Poperinghe Old Military Cemetery

In Poperinge there were a number of different hospitals that continued to function until April 1915, including one that treated typhoid patients amongst the civilian population. When the Second Battle of Ypres began, Poperinge came increasingly under the fire of the German guns. On 25 April 1915, one of the hospitals - the Gasthuis - was hit by a shell, killing 4 nursing sisters and 6 patients.

As well as the Gasthuis, there was also a hospital run by a Quaker organisation from Great Britain: the Friends Ambulance. A commandeered chateau, belonging to the D’Hondt family, was also used as a hospital for both soldiers and civilians. Those who died there were buried in what was once the back garden of the chateau's neighbours. This plot is now known as the Old Military Cemetery. This cemetery was originally much larger than it is today, but all the Belgian, French and civilian burials were removed in 1922. The last British war dead were buried here at the start of May 1915, with the exception of 1 Chinese labourer, who was executed in 1919.

After 6 May 1915, military patients were no longer brought into Poperinge town, but were taken instead to the Casualty Clearing Station at Remy Farm near Lijssenthoek, which was further back and less of an artillery target. Chateau D’Hondt then became the Elisabeth Hospital. From 1916 onwards there were only a number of Field Ambulances based in Poperinge.

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