Neil Bartley and Martin Williams

Press ‘Esc’ on your keyboard at any time to end the presentation.

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

The Welsh Cemetery was begun in July 1917 by the 38th Division on a spot known by the soldiers at the time as Caesar’s Nose. The

cemetery contains 68 First World War Burials.

To explore the cemetery further click here

Click on each of the gravestones in turn

Name:

Rank:

Number:

Regiment:

Age when killed:

Date when killed:

Year 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.

Name:

Rank:

Number:

Regiment:

Age when killed:

Date when killed:

Year 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…

See The Battle of Mametz Wood, 1916, by Robert Phillips for more information on the Swansea Pals

Name:

Rank:

Number:

Regiment:

Age when killed:

Date when killed:

Year 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.

Which regiment did all three soldiers belong to?

What do you notice about the date of death of all

three soldiers?

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?

Which regiment did all three soldiers belong to?

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?

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.globalnet.co.uk~dccfarr/index.htm

www.cwgc.org

The 38th Division attacked the German lines around at

about 4:00 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.

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.

Battalion

BattalionBattalionBattalionBattalion

*

Battalion

10th

38th (Welsh) Division

Name of Battle

1st Rhondda Pals

The Welsh Cemetery at Caesar’s Nose, Ypres

Name:

Rank:

Number:

Regiment:

Age when killed:

Date when killed:

Year when killed:

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.

What else can you find out about Private James?

Log on to

www.cwgc.org/cwgcinternet/search.aspx

What can you find out about Lance Corporal

F. Sheldrick?

Are you surprised by any of the facts? If so why?

Reminder: The 15th Battalion was also known as the Carmarthenshire Pals

What does this tell you about how Regiments

were put together?

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

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 Caesar’s Nose Cemetery.

Once the details of C. James appear, answer the question above and then click on the ‘View Details’ of the Welsh Cemetery at Caesar’s

Nose.

Note the additional information that you now have for Private C. James?

You should now have details of the Welsh Cemetery at Caesar’s Nose and should be able to bring up a list of the soldiers buried there by clicking on the ‘Cemetery Reports’

button.

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 Caesar’s Nose Cemetery.

Once the details of that soldier appear click on the ‘View Details’ of the Welsh

Cemetery at Caesar’s Nose.

You should now have details of the Welsh Cemetery at Caesar’s Nose and should be able to bring up a list of the soldiers buried there by clicking on the ‘Cemetery Reports’

button.