Dedicated to the men who fought and died at the
Battle of Bellewaarde, 16th June 1915
Much has been written about Ypres and its major battles during the First World War, such as the First, Second and Third battles, also the great battle of Passchendaele. Many soldiers lost their lives and are remembered each year on Armistice Day. This can only happen if there is some reference point, a place or time, for those men to be remembered.
Little is remembered however, of the Battle of Bellewaarde, which took place on the 16th June 1915, it is also known as the First Battle of Bellewaarde, or The Battle of Hooge. A battlefield approximately ½ mile square, where over 1000 men died within a 12 hour period and many others wounded, some would die later of infection or complications.
This site brings together as much information as possible from many sources so you can follow the battle from the start to finish and also that these men can be remembered for their deeds as well as their sacrifice.
The site has been laid out by regiment, which will make it easier to follow the battle and where a particular soldier may have been on the battlefield. Diaries written about the battle at the time and content from books written later will explain the build up and the excecution of the attack. You will also be able to read horrific and in many cases sad accounts of some soldiers as they tried to cope.
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Click on the map icon to your left and print a copy of the battlefield map, this will be useful as much of the site gives reference to particular points on the battlefield which will be marked on the map.
Browse the site, read what the other regiments were doing, including the enemy, and take time to read about individual soldiers and view images of some of them.
Start from this link for an overview of the battle of the 16th June 1915 and then move on to the regiment of choice from the 'Regiment' tab at the top.
It is also worth while clicking images as many have links to enlargements. Many words underlined are usefull links, just place your mouse over them and click!
Ensure you keep up todate with new information by following the 'UPDATE' button below, if you see a new date added, press the F5 key at the top of your keyboard to refresh the computers cache memory.