"Churchyard at Linie", near Hooge

[Michael Pegum]

I am researching Robert Maxwell Pike, who made a crash landing "near Hooge" on 9th August, 1915. According to a message dropped over the British lines by a German plane, he died soon after landing, from a head wound, and "was buried with full military honours in the churchyard at Linie". This was, apparently, near where he had landed.

His grave has not been identified, and he is commemorated on the Arras Flying Services Memorial. I wonder if he might have been buried among Germans and still be there, or have been moved with them to a consolidated cemetery.

Is there anyone in that part of the world who could identify the churchyard at Linie (he was a Protestant and this might have been taken into account)? Is there a German cemetery in that area? Is there any record of German graves being moved from there to somewhere else?

A long shot, I know, but his grave ought to exist still.

Michael

[Aurel Sercu]

, and "was buried with full military honours in the churchyard at Linie". This was, apparently, near where he had landed.

Is there anyone in that part of the world who could identify the churchyard at Linie

Michael,

"Churchyard at Linie" ? Sorry, but this does not ring any bell.

I can't see any village in the Ypres Salient or near Hooge that has a name that bears some resemblance to it. And it can't be a small insignificant hamlet, for it is supposed to have a church and churchyard.

And "Linie" does not sound like a word / name that can be used for a toponym. "Linie" is the Flemish/Dutch word for "line".

In what form did you find "Linie" ? Was it printed, typewritten, handwritten ?

Aurel

[Michael Pegum]

Hello, Aurel,

The information I have is that he was in a fight over Bellewarde and made a forced landing near Hooge, as described above. I don't know how the note was written. Would "linie" be used to mean a line as in trench, i.e near the front line?

Perhaps he was buried in a cemetery used also for German soldiers and airmen. Are there, or were there, any German cemeteries in that area? Are there many churches within, say, 10km of Hooge, and did any buildings in that area survive the war? Do you think it likely that the grave was destroyed in subsequent shelling?

Michael

[Michelle Young]

There was a German cemetery near Reutel which isn't that far from Hooge- some of the Wilts regiment originally interred there were re-interred at Perth Cemetery (China Wall)

Cheers, Michelle

[roel22]

I came across this old (2003) post by Forum-member AOK4:

"In the 1920s the remains of the Allied war dead were taken from the German cemeteries. However some of these weren't found back at the place where they should be. Since in the 1950s all unidentifiable remaining remains from the former German cemeteries were concentrated to the Kameradengrab in Langemark, all the British remains that were once on these German cemeteries should be in the Kameradengrab now, so all the British soldiers that weren't found back should be there."

Pike might have been buried in a German massgrave, which would have made it very hard/impossible to indentify his remains after the war. When this cemetery was cleared Pike would have been transferred to Langemark, together with the German casualties.

Roel

[Aurel Sercu]

1. Would "linie" be used to mean a line as in trench, i.e near the front line?

2. Perhaps he was buried in a cemetery used also for German soldiers and airmen.

3. Are there, or were there, any German cemeteries in that area?

4. Are there many churches within, say, 10km of Hooge,

5. and did any buildings in that area survive the war?

6. Do you think it likely that the grave was destroyed in subsequent shelling?

Michael

Michael,

1. Yes, also in the military sense indeed. (By the way, Linie is also a German word.)

2. Of course, this is possible. Many German cemeteries also had graves of British (and Allied) men.

3. After the war there were hundreds of German cemeteries. Most of them in the Ypres Salient, and many of them in the area east of Ypres, Hooge. One of them was Reutel, as Michelle mentioned. But there were others, even closer by. (But I doubt very much if one of them has a clue referring to the man you are interested in. I certainly don't think I have any in my information.)

4. Within 10 km is a very large area. The village churches I see (excluding the ones where the Germans never were) : Boezinge, Bikschote, Langemark, Sint-Juliaan, Sint-Jan, Zonnebeke, Poelkapelle, Moorslede, Beselare, Geluveld, Zandvoorde, Hollebeke, Zillebeke, Houthem, Mesen, Wijtschate, Voormezele. In other words : the whole Salient.

5. Buildings survived ? Not many ! Or do you mean "churches". Not many either ! (And that is more or less an understatement.) But of course, even with the church destroyed, the churchyard nearby could still have been used.

6. Absolutely.

Sorry, not very useful information I'm afraid.

Aurel