Loker Hospice cemetery & grave of William Redmond

You can reach this cemetery by taking the path behind the house.

Look behind you. You can see that the landscape is dominated by the strategically important hills: the Kemmelberg and the Scherpenberg. Throughout most of the war the mill that stood on the Scherpenberg was used by the British as a relatively safe observation post. It was visited by both King George V of England and Queen Elisabeth of Belgium. The mill was only destroyed by the Germans during the preliminary bombardment of their 1918 Spring Offensive. There was also a warren of tunnels and shelters under the Scherpenberg. Six of these can still be seen; the rest have all collapsed or been filled in.

This cemetery is unusual, in that just beyond its walls lies a single isolated grave. This is the grave of the Irish nationalist and member of parliament, Major William Redmond. He was originally buried in the garden of the local convent (or hospice), which was later destroyed in the 1918 fighting.

Redmond was a strong advocate of the participation of Irish troops in the war, which was not always popular with some of the people in Ireland. He was wounded on 7 June 1917, the opening day of the great Mine Battle of Messines. His injuries were treated and he was evacuated to the hospice by a soldier of the Ulster Division, his religious and political opponents. Sadly, he died later that same afternoon.

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