This area was fought over for most of the war. The name derives from the position being sixty metres above sea level. Much of the action here was underground. It was probably the where British blew their first mine of the war in February 1915. Five Victoria Crosses were awarded in the years of combat at Hill 60. In June 1917, the British Second Army detonated nineteen mines under the German positions removing the Germans from Messines Ridge. The two northern-most mines were at the Caterpillar and Hill 60.
The cemetery was developed on the site of a moated chateau. In the early part of the war it was used by nearby British Field Ambulances and Dressing Stations as a burial ground. In 1917, the chateau was used by 55 Brigade as an HQ and severely damaged by artillery fire. In one day during Third Ypres nearly 500 gas shells were dropped in the area.
This memorial stands on the ridge to the south west of Langemark to commemorate the units of the 38th Welsh Division which took part in the attack on the opening day of Third Ypres, 31st July 1917.
Members of the Household Division form up in Ypres for a march through the town to commemorate the action of the Household Cavalry at Zanvoorde in October 1914.
During the war Percy served as GSO 1 with three different divisions. The 27th, 48th and 31st. After this he served on the staff of XI Corps before going on to become MGGS with Fifth Army. He changed his name to Percy from Baumgartner in 1917.
When war broke out in 1914, Bols was forty seven years old with a long military career behind him. Born in Cape Town, he joined the Devonshire Regiment in 1887 following his education in England. As part of Britain’s ‘colonial police force’ he served in Burma and with the Chitral Relief Force. He was present at several of the major battles of the South African War including Colenso and the Relief of Ladysmith. Awarded the DSO and twice mentioned in dispatches, Bols returned to the UK in 1902. At the start of the First World War, he was in command of the Devonshire Regiment. The following year, Bols was promoted to lead the 84th Infantry Brigade during the Second Battle of Ypres when the German army attacked using gas. In autumn 1915, he was appointed to head the staff of XII Corps which was soon followed by him becoming MGGS of Third Army under General Edmund Allenby. He remained in this position until after the Battle of Arras in 1917 when transferred to head 24th Division. The partnership with Allenby resumed when he became his chief of staff in Palestine from 1917-1918. Bols was a colourful figure who courted some controversy. He died in Bath in 1930.
As Major General General Staff of Second Army from July 1915 until June 1916, Hugh Bruce Williams was one of the fifteen soldiers to hold this position on the Western Front. He was born in 1865, the son of a general. Educated at Winchester, he joined the Royal Engineers in 1885 and attended the “Shop’ at Woolwich. He progressed to the Staff College course at Camberley in 1899. In common with many of the senior command of the British army he fought in the Boer War and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order in 1901. When the First World War broke out, Bruce Williams was forty nine years old. After serving as a senior staff officer he went on to take command of 137 Brigade in the 46th Division. There were many officers who moved from staff roles into operational commands. My research has looked at how these men fared in both positions.
A new presentation covering the life and career of Lawrence has been published online. The talk was given in January via Zoom as part of the Western Front Association’s regular webinar series. It can be accessed using the this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pl5FPwpt6NA
