The Welsh Cemetery

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the presentation.
The Welsh Cemetery Caesars Nose, Ypres
Neil Bartley and Martin Williams
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Aim of the exercise
To discover who some of the Welsh soldiers buried
at the Welsh Cemetery were and where they were
from To find out when these soldiers died and
how their deaths help to form part of the Bigger
Picture that was the First World War
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The Welsh Cemetery was begun in July 1917 by the
38th Division on a spot known by the soldiers at
the time as Caesars Nose. The cemetery contains
68 First World War Burials.
To explore the cemetery further click here
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Click on each of the gravestones in turn
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NameRank NumberRegimentAge when
killedDate when killedYear when killed
This soldier was part of the 14th Battalion who
were known as the Swansea Pals. The 14th
Battalion, along with the 15th (Carmarthenshire
Pals) took part in the Third Battle of Ypres. On
the 31st July they attacked the German Lines at
Iron Cross Bridge. There were a number of heavily
fortified pill boxes in this area and the
battalion met fierce resistance.
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NameRank NumberRegimentAge when
killedDate when killedYear when killed
We can only assume that this soldier was part of
the 14th Battalion. The 38th Division were
engaged heavily during the Third Battle of Ypres
and the 10th, 11th, 13th, 15th and 16th
battalions were in action in this area on this
day. We can check the records to find out who
went missing on this day, but we will never know
for sure who the person buried here is
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NameRank NumberRegimentAge when
killedDate when killedYear when killed
This soldier was part of the 14th Battalion who
were known as the Swansea Pals. The Swansea Pals
was established in late 1914 on the request on
the Mayor of Swansea. This infantry battalion
became part of the 38th Welsh Division. 1, 417
men and officers had joined the battalion by
February 1915.
See The Battle of Mametz Wood, 1916, by Robert
Phillips for more information on the Swansea Pals
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Which regiment did all three soldiers belong to?
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Which regiment did all three soldiers belong to?
What do you notice about the date of death of all
three soldiers?
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Which regiment did all three soldiers belong to?
What do you notice about the date of death of all
three soldiers?
What do you notice about the ages of all three
men?Can you give reasons for this?
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Research
Which battle started on the 31st July 1917 in
Flanders?
Which Welsh Battalions were involved in this
battle?
You may find this website by Simon Farr useful
when carrying out your research. www.users.globaln
et.co.ukdccfarr/index.htm
Using the Commonwealth War Graves Commission
website, see if you can find out how many other
soldiers in Caesars Nose Cemetery died on the
same day?
www.cwgc.org
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Third Battle of Ypres
The 38th Division attacked the German lines
around at about 400 a.m. on 31st July 1917. This
marked the start of the Third Battle of Ypres
also known as the Battle of Passendale.The 10th
Battalion (1st Rhondda Pals) and 13th Battalion
(2nd Rhondda Pals) were first into action and
taking the Germans by surprise encountered little
resistance. They managed to take their objectives
suffering few casualties.The 15th Battalion
(Carmarthenshire Pals) and 14th Battalion
(Swansea Pals) were next into action, but
suffered heavier casualties as they encountered
stiffer resistance at Iron Cross Bridge where
there were a number of German pill boxes.
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The 113th Brigade comprising two companies of
the 13th Battalion and 16th Battalion (Cardiff
City Pals), supported by the 115th Brigade also
met stiff resistance and suffered heavy
casualties while attacking a number of concrete
machine gun posts. There were 280 pill boxes
along the German lines. The Germans counter
attacked during the afternoon of the 31st but
they were unsuccessful in taking back the land
gained by the 38th Division during the morning.
The 11th Battalion (2nd Gwent Pals) South Wales
Borderers were attacked in force however and lost
many men.
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Name of Battle

38th (Welsh) Division
10th
Battalion
Battalion
Battalion
Battalion
1st Rhondda Pals
Battalion
Battalion
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The Welsh Cemetery at Caesars Nose, Ypres
Further Investigation
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NameRank NumberRegimentAge when
killedDate when killedYear when killed
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What else can you find out about Private James?
The gravestone does not tell us Private James
first name. Neither does it tell us which
Battalion he belonged to, or much about his
family and where he lived. Use the Commonwealth
War Graves Commission website to see if you can
find this information.
Log on towww.cwgc.org/cwgcinternet/search.aspx
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What can you find out about Lance Corporal F.
Sheldrick?
Are you surprised by any of the facts? If so why?
What does this tell you about how Regiments were
put together?
Reminder The 15th Battalion was also known as
the Carmarthenshire Pals
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Find out how many soldiers within this cemetery
died on the first day of the Battle of Ypres
(31st July, 1917).
Make a list of the different regiments that the
soldiers within this cemetery belonged to? Are
they all Welsh?
How many soldiers died on the 27th and 29th July
1917?What does this tell you about the level of
activity in this area just before the Third
Battle of Ypres took place?
END
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Enter C. James details into the Debt of Honour
Register
You should now be presented with a list of names.
Click on the C. James buried in Caesars Nose
Cemetery.
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Note the additional information that you now have
for Private C. James?
Once the details of C. James appear, answer the
question above and then click on the View
Details of the Welsh Cemetery at Caesars Nose.
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You should now have details of the Welsh Cemetery
at Caesars Nose and should be able to bring up a
list of the soldiers buried there by clicking on
the Cemetery Reports button.
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Enter the name of one of the soldiers from the
cemetery
You should now be presented with a list of names.
Click on the name of the soldier buried in
Caesars Nose Cemetery.
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Once the details of that soldier appear click on
the View Details of the Welsh Cemetery at
Caesars Nose.
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You should now have details of the Welsh Cemetery
at Caesars Nose and should be able to bring up a
list of the soldiers buried there by clicking on
the Cemetery Reports button.