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SANCTUARY WOOD CEMETERY

West-Vlaanderen

​Belgium

GPS Coordinates - Latitude: 50.83842, Longitude: 2.94422

Sanctuary Wood Cemetery
Picture © Geerhard Joos
Location Information

Sanctuary Wood Cemetery is located 5 Kms east of Ieper town centre, on the Canadalaan, 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. 3 Kms along the Meenseweg lies the right hand turning onto Canadalaan. The cemetery itself is located 1.5 Kms along Canadalaan on the right hand side of the road. 100 metres beyond the cemetery at the end of the Canadalaan is the Hill 62 Memorial.

Visiting Information

Wheelchair access to this site is possible, but maybe by an alternative entrance.

Historical Information

Sanctuary Wood is one of the larger woods in the commune of Zillebeke. It was named in November 1914, when it was used to screen troops behind the front line. It was the scene of fighting in September 1915 and was the centre of the Battle of Mount Sorrel (2-13 June 1916) involving the 1st and 3rd Canadian Divisions.

There were three Commonwealth cemeteries at Sanctuary Wood before June 1916, all made in May-August 1915. The first two were on the western end of the wood, the third in a clearing further east. All were practically obliterated in the Battle of Mount Sorrel, but traces of the second were found and it became the nucleus of the present Sanctuary Wood Cemetery.

At the Armistice, the cemetery contained 137 graves. From 1927 to 1932, Plots II-V were added and the cemetery extended as far as 'Maple Avenue', when graves were brought in from the surrounding battlefields. They came mainly from the communes immediately surrounding Ypres, but a few were taken from Nieuport (on the coast) and the following smaller cemeteries:-

BEYTHEM COMMUNAL CEMETERY, RUMBEKE (one United Kingdom burial of October, 1918).

DEERLYCK GERMAN CEMETERY (two United Kingdom burials of October, 1918; two others were taken to Dadizeele New British Cemetery).

DONEGAL FARM GERMAN CEMETERY, DRANOUTRE, on the more Southerly road from Dranoutre to Lindenhoek (one unidentified British officer).

EISKELLAR GERMAN CEMETERY, GHELUVELT, the cemetery of the 106th Infantry Regiment, between Veldhoek and Herenthage Chateau (one unidentified; one other burial was taken to Harlebeke New British Cemetery).

FLANDERS FIELD AMERICAN CEMETERY, WAEREGHEM, one of the American Military Cemeteries (one R.A.F. Officer).

HOLLEBEKE CEMETERY No.60 (or THREE HOUSES GERMAN CEMETERY) (one unidentified; others were taken to Oosttaverne Wood Cemetery, Wytschaete).

INGELMUNSTER GERMAN CEMETERY (two R.F.C. three other British were taken to Harlebeke New British Cemetery).

KASTELHOEK GERMAN CEMETERY (No.61), HOLLEBEKE, on the road from Houthem to Zillebeke (five United Kingdom soldiers who died January-February, 1917; others were taken to Harlebeke New British Cemetery).

KLEIN-ZILLEBEKE GERMAN CEMETERY, ZILLEBEKE, between Klein-Zillebeke and Zwarteleen (three unidentified).

KORTEKEER GERMAN CEMETERY No.12A, LANGEMARCK, on the road running North from Kortekeer, which is between Langemarck and Bixschoote (three United Kingdom graves of 1914).

KRUISEECKE GERMAN CEMETERY, COMINES, on the road from Becelaere to Wervicq (two unidentified; other British were taken to Zantvoorde British Cemetery).

L'ALOUETTE GERMAN CEMETERY, NEUVE-EGLISE, 2,000 metes due East of Neuve-Eglise village (three unidentified).

LANGEMARCK GERMAN CEMETERY N0.9, on the Pilckem road (five United Kingdom soldiers).

LANGEMARCK NORTH GERMAN CEMETERY, on the road to Koekuit and Clercken (one unidentified).

MENIN COMMUNAL CEMETERY (one United Kingdom grave of 1914).

MESSINES GERMAN CEMETERY No.2, at the North-East corner of the village (seven United Kingdom graves of 1915).

MESSINES GERMAN CEMETERY No.3, a little East of the Church (one United Kingdom grave and one Canadian).

MOTOR CAR CORNER CEMETERY GERMAN EXTENSION, PLOEGSTEERT (seven unidentified who fell in 1918).

PETIT-PONT GERMAN CEMETERY, PLOEGSTEERT, between Petit-Pont and Hill 63 (two unidentified M.G.C. Officers).

RABSCHLOSS GERMAN CEMETERY No.64, MESSINES, 1500 metres West of Hollebeke village (one unidentified).

REUTEL GERMAN CEMETERY, BECELAERE (ten unidentified; other British were taken to Perth Cemetery (China Wall), Zillebeke).

SLYPSKAPPELLE CHURCHYARD, MOORSLEDE (two United Kingdom soldiers and one Newfoundland; one other is still buried there).

TERDEGHEM CHURCHYARD (Nord, France) (four R.G.A. and one Canadian).

THOUROUT GERMAN CEMETERY No.2, due East of Hooghe, on the road running North from Thourout (two R.A.F., September, 1918).

Most of these burials were from the 1914 Battles of Ypres and the Allied offensive of the autumn of 1917.

There are now 1,989 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated in the cemetery. 1,353 of the burials are unidentified. Many graves, in all five plots, are identified in groups but not individually.

In Plot I is buried Lieutenant G.W.L. Talbot, in whose memory Talbot House at Poperinghe was established in December 1915. The first list of the graves was made by his brother the Reverend N.S. Talbot, MC, later Bishop of Pretoria.

The cemetery was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens 
and Noel Ackroyd Rew
​

Total Burials: 1,990.

Identified Casualties: United Kingdom 520, Canada 74, Australia 35, New Zealand 4, South Africa 3, Germany 1. Total 637.

Unidentified Casualties: 1,353.
Sanctuary Wood Cemetery
Sanctuary Wood Cemetery
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Picture
25th October 1917; Troops inspect an old gun position in Sanctuary Wood, in the Ypres sector. At left, behind the three soldiers, is the remains of Stirling Castle. The highest point on Mount Sorel Ridge can be seen in the background behind the soldier on the right. Note the old sandbagged trenches in the foreground.

Images in this gallery © Werner Van Caneghem

Sanctuary Wood Cemetery
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Sanctuary Wood Cemetery
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Picture
23rd September 1917; View from Stirling Castle which commanded an extensive sweep over the Australian lines, showing two derelict tanks and, in the distance, Sanctuary Wood. Churned by shells and flooded with heavy rains, the ground became a quagmire, a condition that was almost general through the Ypres Sector during the Third Battle of Ypres in 1917.
Picture
Captain 
Robert Frederick Balfour
1st Bn. Scots Guards
28th October 1914, aged 31.
Plot IV. D. 14.

Son of Edward Balfour, of "Balbirnie," Markinch, Fife.


Picture
8251 Private
Frederick James Beer
2nd Bn. Coldstream Guards
5th November 1914.
Plot IV. J. 8.

Picture
Captain
Thomas Lewis Blatchford
36th Bn. attd. 1st Bn. Canadian Infantry
26th April 1916, aged 31.
Sp. Mem.

Son of the Rev. Thomas W. Blatchford, B.A., and Maria E. McEvers, his wife, of Lambeth, Ontario. Born at Strathroy, Ontario.


Picture
A/11004 Lance Corporal
Clayton Adam Bradley
Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (Eastern Ontario Regiment)
2nd June 1916, aged 28.
Plot IV. F. 37.

Son of Annie Bradley, of North Gower, Ontario, and the late Adam Bradley.


Picture
Second Lieutenant
Frederick John Noel Clarke
​6th Bn. attd. 3rd Bn. Worcestershire Regiment
29th June 1915, aged 19.
Plot II. F. 36.

Son of Frederick Charles Philip and Minnie Jane Clarke, of Runnymede, Jersey.


Picture
S/3392 Serjeant
Harry Cassidy Doyle
"C" Coy. 10th Bn. Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
20th November 1915, aged 27.
​Plot II. H. 11.

Son of James Doyle, of 27, Charles St., Greenock.


Picture
1218 Sergeant
Eric Arthur Hall
52nd Bn. Australian Infantry, A. I. F.
18th October 1917, aged 22.
Plot III. H. 2.

Son of Mrs. E. Crooks, of 20, Mary St., North Hobart, Tasmania, and the late John Hall.

Sergeant Hall was returning from a wiring party in No Man's Land when he was wounded in the stomach by shrapnel. He was put on a stretcher but died on the way to the dressing station.


Picture
Second Lieutenant
Ronald Marmaduke Dawnay Harvey
4th Bn. North Staffordshire Regiment, attd. 1st Bn. Bedfordshire Regiment
20th April 1915
Plot IV. C. 13.



Picture
Lieutenant
John Richards Homfray
1st Bn. South Wales Borderers
11th November 1914, aged 21.
Plot III. D. 35.

Son of Col. H. R. and B. J. Homfray, of Penllyn Castle, Cowbridge, Glam.


Picture
2926 Private
Enoch Andrew Jacobson
59th Bn. Australian Infantry, A. I. F.
14th October 1917, aged 29.
Plot III. C. 39.

Of Waverley, NSW. A plumber prior to enlisting, he embarked from Sydney aboard HMAT Afric (A19) on 3 November 1916. He was killed in action, aged 29, at Tokio Ridge, Passchendaele, Belgium on 14 October 1917.

Picture
Lieutenant
James Mackay
​3rd Bn. attd. 1st Bn. Gordon Highlanders
25th September 1915, aged 23.
Sp. Mem.

Son of W. M. and Jessie Mackay, of 63, Castlereagh St., Belfast. Born at Keiss, Caithness.


Picture
Lieutenant
Charles Herbert George Martin
1st/3rd Bn. Monmouthshire Regiment
2nd May 1915, aged 33.
Plot V. L. 16.

Son of the late E. P. Martin, of The Hill, Abergavenny; husband of Elise Solly-Flood (formerly Martin), of Manor House, Butters Marston, Warwickshire.


Picture
Second Lieutenant
Waldo Wakefield Meade
6th B. attd. 3rd Bn. Worcestershire Regiment
20th June 1915, aged 19.
Plot II. F. 34.

Son of Wakefield and Hannah Meade, of Kingscliffe, Hale Lane, Mill Hill, Middlesex.


Picture
1896 Private
David Sydney Moore
9th Bn. Royal Scots
9th May 1915
Plot V. E. 13.


Picture
Lieutenant
George Mitford Paddison
"D" Coy 6th Bn. Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry
30th July 1915, aged 21.
Sp. Mem.

Son of Richard and Jane Milner Paddison, of Springfield, Tiverton, Devon. Exhibitioner of Balliol College, Oxford. Commissioned Aug., 1914.


Picture
Second Lieutenant
Michael Theodore Paget
3rd Bn. Lancashire Fusiliers
17th August 1917
Plot IV. B. 31.



Picture
432404 Corporal
Rees Lloyd Roberts
49th Bn. Canadian Infantry, (Alberta Regiment)
2nd May 1916, aged 30.

Son of Mrs. Ellen Roberts, of Bryntirion, Llanfairfechan, Caernarvonshire.

Commemorated on a Special memorial within the cemetery
​


This Soldiers death is recorded in "A City Goes to war"

Rees Lloyd Roberts was born Saturday January 10th, 1885 in Bryn Rhedyn, Llanfairfechan a small coastal village in North Wales. One of seven children (2 girls & 5 boys) to Richard (1856-1901) and Ellen (1856-1932). He was Baptised Sunday the 8th February at Horeb Chapel. Rees attended the National school in the village, after leaving, he like his family before him went to work in the local quarries.

Rees Married Catherine Parry (1884-1911) of Tregarth a small village near Bangor, North Wales, on Friday February 22nd 1907. They lived at 2 Bryn Tirion Llanfairfechan. They were married for four years when Catherine suffering from Tuberculosis passed away on Sunday July 16th 1911, Rees was at her bedside. They never had children. Rees decided with a friend from the village (Robert Roberts) to emigrate to Canada, which they did in c:1913, Rees Lloyd found work as a miner. On Wednesday 6th of January 1915 just four days to his 30th birthday Rees Lloyd enlisted into the 49th Bn Canadian Infantry (Alberta Regt.) in Edmonton.

Private Roberts 432404 set sail from Montreal on SS Metagarma to England on Wednesday May the 5th 1915. Whilst in England Rees was promoted to L/Cpl. The Thursday before Easter 1915 Rees Lloyd went back for a short leave to see his mother and family, it would be the last time they were to see him again. Saturday 9th of October 1915 Rees and the battalion set sail for France and then moved to Belgium and Sanctuary Wood, Rees was promoted to Cpl in the field on Monday the 3rd of April 1916. Twenty nine days later on Tuesday May 2nd 1916 Rees was killed in action. He is commemorated at Sanctuary Wood Cemetery, Belgium.
Rees Lloyd still has a large family living in Llanfairfechan. He is commemorated on Page 155 of the First World War Book of Remembrance.
​

Image courtesy Ian Davies of Llanfairfechan, North Wales

Picture
Captain
Reginald Charles Falconer Salter
2nd Bn. South Lancashire Regiment
8th June 1915, aged 26.
Plot II. G. 20.

Son of Henry Sidney Salter and Alexandrina Watson Salter, of 68, Crediton Hill, Hampstead, London.


Picture
12/3471 Private
Sydney James Sanderson
2nd Bn. Auckland Regiment, N. Z. E. F.
4th October 1917, aged 23.
Plot IV. F. 29.

Son of James and Elizabeth Jessie Sanderson, of King's College, Otahuhu, Auckland.


Picture
2492 Private
Martin Stark
1st Bn. Royal Scots
14th May 1915, aged 22.
Plot II. G. 27.

Son of James and Mary Stark, of Loanburn Cottages, Penicuik, Midlothian.


Picture
Lieutenant
Samuel Pestell Donald Thomson
1st/1st Leicestershire Yeomanry
13th May 1915
Plot II. B. 32.

Son of Samuel Marshall Thomson and Edith Mary Thomson, of Grey Lodge. Groby, Leicester.


Picture
1972 Private
George William Tinker
1st/8th Bn. Sherwood Foresters (Notts and Derby Regiment)
16th July 1915
Plot II. F. 23.



Picture
4000 Lance Corporal
Thomas William Veness
"B" Sqdn. 9th (Queen's Royal) Lancers
18th October 1914, aged 20.
Plot III. K. 25/27.

Son of Thomas William and Annie Mariah Veness, of 124, Old Lane, Hollington, Hastings.


Picture
37813 Private
Willie Lawn Wilkinson
11th Bn. West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own)
29/09/1917, aged 35.
Plot II. L. 26.

Son of Emily and the late William Wilkinson; husband of Caroline Wilkinson, of Cray Terrace, Rawdon, Leeds.


Picture
6157 Lance Sergeant
Oscar Lavender Wilson
18th Bn. Australian Infantry. A. I. F.
20th September 1917, aged 31.
Plot II. C. 2.

Son of Thomas and Agnes Eve Wilson, of, "Corsica," Clifford Avenue, Manley, New South Wales. Born at Surrey Hills, New South Wales.
​

A warehouseman's indent clerk of Ashfield, NSW, prior to enlistment, he embarked on 25 October 1916 with the 17th Reinforcements. Lance Sergeant Wilson was wounded at Polygon Wood and died of these wounds on 20 April 1917, aged 31 years.

He was badly wounded in the side by a shell near Anzac House, Polygon Wood and died before he could be taken to the dressing station. Oscar Wilson had been promoted to Lance Sergeant the day 
before he died.

Picture
63 Private
Harold Ernest Wright
22nd Bn. Australian Infantry, A. I. F.
Between 22nd September 1917 and 23rd September 1917, aged 26.
Plot III. G. 29.

Son of the late Ernest Henry Clifton Wright and Mary Wright. Born at Warrnambool, Victoria.

From South Yarra, Vic. Pte Wright enlisted on 15 February 1915 and embarked aboard HMAT Ulysses on 8 May 1915. He was killed in action on 22-23 September 1917 at Zonnebeke Ridge in Belgium.

Killed by a High Explosive shell whilst in charge of a Lewis Gun team at Redoubt Farm.


The Honourable Artillery Company at Sanctuary Wood. June - September 1915.

A number of images taken by men of the Honourable Artillery Company showing life in the front line at Sanctuary Wood in 1915.
​(Click to enlarge)

Sanctuary Wood Cemetery
Picture
Sanctuary Wood, near Ypres. October 1914. © IWM (Q 57261)
Picture
Emplacement of two forward guns in Sanctuary Wood, captured by Germans and recaptured by Canadians. July, 1916. (Library and Archives Canada)
Picture
Men and horses of the Northumberland Hussars sheltering in Sanctuary Wood, October 1914. © Harold Robson/IWM (Q 50708)
Picture
Scene in Sanctuary Wood, July 1916. (Library and Archives Canada)
Picture
"The Wall", a row of buildings held by the Germans. From British front line on the edge of Sanctuary Wood. © IWM (Q 49383)

Images in this gallery © Geerhard Joos

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Sanctuary Wood Cemetery
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Sanctuary Wood Cemetery
Picture
27th September 1917; A view of Sanctuary Wood and the light railway track to Observatory Wood, in the Ypres sector, in Belgium, showing the smoke just clearing after the burst of an enemy shell. Note the soldiers working in the foreground.
Picture
25th October 1917; A view of Sanctuary Wood, in the Ypres sector, showing Mount Sorel in the distance. Note the wheels and debris.
Picture
October 1917; Three unidentified officers sitting beside the Sanctuary Wood line of a light railway operating company. The officer in the centre and the one on the right are British. Behind them lies a wrecked Mark IV female tank.

Nearby Cemeteries

Hooge Crater Cemetery
Birr Cross Roads Cemetery
Maple Copse Cemetery

World War Two Cemeteries
​

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​ 2005-2023 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
.​
Disclaimer 

The casualty numbers for each cemetery and G. P. S. Coordinates are taken from the C. W. G. C. site. We are aware that there can be discrepancies in the burial numbers quoted due to rededication burials.

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  • Belgium
    • Commonwealth Cemeteries in Belgium in Alphabetical Order
    • Commonwealth Cemeteries in Belgium >
      • HAINAUT
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  • France
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