IN MEMORy by Pierre Vandervelden

The visit of Commonwealth graves in Communals Cemeteries & Churchyards in Belgium & France

ARTILLERY WOOD Cemetery (Boezinge) (West Vlaanderen Belgium)

Page 1 The Pictures

Page 2 List of Casualties

	L/Cpl Francis Ledwidge 31/07/1917 aged 29
Memorial of Irish Poet Francis Ledwidge (1887 - 1917) (at 100 yards from the cemetery)

Sjt T. C. Wooton 31/07/1917

Pte R. Stanley Jones 23/12/1916,of Betws-y-Coed in North Wales. He was amember of the Machine Gun Section of the 17th Batt. Royal Welsh Fusiliers. He was buried with three friends from Wales and twelve French soldiers in the garden of a palace in Boezinge. In his last letter home to his parents he had said that he expected to be home at Betws-y-Coed on Christmas Day. Unfortunately, he died just before. For Iwan Hughes

Pte Ellis Humphrey Evans 31/07/1917 aged 30
Hedd Wyn 's memorial plaque, on a wall, near the crossing where he was mortally wounded, at about one mile of the cemetery.
Cofir Ellis Humphrey Evans (Hedd Wyn), a aned Ionawr 13 1887 ym mhentref Trawsfynydd, gan bobl Cymru am byth fel symbol o’r ieuenctid a gollwyd gan anrhaith y Rhyfel Mawr. Yn fab i amaethwr fferm fynydd Yr Ysgwrn, fe ddechreuodd Hedd Wyn gyfansoddi’n ifanc ac fe ddaeth yn hysbys fel bardd medrus yn gyflym iawn. Fe’i alwyd i’r Lluoedd Arfog yn gynnar ym 1917, ond ymunodd â’r fyddin yn bennaf i rwystro ei frawd iau rhag gorfod gwneud dan gynllun Arglwydd Derby. Yr oedd yn aelod o’r 15fed Catrawd o’r Ffiwsilwyr Brenhinol Cymreig ac fe’i laddwyd yn ystod Brwydr Cefn Pilckem ar Orffennaf 31 1917. Ychydig cyn ei farwolaeth anfonodd awdl o’r enw “Yr Arwr” i ymgeisio yng nghystadleuaeth y Gadair yn Eisteddfod Genedlaethol Penbedw. Awdl yn cysylltu myth Prometheus â symboliaeth Gristnogol ydoedd. Fe’i laddwyd cyn iddo glywed am ei lwyddiant. Gorchuddiwyd ei wobr gan amwisg ddu o flaen y dorf a oedd wedi ymgasglu i glywed y dyfarniad. Mawr fu’r galar yno. Byth ers hynny fe adnabyddir yr wyl fel Eisteddfod y Gadair Ddu. Bu gryn alaru gan Gymry ar draws y byd. Daeth Hedd Wyn yn ffigwr eiconig i’r Cymry ac y maent wedi heidio at ei fedd yn eu cannoedd ar bererindod dros y blynyddoedd i gofio ieuenctid Cymru a gwympodd yn yr uffern a elwir y Rhyfel Mawr.
Ellis Humphrey Evans, born on January 13 1887 in the village of Trawsfynydd, is forever remembered by the people of Wales as a symbol of the youth lost by the ravages of the First World War. The son of the hill farmer of Yr Ysgwrn, Evans took up poetry at an early age when he rapidly became known as an accomplished poet. He was drafted into the Armed Forces in early 1917, but mainly did so to prevent his younger brother having to enlist through Lord Derby’s scheme. He was a member of the 15th Battn. RWF and was killed during the Battle of Pilckem Ridge on July 31 1917. Just before his death he had sent in an ode entitled “Yr Arwr” (The Hero), a poem linking the myth of Prometheus with Christian symbolism, to the National Eisteddfod of Wales which was that year held at Birkenhead (which had a large Welsh community). Evans, who wrote under the nom-de-plume of Hedd Wyn, was killed before he was informed of his success with the poem. The prize, traditionally a large wooden chair, was covered by a black shroud, to the grief of the large crowd that had gathered to witness the announcement of the winner. The eisteddfod of 1917 is now forever known as the Eisteddfod of the Black Chair. The grief felt by the Welsh nation throughout the world at this loss was great. Hedd Wyn became an iconic figure for the Welsh and they have flocked there in their hundreds over the years to visit his grave on a sort of pilgrimage to remember the youth of Wales cut down by the horror known as the Great War.
Caerwyn drives a pilgrimage in 1932 at Hedd Wyn Monument at Trawsfynydd and at Yr Ysgwrn, Trawsfynydd, Hedd's family farm. Hedd Wyn's mother is sitting on the chair, his father is the first on the left.
Photos courtesy Maredudd ap Rheinallt (Theses photos are not ownership of the webmaster, and can not be used for any usage without permission of Maredudd ap Rheinallt)
The webmaster thanks Iwan Hughes and Maredudd ap Rheinallt for their help.

801 casualties

IF You have a casualty picture, please send me a copy, I'll be glad to show it on this page.

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Casualties informations come usualy from Commonwealth War Graves Commission, see links for more informations

Inmemories.com © Pierre Vandervelden - Belgium