HOOGE CRATER CEMETERY

UK - 5,153
AIF - 509
NZ - 119
CEF - 95
BWIR - 2
UNIDENTIFIED - 3,580
SP MEM - 45

HISTORY

Hooge, or La Hooghe, is a hamlet 2 miles from Ypres along the Menin Road. Hooge Chateau and its stables, on the north side of the road, were the scene of very fierce fighting during the war. On the 31st October 1914, the staff of the 1st and 2nd Divisions were wiped out by shell fire in the Chateau (these men are buried in Ypres Town Cemetery). From the 24th May to the 3rd June 1915, the Chateau was defended against German attacks. In July 1915, the Crater, on the north side of the road, was made by a mine sprung by the 3rd Division. On the 30th the Germans took the Chateau, and on the 9th August, it and the Crater were regained by the 6th Division. The Germans retook Hooge on the 6th June 1916; and on the 31st July 1917, the 8th Division advanced more than a mile beyond it. It was lost for the last time in April 1918, and regained by the 9th (Scottish) and 29th Divisions on the 28th September. The King's Royal Rifle Corps Memorial stands near the Chateau. Hooge Crater Cemetery is on the south side of the road, almost opposite the Chateau grounds. It was begun by the 7th Division Burial Officer early in October 1917. It then contained originally 76 graves, in Rows A to D, of Plot I. It was greatly increased after the Armistice by the concentration of 5,800 graves from smaller cemeteries and from the battlefields of Zillebeke, Zantvoorde and Gheluvelt. It now contains the graves of 5,153* soldiers (and airmen) from the United Kingdom, 509 from Australia, 119 from New Zealand, 95 from Canada, and two of the British West Indies Regiment. As many as 3,580 of these officers and men are unidentified, and special memorials record the names of 15 soldiers from the United Kingdom, ten from Canada, four from Australia, and two from New Zealand, known or believed to be among them. Other special memorials bear the names of twelve soldiers from the United Kingdom, buried at La Chapelle Farm, and two buried in Kruiseecke German Cemetery, whose graves were destroyed by shell fire. The cemetery covers an area of 17,059 square yards.  * The burials in Row G of Plot II, the exact number of which is not known, are taken for this purpose as numbering 23. 

The following were among the smaller burial grounds from which graves were concentrated to Hooge Crater Cemetery:-. 

BASS WOOD CEMETERIES No. 1 and No. 2, ZILLEBEKE, on the East side of the Bassevillebeek, half a mile South of Herenthage Chateau. They contained the graves of 48 soldiers from the United Kingdom who fell in December, 1917-March, 1918. 
KOELENBERG GERMAN CEMETERIES, GHELUWE, close together on the South side of the Menin Road, in which were buried ten soldiers from the United Kingdom. 
K.O.S.B. CEMETERY, GHELUWE, on the Menin Road, half a mile West of Gheluwe. Here were buried, after the capture of Gheluwe by the 34th Division, in October, 1918, 18 soldiers from the United Kingdom, of whom len belonged to the 1st/5th K.O.S.B. 
LA CHAPELLE FARM, ZILLEBEKE, between Chester Farm and Blauwepoort Farm, where 17 soldiers from the United Kingdom were buried in February and March, 1915. 
MENIN ROAD PILLBOX CEMETERY, ZILLEBEKE, between Herenthage Chateau and Gheluvelt, where 20 soldiers from the United Kingdom were buried in october, 1917. 
NIEUWE KRUISEECKE CABARET CEMETERY, GHELUVELT, on the South side of the Menin Road, where 21 soldiers from the United Kingdom and one from Canada were buried in October, 1918. 
PILLBOX CEMETERY, ZONNEBEKE, 500 yards North-East of Westhoek, which was used in October, 1917; there were buried in it 34 soldiers from Australia, 26 from the United Kingdom, two from Canada and one of the British West Indies Regiment. 
SANCTUARY WOOD OLD BRITISH CEMETERY, ZILLEBEKE, within the wood and North-East of the present cemetery; there were buried in it, in 1915-1917, 50 soldiers from the United Kingdom (of whom 30 were unidentified) and four from Canada. 
TOWER HAMLETS CEMETERY, GHELUVELT, between Gheluvelt and Bass Wood, on the West side of a row of "pillboxes" called Tower Hamlets; it contained the graves of 36 soldiers from the United Kingdom who fell in the winter of 1917-1918. 
WESTHOEK RIDGE SMALL CEMETERY, ZONNEBEKE, in Westhoek village, "near the Area Commandant's pillbox and the A.D.S."; it was used in the autumn of 1917, and it contained the graves of 16 soldiers from Australia and six from the United Kingdom.

LOCATION

GRAVES OF INTEREST

- Died 28th September 1917, age 20.
- Son of Thomas and Annie Bugden, of "Hotel Wells," Tweed Heads, New South Wales. Born at Gundurimba, New South Wales.
- The London Gazette dated 26th November 1917 records the following:-
"For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty when on two occasions our advance was temporarily held up by strongly defended "pill-boxes". Pte. Bugden, in the face of devastating fire from machine guns, gallantly led small parties to attack these strong points and, successfully silencing the machine guns with bombs, captured the garrison at the point of the bayonet. On another occasion, when a Corporal, who had become detached from his company, had been captured and was being taken to the rear by the enemy, Pte. Bugden, single-handed, rushed to the rescue of his comrade, shot one enemy and bayoneted the remaining two, thus releasing the Corporal. On five occasions he rescued wounded men under intense shell and machine gun fire, showing an utter contempt and disregard for danger. Always foremost in volunteering for any dangerous mission, it was during the execution of one of these missions that this gallant soldier was killed."