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This
memorial to the 50th (Northumbrian) Division is in an appropriate
spot, for it was here that the Territorials of the Division
were rushed into the area in the Second Battle of Ypres in
April 1915. More than 5,200 men of the Division were killed,
wounded or taken prisoner during a few days of severe fighting
for Wieltje, as the enemy sought to exploit their initial
breakthrough, using poison gas for the first time in warfare. |
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The
inscription reads "To the enduring memory of all ranks
of the 50th (Northumbrian) Division who fell in the Great War
1914-1918, and in memory of their comrades of the same Division
who gave their lives in the war of 1939-45 for the liberation
of France, Belgium and Holland". |
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These
two private memorials have been relocated in recent years,
to save them from damage and deterioration. Captain Geoffrey
Bowlby, Royal Horse Guards, was killed in an attack near
Gully Farm on 13 May 1915. His memorial is on the left. Captain
Henry
Skrine, A Company, 6th Somerset Light Infantry, was killed
in an attack on Bellewaarde Farm, 25 September 1915. The
memorials were originally erected by their families, near
where the men had
fallen. |
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