POLYGON WOOD CEMETERY
West-Vlaanderen
Belgium
GPS Coordinates - Latitude: 50.85699, Longitude: 2.99068
Location Information
Polygon Wood Cemetery is located 8 kilometres east of Ieper town centre, on the Lange Dreve a road leading from the Meenseweg (N8), connecting Ieper to Menen.
From Ieper town centre the Meenseweg is located via Torhoutstraat and right onto Basculestraat. Basculestraat ends at a main cross roads, directly over which begins the Meenseweg.
4.7 kilometres along the Meenseweg and after passing the Bellewaerde theme park lies the left hand turning onto Oude Kortrijkstraat. 2 kilometres along the Oude Kortrijkstraat the road crosses the A19 motorway. Immediately after this bridge is the left hand turning onto the Lotegatstraat, which borders Polygon Wood. 800 metres along the Lotegatstraat is the right hand turning onto Lange Dreve. The Cemetery is located 1 kilometres along the Lange Dreve on the left hand side of the road.
Visiting Information
The location or design of this site makes wheelchair access impossible.
Historical Information
Polygon Wood is a large wood 1.6 kilometres south of the village of Zonnebeke which was completely devastated in the First World War. The wood was cleared by Commonwealth troops at the end of October 1914, given up on 3 May 1915, taken again at the end of September 1917 by Australian troops, evacuated in the Battles of the Lys, and finally retaken by the 9th (Scottish) Division on 28 September 1918. On the Butte itself is the Battle Memorial of the 5th Australian Division, who captured it on 26 September 1917.
POLYGON WOOD CEMETERY is an irregular front-line cemetery made between August 1917 and April 1918, and used again in September 1918.
The cemetery contains 107 Commonwealth burials of the First World War, 19 of them unidentified. 60 of those buried here served with the New Zealand forces. There is also one German grave within the cemetery.
Total Burials: 107.
Identified Caualties: New Zealand 58, United Kingdom 29, Germany 1. Total 88.
Unidentified Casualties: 18. Total 19.
A walled avenue leads from Polygon Wood Cemetery, past the Cross of Sacrifice, to the BUTTES NEW BRITISH CEMETERY. This burial ground was made after the Armistice when a large number of graves (almost all of 1917, but in a few instances of 1914, 1916 and 1918) were brought in from the battlefields of Zonnebeke.
Total Burials: 2,112.
Identified Burials: United Kingdom 160, New Zealand 95, Canada 6. Total 433.
Unidentified Burials: 1,679.
The BUTTES NEW BRITISH CEMETERY (NEW ZEALAND) MEMORIAL, which stands in Buttes New British Cemetery, commemorates 378 officers and men of the New Zealand Division who died in the Polygon Wood sector between September 1917 and May 1918, and who have no known grave.
Commemorated: New Zealand 378. Total 378.
The cemeteries and memorial were designed by Charles Holden and Captain Wilfred Clement Von Berg, M. C.
Polygon Wood Cemetery is located 8 kilometres east of Ieper town centre, on the Lange Dreve a road leading from the Meenseweg (N8), connecting Ieper to Menen.
From Ieper town centre the Meenseweg is located via Torhoutstraat and right onto Basculestraat. Basculestraat ends at a main cross roads, directly over which begins the Meenseweg.
4.7 kilometres along the Meenseweg and after passing the Bellewaerde theme park lies the left hand turning onto Oude Kortrijkstraat. 2 kilometres along the Oude Kortrijkstraat the road crosses the A19 motorway. Immediately after this bridge is the left hand turning onto the Lotegatstraat, which borders Polygon Wood. 800 metres along the Lotegatstraat is the right hand turning onto Lange Dreve. The Cemetery is located 1 kilometres along the Lange Dreve on the left hand side of the road.
Visiting Information
The location or design of this site makes wheelchair access impossible.
Historical Information
Polygon Wood is a large wood 1.6 kilometres south of the village of Zonnebeke which was completely devastated in the First World War. The wood was cleared by Commonwealth troops at the end of October 1914, given up on 3 May 1915, taken again at the end of September 1917 by Australian troops, evacuated in the Battles of the Lys, and finally retaken by the 9th (Scottish) Division on 28 September 1918. On the Butte itself is the Battle Memorial of the 5th Australian Division, who captured it on 26 September 1917.
POLYGON WOOD CEMETERY is an irregular front-line cemetery made between August 1917 and April 1918, and used again in September 1918.
The cemetery contains 107 Commonwealth burials of the First World War, 19 of them unidentified. 60 of those buried here served with the New Zealand forces. There is also one German grave within the cemetery.
Total Burials: 107.
Identified Caualties: New Zealand 58, United Kingdom 29, Germany 1. Total 88.
Unidentified Casualties: 18. Total 19.
A walled avenue leads from Polygon Wood Cemetery, past the Cross of Sacrifice, to the BUTTES NEW BRITISH CEMETERY. This burial ground was made after the Armistice when a large number of graves (almost all of 1917, but in a few instances of 1914, 1916 and 1918) were brought in from the battlefields of Zonnebeke.
Total Burials: 2,112.
Identified Burials: United Kingdom 160, New Zealand 95, Canada 6. Total 433.
Unidentified Burials: 1,679.
The BUTTES NEW BRITISH CEMETERY (NEW ZEALAND) MEMORIAL, which stands in Buttes New British Cemetery, commemorates 378 officers and men of the New Zealand Division who died in the Polygon Wood sector between September 1917 and May 1918, and who have no known grave.
Commemorated: New Zealand 378. Total 378.
The cemeteries and memorial were designed by Charles Holden and Captain Wilfred Clement Von Berg, M. C.
Butte de Polygon, Belgium. 1924. The 5th Australian Divisional Memorial, AIF, in the Ypres Sector, in the background. A New Zealand cemetery (Polygon Wood Cemetery) is in the foreground.
11193 Company Quartermaster Serjeant
Robert Arnott
2nd Bn. Otago Regiment, N.Z.E.F.
12th December 1917.
Row D. 7.
Robert Arnott
2nd Bn. Otago Regiment, N.Z.E.F.
12th December 1917.
Row D. 7.
44246 Rifleman
Francis Charles Baker
3rd Bn. 3rd New Zealand Rifle Brigade
8th December 1917, aged 21.
Row G. 14.
Son of Charles Hickling Baker and Jane Francis Baker, of Whangarei, Auckland, New Zealand.
Francis Charles Baker
3rd Bn. 3rd New Zealand Rifle Brigade
8th December 1917, aged 21.
Row G. 14.
Son of Charles Hickling Baker and Jane Francis Baker, of Whangarei, Auckland, New Zealand.
6/1785 Serjeant
William Stewart Brien, M. M.
2nd Bn. Canterbury Regiment, N. Z. E. F.
13th December 1917, aged 29.
Row D. 14.
Son of Jessie Brien, of Waimate, Timaru, New Zealand, and the late Robert Brien. Also served at Gallipoli.
William Stewart Brien, M. M.
2nd Bn. Canterbury Regiment, N. Z. E. F.
13th December 1917, aged 29.
Row D. 14.
Son of Jessie Brien, of Waimate, Timaru, New Zealand, and the late Robert Brien. Also served at Gallipoli.
49599 Private
Charles Caldwell
2nd Bn. Canterbury Regiment, N. Z. E. F.
13th December 1917, aged 24.
Row F. 16.
Son of Alexander and Ellen Caldwell, of Otipua, Timaru, New Zealand.
Charles Caldwell
2nd Bn. Canterbury Regiment, N. Z. E. F.
13th December 1917, aged 24.
Row F. 16.
Son of Alexander and Ellen Caldwell, of Otipua, Timaru, New Zealand.
47977 Rifleman
George Albert Carter
4th Bn. 3rd New Zealand Rifle Brigade
7th January 1918, aged 29.
Sp. Mem. A. 2.
His headstone bears the inscription; "Their Glory Shall Not Be Blotted Out."
Son of the late Samuel and Jane Carter; husband of Anna Susan Carter, of Anderson St., Eketahuna. Born at Timaru, Canterbury, New Zealand.
George Albert Carter
4th Bn. 3rd New Zealand Rifle Brigade
7th January 1918, aged 29.
Sp. Mem. A. 2.
His headstone bears the inscription; "Their Glory Shall Not Be Blotted Out."
Son of the late Samuel and Jane Carter; husband of Anna Susan Carter, of Anderson St., Eketahuna. Born at Timaru, Canterbury, New Zealand.
32938 Private
Michael Corcoran (sitting with two unidentified friends)
3rd Bn. Canterbury Regiment, N. Z. E. F.
29th November 1917, aged 23.
Row H. 1.
Son of Thomas and Susan Corcoran, of Greymouth, New Zealand.
Michael Corcoran (sitting with two unidentified friends)
3rd Bn. Canterbury Regiment, N. Z. E. F.
29th November 1917, aged 23.
Row H. 1.
Son of Thomas and Susan Corcoran, of Greymouth, New Zealand.
6/2414 Private
Thomas George Foster
2nd Bn. Canterbury Regiment, N.Z.E.F.
19th February 1918.
Row G. 15.
Son of the late Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Foster, of Coromandel, Auckland, New Zealand.
Thomas George Foster
2nd Bn. Canterbury Regiment, N.Z.E.F.
19th February 1918.
Row G. 15.
Son of the late Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Foster, of Coromandel, Auckland, New Zealand.
(1919) View of the area around Polygon Butte (far right) taken from Polygon Wood near Zonnebeke. On the far left are rows of stacked shells as well as duckboards, which extend across the centre. In the foreground are the remains of a sandbagged trench, in front of which are several graves marked by crosses. This panorama is one of a series taken by the Australian War Records Section with a 'Cirkut' camera.
Cemetery images in this gallery © Geerhard Joos
8/3615 Serjeant
George McDonald Hamilton
2nd Bn. Otago Regiment, N. Z. E. F.
16th February 1918.
Row C. 6.
George McDonald Hamilton
2nd Bn. Otago Regiment, N. Z. E. F.
16th February 1918.
Row C. 6.
44284 Rifleman
Brian Massey Hutchinson
1st Bn. 3rd New Zealand Rifle Brigade
3rd December 1917.
Row G. 10.
Brian Massey Hutchinson
1st Bn. 3rd New Zealand Rifle Brigade
3rd December 1917.
Row G. 10.
24/1707 Rifleman
William Charles Kitson
2nd Bn. 3rd New Zealand Rifle Brigade
3rd January 1918.
Row D. 4.
Son of Mrs. A. Kitson, of Wanganui, New Zealand.
William Charles Kitson
2nd Bn. 3rd New Zealand Rifle Brigade
3rd January 1918.
Row D. 4.
Son of Mrs. A. Kitson, of Wanganui, New Zealand.
8/3665 Lance Corporal
Stanley Laurence
2nd Bn. Otago Regiment, N.Z.E.F.
16th February 1918, aged 22.
Row C. 4.
Son of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Laurence, of Tariki, New Plymouth, New Zealand.
Stanley Laurence
2nd Bn. Otago Regiment, N.Z.E.F.
16th February 1918, aged 22.
Row C. 4.
Son of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Laurence, of Tariki, New Plymouth, New Zealand.
24/214 Lance Corporal
William Frederick Leslie
2nd Bn. 3rd New Zealand Rifle Brigade
4th February 1918, aged 30.
Row C. 3.
Son of Charles and Jessie C. Leslie.
William Frederick Leslie
2nd Bn. 3rd New Zealand Rifle Brigade
4th February 1918, aged 30.
Row C. 3.
Son of Charles and Jessie C. Leslie.
33389 Lance Corporal
Robert Henry Lines
"D" Company, 2nd Bn. 3rd New Zealand Rifle Brigade
4th January 1918, aged 31.
Row D. 6.
Son of J. and F. Lines, of Christchurch; husband of Victoria May Lines, of Petone, Wellington, New Zealand.
Robert Henry Lines
"D" Company, 2nd Bn. 3rd New Zealand Rifle Brigade
4th January 1918, aged 31.
Row D. 6.
Son of J. and F. Lines, of Christchurch; husband of Victoria May Lines, of Petone, Wellington, New Zealand.
Second Lieutenant
John Jackson Low, M. C. & M. M.
"F" Special Company, Royal Engineers
3rd December 1917, aged 23.
Row B. 9.
His headstone bears the inscription "Of 3, Orrock Place, Jeanfield, Perth, Scotland"
Son of James and Margaret Low, of 3, Orrock Place, Jeanfield, Perth.
John Jackson Low, M. C. & M. M.
"F" Special Company, Royal Engineers
3rd December 1917, aged 23.
Row B. 9.
His headstone bears the inscription "Of 3, Orrock Place, Jeanfield, Perth, Scotland"
Son of James and Margaret Low, of 3, Orrock Place, Jeanfield, Perth.
53050 Rifleman
John Philip Macintire
"C" Company, 1st Bn. 3rd New Zealand Rifle Brigade
2nd February 1918, aged 28.
Row E. 6.
Son of Dr. J. H. and Mrs. Ada Macintire, of Palmerston North, Wellington, New Zealand.
John Philip Macintire
"C" Company, 1st Bn. 3rd New Zealand Rifle Brigade
2nd February 1918, aged 28.
Row E. 6.
Son of Dr. J. H. and Mrs. Ada Macintire, of Palmerston North, Wellington, New Zealand.
6/1614 Serjeant
Ambrose Manson
2nd Bn. Canterbury Regiment, N.Z.E.F.
13th December 1917, aged 25.
Row D. 15.
Son of William and Catherine Manson, of Little River, Christchurch, New Zealand.
Ambrose Manson
2nd Bn. Canterbury Regiment, N.Z.E.F.
13th December 1917, aged 25.
Row D. 15.
Son of William and Catherine Manson, of Little River, Christchurch, New Zealand.
235495 Private
John Robertson Thomson
2nd Bn. Gordon Highlanders
4th October 1917.
Coll. Grave D. 2A.
His headstone bears the inscription; "Fare Thee Well Our Scottish Soldier Rest In Peace Your Battle's O'er."
Husband of Annie Thomson, of 13, Auchterderran Road, Lochgelly, Fife.
John Robertson Thomson
2nd Bn. Gordon Highlanders
4th October 1917.
Coll. Grave D. 2A.
His headstone bears the inscription; "Fare Thee Well Our Scottish Soldier Rest In Peace Your Battle's O'er."
Husband of Annie Thomson, of 13, Auchterderran Road, Lochgelly, Fife.
46810 Private
Robert Vesey
2nd Bn. Canterbury Regiment, N.Z.E.F.
13th December 1917.
Row F. 17.
Robert Vesey
2nd Bn. Canterbury Regiment, N.Z.E.F.
13th December 1917.
Row F. 17.
56055 Rifleman
Arthur Webley
1st Bn. 3rd New Zealand Rifle Brigade
7th December 1917, aged 28.
Row F. 5.
Son of David and Mary Webley, of Petone, Wellington, New Zealand.
Arthur Webley
1st Bn. 3rd New Zealand Rifle Brigade
7th December 1917, aged 28.
Row F. 5.
Son of David and Mary Webley, of Petone, Wellington, New Zealand.
40267 Private
Lewis Henry Windleborn
2nd Bn. Canterbury Regiment, N.Z.E.F.
13th December 1917.
Row F. 15.
Lewis Henry Windleborn
2nd Bn. Canterbury Regiment, N.Z.E.F.
13th December 1917.
Row F. 15.
Images in this gallery © Werner Van Caneghem
c 1921. "Following the barrage, 20th September, 1917". A hand-coloured print of a photograph taken by an unknown Australian soldier showing the attack on Polygon Wood by the Australian troops that followed a great barrage on the morning of 20 September 1917. This hand-coloured print was produced by Colarts Studio, also known as the Colograph-Art Company. Colarts was the contractor to the Australian War Memorial for producing photographic prints for sale to the public. The studio produced enlargements, intended for framing, and toned and hand-coloured prints. Joynt also collected soldier photographs, from which he produced, exhibited, and sold similar coloured enlargements. Colarts was owned by Capt. William D. Joynt, V.C. Colarts Studio operated at 98 Albert St, Windsor, Melbourne, then 447-9 Law Courts Place, Melbourne. The entry for this print in Colarts' catalogue of soldier photographs carried the following caption: "The Passchendaele operations saw the greatest concentration of artillery in the war - one gun to every nine years of front - throwing projectiles weighing from 18 lbs. to nearly a ton, to a depth of 1000 yards. Advancing in lifts of 100 yards every three minutes, our men literally walked behind a wall of fire". This print was made in Colarts' Windsor studio. Joynt's collection of soldier photographs was later acquired by the AWM.
Original grave of 32938 Private, Michael Corcoran, 3rd Bn. Canterbury Regiment, N.Z.E.F., killed 29th November 1917 aged 23 at Polygon Wood. He is now buried in Row H. 1 of this cemetery.
Aerial view of Polygonveld (Polygon Wood), 5 September 1917.
November 1917: Five unidentified soldiers standing on the pillbox (fortified observation post) known as 'Anzac House' on Anzac Ridge, near Polygon Wood in the Flemish countryside east of Ypres. The main line of German resistance lay along an old system of trenches that followed this ridge, which was attacked by the Australians during the battle of Menin Road in September 1917.
Maps. Air Photo. Polygon Wood. Sheet 28 J. 9 etc. No. 10982. Note the racecourse. © IWM Q 45149
Aerial photograph of Polygon Wood. Sheet 28, J8, 9. Date 11 September 1917. © IWM Q 58428
