Y Farm Military Cemetery | Cemeteries | Great War

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The cemetery named after a nearby farm, called by the Army “Y” (or Wye) Farm. Y Farm Military Cemetery, Bois-Grenier, Nord, begun in March 1915 and used by units holding this sector until February 1918.

Y Farm Cemetery — Y Farm Military Cemetery, 20 April 2017, CEFRG.ca

The cemetery signposted on the D222, at the junction of Rue de la Guennerie. The cemetery located on a single lane paved farm track at the junction of Rue de la Guennerie and Rue des Tronchons.

Wye Farm trench map circa 1918. About 4 kilometres due South of Armentieres.

Battle of Neuve-Chapelle

The first planned offensive strike upon a German trench system on the Western Front conducted independently by the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) during the Great War.

Two gunners of of No. 5 Mountain Battery, 3rd Mountain Artillery Brigade, Royal Garrison Artillery (Indian Army), lying dead by their 2.75 inch mountain gun during the Battle of Neuve Chapelle. 10 March 1915. Q 67854

10 March 2015

When the bombardment began at 7:30 a.m. on 10 March, the Canadian divisional artillery shelled enemy positions opposite, and as the assault went in thirty-five minutes later, riflemen and machine-gunners opened bursts of rapid fire which continued at fifteen-minute intervals throughout the day. The main attack took the enemy completely by surprise, and within twenty minutes a breach 1600 yards wide had been opened in the German line. By nine o’clock British troops had cleared Neuve Chapelle, and with virtually no resistance in sight were halted on a pre-arranged line, awaiting orders from their corps headquarters to resume the offensive.

A general scene showing damage to several buildings in Neuve Chapelle, immediately after its capture by 8th Division. Q 51749

Heavy fire from well-sited German machine-guns inflicted damaging casualties on the infantry as they crossed the flat fields. The advance came to a halt. During the night the Germans closed the breach with a well-wired rallying line linking up strongpoints armed with machine-guns, and brought forward new batteries.

Two Soldiers of the 1st Battalion, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) at Grande Flamengrie Farm and barn after it had been minenwerfered. Bois Grenier Sector. 13 March 1915. © IWM (Q 51597)

12 March 1915

Early on 12 March, after a pre-dawn bombardment of the Allied positions, the Germans counter-attacked with twenty battalions. British unit commanders were well prepared and the full force of their rifle and machine-gun fire threw back the enemy with very heavy losses. Previous orders by Sir Douglas Haig for a renewal of the British advance at 10:30 a.m. kept the forward troops from immediately exploiting the German setback, and there was a further postponement of two hours because of a thick haze which hindered artillery observation.

Soldiers of the 1st Battalion, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) at Grande Flamengrie Farm and barn after it had been minenwerfered. 13th March 1915, Bois Grenier Sector. © IWM (Q 51598)

The attack brought only further British losses, and at 10:40 p.m. orders from Haig to establish a new defensive line on the ground gained ended the battle.

Armistice

At the Armistice Y Farm Military Cemetery contained 335 burials, but then increased when graves brought in from the battlefields south of Armentieres and from the following cemeteries, CROIX-BLANCHE BRITISH CEMETERY, FLEURBAIX (Pas-de-Calais), DON GERMAN CEMETERY, ALLENNES-LES-MARAIS (Nord), DOULIEU CHURCHYARD (Nord), HANTAY COMMUNAL CEMETERY GERMAN EXTENSION (Nord), LESTREM COMMUNAL CEMETERY EXTENSION (Pas-de-Calais), MARQUILLIES COMMUNAL CEMETERY and GERMAN EXTENSION (Nord), MOUVAUX MILITARY CEMETERY (Nord), PONT-A-MARCQ COMMUNAL CEMETERY GERMAN EXTENSION (Nord), and finally TEMPLEUVE COMMUNAL CEMETERY (Nord).

Y Farm Military Cemetery now contains 835 burials and commemorations of the Great War. 288 of the burials unidentified and a special memorial commemorates one New Zealand casualty believed to be buried among them. Another special memorial commemorates an Indian soldier known to have been buried in Marquillies Communal Cemetery German Extension whose grave could not be found. The cemetery designed by Sir Herbert Baker.