281
FIRST WORLD WAR LABOUR CORPS CEMETERIES IN FLANDERS
BRIAN C. FAWCETT
This note follows on from that written by Dan Waters.
There are several cemeteries in Flanders in which members of the Chinese Labour Corps are buried, some containing as few as two or three graves; one of the largish is that of the Indian and Chinese British Cemetery at Ayette, which was a scene of fighting in 1918.
Whilst on a battlefield tour in July, 1998, my wife and I were fortunate to make a very short visit to Ayette Cemetery. This is reached down an unmade dirt-track off the D919 about 16 kilometres south of Arras. It contains the graves of ten soldiers of the Indian Army, forty-two men of the Indian Labour Corps, one German prisoner, twenty-seven men of the British Chinese Labour Corps and six men of the French Chinese Labour Corps.
Instead of the Cross of Sacrifice, there is a pagoda-shaped shelter at the back. A double flight of steps leads to the gravestones, those of the Chinese being on the left and those of the Indians on the right.
Unfortunately during our fleeting visit I was unable to view all the gravestones but noted that, whereas the British Chinese Labour Corps gravestones were engraved with Chinese and English characters, giving the man's number and date of death, with a suitable inscription, those for the French Chinese Labour Corps had a small plate inserted therein giving the man's name, date of death and "Mort pour La France.” The shape of the gravestones is also different, those for the French being more rounded at the top. I was unable to read the Chinese characters but for anyone interested details of each grave are recorded in the memorial registers which can be found in the cemeteries, or may be obtained, for a fee, from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.2
As with all Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries it was in immaculate condition, the grass being cut and the flowers
281
FIRST WORLD WAR LABOUR CORPS CEMETERIES IN FLANDERS
BRIAN C. FAWCETT
This note follows on from that written by Dan Waters.
There are several cemeteries in Flanders in which members of the Chinese Labour Corps are buried, some containing as few as two or three graves; one of the largish is that of the Indian and Chinese British Cemetery at Ayette, which was a scene of fighting in 1918.
Whilst on a battlefield tour in July, 1998, my wife and I were fortunate to make a very short visit to Ayette Cemetery. This is reached down an unmade dirt-track off the D919 about 16 kilometres south of Arras. It contains the graves of ten soldiers of the Indian Army, forty two men of the Indian Labour Corps, one German prisoner, twenty seven men of the British Chinese Labour Corps and six men of the French Chinese Labour Corps.
Instead of the Cross of Sacrifice, there is a pagoda-shaped shelter at the back. A double flight of steps leads to the gravestones, those of the Chinese being on the left and those of the Indians on the right.
Unfortunately during our fleeting visit I was unable to view all the gravestones but noted that, whereas the British Chinese Labour Corps gravestones were engraved with Chinese and English characters, giv- ing the man's number and date of death, with a suitable inscription, those for the French Chinese Labour Corps had a small plate inserted therein giving the man's name, date of death and "Mort pour La France.” The shape of the gravestones is also different, those for the French being more rounded at the top. I was unable to read the Chinese char- acters but for anyone interested details of each grave are recorded in the memorial registers which can be found in the cemeteries, or may be obtained, for a fee, from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.2
As with all Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries it was in immaculate condition, the grass being cut and the flowers
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