Belgian Battery Corner Cemetery

Description

The cemetery owes its name to three Belgian artillery batteries that were lined up here in 1915. The construction began in 1917 after the Battle of Mesen, and the cemetery remained in use until October 1918. It was used in particular for soldiers who died in an advanced Dressing Station, in a farmstead nearby.

The layout of the cemetery displays an irregular structure due to the fact that the cemetery was constructed during the war without a formal design. The rows are not exactly parallel on either side of the central path. After the Armistice, the War Stone and the Cross of Sacrifice were placed at either end of the central path, so that a clear central axis was created. Behind the Cross of Sacrifice there is a walled lower part with a number of graves that are oriented away from the other graves. All the other graves face the north side of the cemetery where the War Stone was placed at the end of the central path.

In conjunction with the War Stone, the entrance forms a short lateral axis. In front of the entrance, there is a spacious frontal area with grass, curved walls and greenery. The entrance itself consists of a plateau with two posts between two natural stone piers. The cemetery is completely open to the road, being only separated from this by a ditch. The other sides are surrounded by a hedge with the exception of the sunken area behind the Cross of Sacrifice which is bordered by a low wall.

The shelter is immediately next to the road, but is not shown on the IWGC drawing. The building consists of a sitting recess at the front and a storage space at the rear. The materialization in brick with natural stone is strongly similar to other shelters. Extraordinary features are the double arches at the side and the cemented tiles that are used to embellish the façade at the back and the roof edges.

There are two parallel rows of lime trees in the cemetery. The first row forms the backdrop to the east side. The second row is situated at an equal distance from the central path between the graves on the west side. On the south side, a screen of pyramidal oaks has been planted to close off the view of the surrounding buildings. Four yews surround the War Stone. (Geurst, 2010, p.214)

Bibliography

Geurst, J. (2010) Cemeteries of the Great War by Sir Edwin Lutyens. Rotterdam: 010 Publishers.

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Listing Reference

Client

Imperial War Graves Commission