terry made an interesting remark: nr 287 was cleared. This opens the possibility that it could be Menin Road North Cemetery which was concentrated in Menin Road South. Michael Scott gives a number of 130 burials in Menin Road North. Jacky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Denham Posted 14 January , 2004 Share Posted 14 January , 2004 Yes, Jacky. I have the complete list of CWGC allocated numbers but in an internal CWGC book produced after the the early post-war clearances. Numbers 286 and 287 are blank suggesting that the numbers were originally allocated but no longer required due to clearance. Other later cleared cemeteries still appear in the list and so it again suggests these numbers were cleared early in the process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zijde26 Posted 15 January , 2004 Author Share Posted 15 January , 2004 Bir Cross Roads Cemetery is in Zillebeke (that is what I think) Is it possible to make an internet search in the databases of the IWGC and the later CWGC with the help of this number(s) ? To Paul, What is meant by ' the Ypres League publications i.e Immortal Salient ' ? Gilbert Deraedt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now