Motor Car Corner Cemetery, Belgium (CWGC)

MOTOR CAR CORNER CEMETERY

Hainaut

Belgium

GPS Coordinates: Latitude: 50.70948 Longitude: 2.8931

Picture © Werner Van Caneghem

Location Information

Motor Car Corner Cemetery is located 17 Kms south of Ieper town centre, on a road leading from the Rijselseweg N365, which connects Ieper to Wijtschate, Mesen, Ploegsteert and on to Armentieres.

From Ieper town centre the Rijselsestraat runs from the market square, through the Lille Gate (Rijselpoort) and directly over the crossroads with the Ieper ring road. The road name then changes to the Rijselseweg.

2 Kms after the village of Ploegsteert lies the left hand turning onto Witteweg (Chemin de la Blanche). Follow the Witteweg (Chemin de la Blanche) for 300 metres and turn right into Drève de la Rabecque. The cemetery lies 300 metres further on the right hand side of the road.

Visiting Information

Wheelchair access to this cemetery is possible, but may be by an alternative entrance.

Historical Information

In this sector, Motor Car Corner marked the point beyond which military cars were not allowed to proceed towards the front. The cemetery was begun in June 1917 at the outbreak of the Battle of Messines and continued in use until the end of March 1918. It was originally sheltered by an avenue of trees and used in conjunction with a trench railway. The cemetery was in German hands between 10 April and 29 September 1918, during which period they extended it northwards. These German graves were later removed.

The cemetery now contains 131 Commonwealth burials of the First World War. One German war grave remains.

The cemetery was designed by George Hartley Goldsmith

Total Burials: 132.

Identified Casualties: New Zealand 81, United Kingdom 36, Australia 9, Germany 1. Total 127.

Unidentified Casualties: New Zealand 3, Unknown 2. Total 5.

Images in this gallery © Werner Van Caneghem

Motor Car Corner Cemetery, 1920. © IWM HU 131820

The Cross of Sacrifice at Motor Car Corner Cemetery, 1921. © IWM HU 131821

Officers in the trenches. Left to right: Major J. D. Ingles, 2nd Battalion, Devonshires. Captain O. W. McSheehy, Royal Army Medical Corps, attached 2nd Battalion Scottish Rifles. Sutton, Medical Officer of the 2nd Battalion, Devonshires, and 2nd Lieutenant J. B. Bolitho, 2nd Battalion, Devonshires. 23rd Brigade, 8th Division. At Le Touquet, 26th March 1915. © IWM (Q 51604)

Lieutenant-Colonel C M Ross-Johnson commanding 14th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery in the front lint trenches with Major Jackson, King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment near Le Touquet (Frelinghien) November 1914. The trenches in this neighbourhood were very close together. © The rights holder (IWM Q 56726)

Brigadier-General George Francis Milne at Le Touquet, near Frelinghien. "The two wagons blocked the road and you entered the communication trench showing just this side of them and went up to the front line. Our mine was started in the houses just off the photo to the right." October 1914. © The rights holder (IWM Q 56734)