SEAFORTH CEMETERY, CHEDDAR VILLA
West Vlaanderen
Belgium
GPS Coordinates - Latitude: 50.87993, Longitude: 2.92683
Location Information
Seaforth Cemetery, Cheddar Villa, lies 5 Kms north-east of Ieper town centre on the Brugseweg (N313), connecting Ieper to Brugge.
Two streets connect Ieper town centre onto the Brugseweg; Torhoutstraat leads from the market square onto the Kalfvaartstraat. At the end of Kalfvaartstraat is a large junction on which Brugseweg is the first right hand turning. The cemetery itself lies 4 Kms along the Brugseweg on the left hand side of the road.
Historical Information
Cheddar Villa was the name given by the Army to a farm on the west side of the road from Wieltje to St. Julien. On 25 and 26 April 1915, during the Battle of St. Julien, severe fighting took place in this area and the Commonwealth dead were buried on the spot. The cemetery thus created was called Cheddar Villa Cemetery, but at the request of the Officer Commanding the 2nd Seaforth Highlanders its name was changed in 1922; more than 100 of those buried in the cemetery belonged to that battalion.
The cemetery contains 148 burials and commemorations of the First World War. 21 of the burials are unidentified and 19 destroyed by shell fire are represented by special memorials. Row A, Grave 8, and Row B, Grave 1, are collective graves, and the headstones connected with them are placed against the cemetery walls.
The names of 23 officers and men of the 2nd Seaforths who fell here, but are not known to be buried in the cemetery, are recorded on a tablet. These casualties are officially commemorated by name on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial.
The cemetery was designed by W H Cowlishaw.
Total Burials: 148.
Identified Casualties: United Kingdom 126, Canada 1. Total 127.
Unidentified Casualties: United Kingdom 21.
Images in this gallery © Werner Van Caneghem
3/7329 Private
Alexander Daniel Graham
2nd Bn. Seaforth Highlanders
25th April 1915.
B. 1. (Headstone "A" 21).
Alexander Daniel Graham
2nd Bn. Seaforth Highlanders
25th April 1915.
B. 1. (Headstone "A" 21).
3/6923 Private
Donald McKenzie
2nd Bn. Seaforth Highlanders
25th April 1915, aged 23.
B. 1. (Headstone "A" 41).
Son of the late Donald and Henrietta McKenzie.
Donald McKenzie
2nd Bn. Seaforth Highlanders
25th April 1915, aged 23.
B. 1. (Headstone "A" 41).
Son of the late Donald and Henrietta McKenzie.
3/7108 Lance Corporal
Dougald McKenzie
2nd Bn. Seaforth Highlanders
25th April 1915, aged 21.
B. 1. (Headstone "A" 44).
Son of Mr. and Mrs. McKenzie, of 16, Habost, Ness, Stornoway. Native of Eoropie, Ness, Stornoway.
Dougald McKenzie
2nd Bn. Seaforth Highlanders
25th April 1915, aged 21.
B. 1. (Headstone "A" 44).
Son of Mr. and Mrs. McKenzie, of 16, Habost, Ness, Stornoway. Native of Eoropie, Ness, Stornoway.
9328 Serjeant
Alexander Montgomery
2nd Bn. Seaforth Highlanders
25th April 1915.
B. 1. (Headstone "A" 53).
Alexander Montgomery
2nd Bn. Seaforth Highlanders
25th April 1915.
B. 1. (Headstone "A" 53).
"Cheddar Villa" Pill Box
Captured German officers guarded by a Scottish sentry outside a recently taken concrete bunker near Langemarck (Langemark-Poelkapelle), 12 October 1917. © IWM (Q 3013)
First Battle of Passchendaele. Two guardsmen bringing in a wounded comrade on a stretcher. Near Langemarck (Langemark-Poelkapelle), 12 October 1917. © IWM (Q 3009)
Pilkem, Belgium. c. 1918. British Army medical personnel attending to wounded soldiers including a Guard's officer.
British 60-pounder guns of the Royal Garrison Artillery firing near Langemarck, 12th October 1917. © IWM Q 3140
Wreck of the British tank named "Eldorado" by the ruins of church at Langemarck. © IWM Q 17840
