CHESTER FARM CEMETERY
West-Vlaanderen
Belgium
GPS Coordinates Latitude: 50.82107 Longitude: 2.9015
Picture © Werner Van Caneghem
Location Information
Chester Farm Cemetery is located 5 kilometres south of Ieper town centre, on the Vaartstraat, a road leading from the Rijselseweg (N365) connecting Ieper to Armentieres.
From Ieper town centre the Rijselseweg is located via the Rijselsestraat, through the Rijselpoort (Lille Gate) and by crossing the Ieper ring road, towards Armentieres and Lille. The road name then changes to Rijselseweg. 3 kilometres along the Rijselseweg lies the left hand turning onto the Vaartstraat.
The cemetery is located 1.5 km along the Vaartstraat on the left hand side of the road.
Visiting Information
Wheelchair access to cemetery is possible via the main entrance.
Historical Information
Chester Farm was the name given to a farm about 1 Km South of Blauwepoort Farm, on the road from Zillebeke to Voormezeele. The cemetery was begun in March 1915 and was used by front line troops until November 1917. Plot I contains the graves of 92 officers and men of the 2nd Manchesters, who died in April-July 1915 and there are 72 London Regiment burials elsewhere in the Cemetery.
There are 420 Commonwealth servicemen buried or commemorated in this cemetery. Eight of the burials are unidentified, but special memorials commemorate six casualties known or believed to be buried among them.
The cemetery was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and William Harrison Cowlishaw
Total Burials: 424.
Identified Casualties: United Kingdom 306, Canada 87, Australia 21, Germany 2. Total 416.
Unidentified Casualties: 8. Total 8.
Chester Farm Cemetery is located 5 kilometres south of Ieper town centre, on the Vaartstraat, a road leading from the Rijselseweg (N365) connecting Ieper to Armentieres.
From Ieper town centre the Rijselseweg is located via the Rijselsestraat, through the Rijselpoort (Lille Gate) and by crossing the Ieper ring road, towards Armentieres and Lille. The road name then changes to Rijselseweg. 3 kilometres along the Rijselseweg lies the left hand turning onto the Vaartstraat.
The cemetery is located 1.5 km along the Vaartstraat on the left hand side of the road.
Visiting Information
Wheelchair access to cemetery is possible via the main entrance.
Historical Information
Chester Farm was the name given to a farm about 1 Km South of Blauwepoort Farm, on the road from Zillebeke to Voormezeele. The cemetery was begun in March 1915 and was used by front line troops until November 1917. Plot I contains the graves of 92 officers and men of the 2nd Manchesters, who died in April-July 1915 and there are 72 London Regiment burials elsewhere in the Cemetery.
There are 420 Commonwealth servicemen buried or commemorated in this cemetery. Eight of the burials are unidentified, but special memorials commemorate six casualties known or believed to be buried among them.
The cemetery was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and William Harrison Cowlishaw
Total Burials: 424.
Identified Casualties: United Kingdom 306, Canada 87, Australia 21, Germany 2. Total 416.
Unidentified Casualties: 8. Total 8.
Troops of the Motor Machine Gun Corps unit building their dugout behind the Bluff near Ypres, March 1915. © IWM (Q 61571)
Images in this gallery © Werner Van Caneghem
2868 Private (Pte) John Fullerton (Jack) Aarons, 16th Battalion, standing beside the original grave marker of 5392 Private (Pte) Thomas James Manners.
Pte Aarons was born at Orange, NSW, enlisted in Perth, WA, on 10 July 1916 with the 51st Battalion and embarked from Fremantle aboard HMAT Argyllshire on 9 November 1916.
On 5 May 1917 he transferred to the 16th Battalion in which his younger brother 2nd Lieutenant (later Captain, MC and Bar) Daniel Sidney Aarons served.
Pte Aarons died of wounds 11 July 1917.
Pte Thomas Manners, 16th Battalion, a tram conductor of Victoria Park, WA, enlisted on 6 December 1915 and embarked from Fremantle aboard HMAT Aeneas on 17 April 1916.
He was killed in action in Belgium on 4 October 1916, aged 27 years and buried at Trois Arbres Cemetery
Pte Aarons was born at Orange, NSW, enlisted in Perth, WA, on 10 July 1916 with the 51st Battalion and embarked from Fremantle aboard HMAT Argyllshire on 9 November 1916.
On 5 May 1917 he transferred to the 16th Battalion in which his younger brother 2nd Lieutenant (later Captain, MC and Bar) Daniel Sidney Aarons served.
Pte Aarons died of wounds 11 July 1917.
Pte Thomas Manners, 16th Battalion, a tram conductor of Victoria Park, WA, enlisted on 6 December 1915 and embarked from Fremantle aboard HMAT Aeneas on 17 April 1916.
He was killed in action in Belgium on 4 October 1916, aged 27 years and buried at Trois Arbres Cemetery
2367 Private
John Duggan
14th Bn. Australian Infantry, A. I. F.
2nd October 1916, aged 29.
Plot II. E. 7.
Son of John and Margaret Duggan; husband of Sarah Jane Duggan, of 9, Claude St., Northcote, Victoria, Australia. Native of Kyneton, Victoria, Australia.
Pte Duggan enlisted on 13 May 1915 and embarked aboard the RMS Persia in Melbourne on 10 August 1915. He was killed in action in Belgium, aged 29.
3349 Corporal S. J. Austwaite was with John Duggan when he was killed:
"We were on fatigue, working building support line trenches at Estmare trench near Spoilbank. I was in the next bay to him when he was killed outright by a piece of shell. Hit in the head, I saw him lying in the trench. He was not taken out by us. The Pioneers were to go up and bury him and any others who had been killed."
John Duggan
14th Bn. Australian Infantry, A. I. F.
2nd October 1916, aged 29.
Plot II. E. 7.
Son of John and Margaret Duggan; husband of Sarah Jane Duggan, of 9, Claude St., Northcote, Victoria, Australia. Native of Kyneton, Victoria, Australia.
Pte Duggan enlisted on 13 May 1915 and embarked aboard the RMS Persia in Melbourne on 10 August 1915. He was killed in action in Belgium, aged 29.
3349 Corporal S. J. Austwaite was with John Duggan when he was killed:
"We were on fatigue, working building support line trenches at Estmare trench near Spoilbank. I was in the next bay to him when he was killed outright by a piece of shell. Hit in the head, I saw him lying in the trench. He was not taken out by us. The Pioneers were to go up and bury him and any others who had been killed."
5092 Private
John William Geale
52nd Bn. Australian Infantry, A. I. F.
15th October 1916, aged 31.
Plot II. E. 13.
Son of William and Charlotte Geale, of Smithton, Tasmania. Native of Hazlewood, Gippsland, Victoria, Australia.
A farmer before enlisting in January 1916, Pte Geale left Australia for France with the 16th Reinforcements of the 12th Battalion in March 1916. Transferred to the 52nd Battalion in May 1916, he was with the battalion for less than two months before he was killed at Spoil Bank near St Eloi in Belgium on 15 October 1916, age 31.
John William Geale
52nd Bn. Australian Infantry, A. I. F.
15th October 1916, aged 31.
Plot II. E. 13.
Son of William and Charlotte Geale, of Smithton, Tasmania. Native of Hazlewood, Gippsland, Victoria, Australia.
A farmer before enlisting in January 1916, Pte Geale left Australia for France with the 16th Reinforcements of the 12th Battalion in March 1916. Transferred to the 52nd Battalion in May 1916, he was with the battalion for less than two months before he was killed at Spoil Bank near St Eloi in Belgium on 15 October 1916, age 31.
4498 Private
Phillip Charles Hugill Grove
52nd Bn. Australian Infantry, A. I. F.
13th October 1916, aged 26.
Plot II. E. 11.
Son of Philip E. and Alice Grove. Native of Woodbridge, Tasmania.
Phillip Charles Hugill Grove
52nd Bn. Australian Infantry, A. I. F.
13th October 1916, aged 26.
Plot II. E. 11.
Son of Philip E. and Alice Grove. Native of Woodbridge, Tasmania.
2783 Private
Arthur Hamilton
52nd Bn. Australian Infantry, A. I. F.
22nd October 1916, aged 20.
Plot II. E. 14.
Son of Donald Bath Hamilton and Amelia Elizabeth Hamilton, of 5, Henley St., Torrensville, South Australia. Native of Adelaide, South Australia.
Arthur Hamilton
52nd Bn. Australian Infantry, A. I. F.
22nd October 1916, aged 20.
Plot II. E. 14.
Son of Donald Bath Hamilton and Amelia Elizabeth Hamilton, of 5, Henley St., Torrensville, South Australia. Native of Adelaide, South Australia.
350485 Serjeant
Charles William Anthony Robertson
7th Bn. London Regiment
24th March 1917.
Plot III. D. 3.
Picture courtesy of Lesley Furlong, great niece.
Charles William Anthony Robertson
7th Bn. London Regiment
24th March 1917.
Plot III. D. 3.
Picture courtesy of Lesley Furlong, great niece.
A soldier of the Motor Machine Gun Corps unit with a Vickers machine gun (foreground) looking out onto the view (background) from a hidden machine gun post overlooking the canal behind the Bluff near Ypres, March 1915. © IWM (Q 61579)
Images in this gallery © Geerhard Joos
A troop of the Motor Machine Gun Corps unit having a warm drink in a dugout near the Bluff near Ypres, March 1915. © IWM (Q 61572)
Cameron Highlanders eating in the reserve dugouts behind the Bluff near Ypres, March 1915. © IWM (Q 61591)
The "Field of Fire" from hidden gun post of the Motor Machine Gun Corps unit somewhere near the Bluff at Ypres, March 1915. © IWM (Q 61599)
