Forgotten

Today we started off with a tour of Lijssenthoek Cemetery. This cemetery is different from the other cemeteries we have visited so far on this trip. It contains 9,901 Commonwealth burials of the First World War, and war graves from at least 13 different nationalities. There was no battle here, it was a casualty clearing stations of the Commonwealth forces. Close to the Front, and next to a main railway made this site a natural place to establish casualty clearing stations. The wounded were brought here to get checked out and were then sent to a hospital up the railway. Unfortunately many soldiers who made it to this site were seriously injured and couldn't make it any further.
Unlike other cemeteries these headstones are buried in date order and there is a dead person for everyday of the year, including February 29, 1916 when 3 soldiers died. It is also the home to the only woman buried in a Belgium war cemetery. Although nurses were not allowed along the front line, she was a nurse who died while working at the casualty clearing station. Another unusual aspect of this cemetery is the fact that officers were buried separately because there were always seen as different. This was before there were rules established which made all soldiers equal in death. You can see as the war continues, there are buried officers mixed with privates.This site is a forgotten spot of the First World War and deserves more recognition.

Caitlin Brice