DIKSMUIDE COMMUNAL CEMETERY
West-Vlaanderen
Belgium
Location Information
Diksmuide is a small town lying 23 kilometers north of Ieper, on the Ieper-Ostende road (N369). The Cemetery is located in the town centre on Woumenweg. Entering the town from the direction of Ieper on the N369 go past the sports hall and football ground and the cemetery is on the right. Entering the cemetery from the main entrance walk straight towards the crucifix. Take the third path on the right, followed by the first on the left followed by the second to the right.
Historical Information
The British Expeditionary Force was involved in the later stages of the defence of Belgium following the German invasion in May 1940, and suffered many casualties in covering the withdrawal to Dunkirk. Commonwealth forces did not return until September 1944, but in the intervening years, many airmen were shot down or crashed in raids on strategic objectives in Belgium, or while returning from missions over Germany.
Diksmude Communal Cemetery contains three Commonwealth burials of the Second World War, one of which is unidentified.
Burial Details
J/15076 Flight Lieutenant Robert Henry Deugo, Pilot in 198 (R.A.F.) Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force, died 20th July 1943, aged 21. Son of Ira and Dorothy Deugo, of Pakenham, Ontario, Canada.
6396597 Private John James Goodger, 2nd Bn. Royal Sussex Regiment, died 22nd May 1940, aged 31.
Pictures © Johan Pauwels
Diksmuide is a small town lying 23 kilometers north of Ieper, on the Ieper-Ostende road (N369). The Cemetery is located in the town centre on Woumenweg. Entering the town from the direction of Ieper on the N369 go past the sports hall and football ground and the cemetery is on the right. Entering the cemetery from the main entrance walk straight towards the crucifix. Take the third path on the right, followed by the first on the left followed by the second to the right.
Historical Information
The British Expeditionary Force was involved in the later stages of the defence of Belgium following the German invasion in May 1940, and suffered many casualties in covering the withdrawal to Dunkirk. Commonwealth forces did not return until September 1944, but in the intervening years, many airmen were shot down or crashed in raids on strategic objectives in Belgium, or while returning from missions over Germany.
Diksmude Communal Cemetery contains three Commonwealth burials of the Second World War, one of which is unidentified.
Burial Details
J/15076 Flight Lieutenant Robert Henry Deugo, Pilot in 198 (R.A.F.) Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force, died 20th July 1943, aged 21. Son of Ira and Dorothy Deugo, of Pakenham, Ontario, Canada.
6396597 Private John James Goodger, 2nd Bn. Royal Sussex Regiment, died 22nd May 1940, aged 31.
Pictures © Johan Pauwels
Joseph Alphonse Marie (Joe) English (Bruges, 5 August 1882 – Vinkem, 31 August 1918) was a Flemish draughtsman and painter.
His father was an Irishman who married a Flemish woman. Later on, Joe was naturalised as a Belgian subject and collaborated closely with the Antwerp artist Juliaan Devriendt. Antwerp was at that time the centre of the Flemish Movement. In 1914, he was mobilised. At the end of 1915, he worked as an artist in Veurne, where he became a prominent front soldier. He designed the typical gravestones honouring the Flemish soldiers who died in the First World War. English died at the age of 36 from an untreated appendicitis in the military hospital L'Océan at Vinkem on the night of 31 August 1918. He was buried in the Belgian military cemetery at Steenkerke. The very first IJzerbedevaarttook place there at his sepulchre in 1920. In 1930, his corpse was placed in the crypt of the IJzertoren (the Yser Tower, named after the River Yser). Through his friend Sam De Vriendt, a number of English’s oil paintings and water colours, which depict Veurne during the war, were permanently exhibited in the town hall there.
(Picture of grave below © Werner Van Caneghem)
Wikipedia
His father was an Irishman who married a Flemish woman. Later on, Joe was naturalised as a Belgian subject and collaborated closely with the Antwerp artist Juliaan Devriendt. Antwerp was at that time the centre of the Flemish Movement. In 1914, he was mobilised. At the end of 1915, he worked as an artist in Veurne, where he became a prominent front soldier. He designed the typical gravestones honouring the Flemish soldiers who died in the First World War. English died at the age of 36 from an untreated appendicitis in the military hospital L'Océan at Vinkem on the night of 31 August 1918. He was buried in the Belgian military cemetery at Steenkerke. The very first IJzerbedevaarttook place there at his sepulchre in 1920. In 1930, his corpse was placed in the crypt of the IJzertoren (the Yser Tower, named after the River Yser). Through his friend Sam De Vriendt, a number of English’s oil paintings and water colours, which depict Veurne during the war, were permanently exhibited in the town hall there.
(Picture of grave below © Werner Van Caneghem)
Wikipedia
