WAR GRAVES

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 100, 30 April 1930, Page 11

WAR GRAVES

THE KOSENBERG PLOT

A NEW RESTING PLACE

(From "The Post's" Representative.) LONDON, 13th March, j A French owner of a Belgian chateau has refused to sell a section of land on which there is a British war cemetery, and 480 bodies have been moved from the plot. .' , : The Rosenberg^ Chateau, about five miles from Armentieres, was destroyed in. the war, and a plot within the grounds was used as a burial ground. The owner of the land decided to rebuild the residence, and asked for the removal of the cemetery, since he considered it would detract from the amenities of his home. He refused to sell the land, but offered to provide another site, which could be used as a permanent resting place for tho bodies. The matter engaged the attention- of the Imperial War Graves Commission over a long period, and was the subject of negotiations by_ the Anglo-Belgian mixed committee in Belgium. The Belgian Minister of the Interior used his influence in an endeavour to avoid any interference with the dead, but the owner insisted on his right to the land, and finally it-was decided to remove tho bodies. The work of re-burial has been completed. The exhumations were carried out with the greatest care. Each body as it was reverently taken from the earth was placed in a coffin draped with the Union Jack, and removed by motor ambulance to the Berks cemetery. The dead have as their resting place from now onwards a special section of the cemetery, ' which is to be known as the Kosenberg chateau plot. Of the 480 bodies, 171 are those of United Kingdom troops, 146 are Canadians, 128 aro Australians, and 35 are men of New Zealand. Many regiments are represented, including the Eoyal Warwickshire "Regiment, in whose ranks 38 of the men were serving at the time of their deaths. The greater number of the bodies were those of soldiers who fell in 1915. ~ The High Commissioners for Canada, Australia, and New Zealand had full information of the negotiations which were conducted in the hope that the obduracy of the owner of the Rosenberg Chateau,could be overcome, and when it was known that ho would not sell the land or agree to the retention of the cemetery, they gave their approval to the exhumation and transference of the bodies. The closing of the original burial-ground is a regrettable happening, but it is an isolated one/ as no insurmountable difficulty has arisen, except in this instance, in securing permanent possession where British soldiers lie. It was stated in the last report of the Imperial War Graves Commission that acquisition of the land is still outstanding in respect of one or two cemeteries in Prance,! but it is hoped that final settlements may bo reached during tho present year. Tho new Rosenberg Chateau plot at Ploegstccrt is only half a milo away from the former burial place. The Berks War Cemetery is the resting place of 884 soldiers of Great Britain and the Dominions.