57282: Essex Farm Cemetery: Concrete bunkers

Restored and recently re-opened Allied bunkers next to the canal by Essex Farm Cemetery, the site of an advanced dressing station. These date from circa September 1916. It was in this immediate vicinity on 2nd or 3rd May 1915 that the Canadian major (later lieutenant colonel) and doctor John McCrae wrote 'In Flanders Fields'. He was working in this medical aid station where he cared for the wounded from the 1st Canadian Artillery Brigade, which was lined up on top of the Canal Bank. He also looked after many casualties who were brought from the battlefields near St Julien during the heavy fighting after the gas attack of 22nd April 1915. The Essex Farm Cemetery also came into being in those days. From September 1916, numerous reinforced dugouts were built in the left and right banks of the canal by the Royal Engineers of the 38th (Welsh) Division. On account of the incessant firing from the bridges across the canal and from the Canal Bank, constant repairs had to be carried out. More and more concrete was used to do this work. During preparation for the major offensive in the summer of 1917, various advanced dressing stations, such as Dulhallows, Talana Farm, and Essex Farm, were built at the bottom of the West Side of the Canal Bank. From here, the wounded were evacuated by motorised ambulances to the Main Dressing Stations, Casualty Clearing Stations, and Base Hospitals behind the front.