RENINGELST NEW MILITARY CEMETERY
(CWGC Ref 5/51)
Begun November 1915. Contains the graves of three soldiers who were shot at dawn.
RENINGELST CHURCHYARD AND EXTENSION
(CWGC Ref 5/51)
Begun March 1915 and used until November 1915.
RENINGHELST (now Reningelst} is a
village and commune in the Province of West Flanders, lying in the valley of a
small stream, 6 kilometres South-East of Poperinghe. The nearest railway station
is at Poperinghe, on the Hazebrouck- Ypres line.
The village was in British
occupation from the autumn of 1914 to the end of the War, and it was
sufficiently far from the front line to provide a suitable station for Field
Ambulances. The Churchyard and the Extension were used from March to November,
1915, when the New Military Cemetery (the Register of which is already
published} was opened.
RENINGHELST CHURCHY ARD contains, in
the eastern corner, the graves of two soldiers from the United Kingdom and a
special memorial to a third, whose grave in the Churchyard cannot now be
identified.
RENINGHELST CHURCHY ARD EXTENSION,
which was used in 1915, and for two single burials after that year, contains the
graves of 55 soldiers from the United Kingdom and one from Australia. It covers
an area of 834 square metres, and it is enclosed by a brick wall. There are 2
graves of the 1939-45 War in this cemetery.
The Story of the 1st Dorsets (5th Division - 15th Brigade) at Hill 60 - 1st May 1915.
The Battle Book of Ypres reports the following:-
On the evening of the 1st May 1915 a greenish-yellow vapour came swirling slowly from the German trenches, drifting with the wind, curled round the base of the hill, and, gradually rising, engulfed the summit. The hill was held that day by men of the 1st Dorsets and the 59th Field Company R.E. There, facing the oncoming death, they clung to their trenches and were suffocated as they lay. When the fumes cleared away, reinforcements which came up found that one officer and 50 men had gone to their last account, while four officers and 150 men had collapsed in agonies of choking.
The Dorsets history states.
An examination of the casuaLieutenanty returns brought to light the terrible ravages caused by the gas. They showed Second Lieutenant Butcher [Reninghelst Churchyard] and fifty two other ranks dead; and in addition six officers and two hundred other ranks were admitted to the field ambulance. In addition thirty two other ranks were missing, men who had crawled away to die, and whose bodies were located afterwards. Only one man was killed and one wounded by shell or rifle fire. Second Lieutenant Cornish was sent to hospital two days later; suffering from the effects of gas, but was able to return to duty in a weeks time, having flatly refused to be sent to England in accordance with medical advice.
A
subaLieutenantern in Captain Batten 's company, B, wr6te an anonymous article for the
Dorset press.
At
about 7 pm I came out of my dugout and saw a hose sticking out over the
German parapet, which was just starting to spout a thick yellow cloud with a
tinge of green in it. The cloud came out with a hiss that you could hear quite
plainly. The gas did not come directly towards us but went slantwise, then our
trenches being so close to the gas went into part of the German trenches as well
as ours. They boLieutenanted from theirs when they got a whiff of the fiLieutenanthy stuff [an
interesting point to note is that the Germans were never particularly good at
making effective gas respirators], a few of our men staggered away down the
hill, some got into a wood behind it and died there, as the ground was low and
the gas followed them, others only got as far as the mine head and communication
trenches. The Company in support on my left moved up into the firing line, as
did also half of my platoon, consequently I was left with a few men to do all
the rescue work. My men were splendid; they all came with me into the gas,
except the ones I ordered to stay behind, and we must have saved scores of
lives. The men in most cases were lying insensible in the bottom of the
trenches, and quite a number were in the mine head, which was the worst possible
place. The best place after the first rush of gas was in the firing line, being
the highest point.
I was the only officer not in the firing line, and I should think quite two hundred men passed through my hands, some died with me and some on their way down. The Battalion had, I believe, 337 casuaLieutenanties. I can't understand how it was I was not knocked out; it must have been the work I had to do. I was simply mad with rage, seeing strong men drop to the ground and die in this way. They were in agonies. I had to argue with many of them as to whether they were dead or not. Why we got it so hot was because of the closeness of our trenches to the Germans, and this affair does away with the idea that it is not deadly. I saw two men staggering over a field in our rear last night, and when I went and looked for them this morning they were both dead. ALieutenantogether, I suppose, one hundred or two hundred men and two of three officers are dead or will die of the stuff. Am absolutely sickened. Clean killing is at least comprehensive, but this is murder by slow agony absolutely nocks me. The whole civilian world ought to rise up and exterminate those swine across the Hill.
Roll of Honour.
RENINGELST CHURCHYARD