Derry House Cemetery No.2

Derry House Cemetery No.2 is a small Commonwealth war cemetery on the outskirts of the village of Wijtschate (historically known as Wytschaete), in Belgium's West Flanders province. It lies within an area that formed a critical stretch of the front line near Ypres during the First World War.

Where does the cemetery's name come from?

The name refers to a nearby farm that soldiers of the Royal Irish Rifles nicknamed "Derry House." Assigning informal, often improvised names to farms, crossroads, and other landmarks was a common habit among British and Irish units serving in Belgium — it made orientation easier across a landscape torn apart by shellfire, where original Flemish place names were often unfamiliar or hard to pronounce for English-speaking troops.

What is the history behind this site?

The cemetery was started by a field ambulance unit attached to the 11th Division. Burials continued here until December 1917. After a gap, the site was used again in October 1918, this time by the 2nd Battalion, The London Scottish.

The fortunes of Wytschaete itself mirror the shifting front line in this sector. The village fell into German hands in early November 1914. Commonwealth forces recaptured it on 7 June 1917 during the Battle of Messines, one of the most significant offensive operations of that phase of the war, preceded by the detonation of a series of mines beneath German positions. The recovered ground did not remain under Allied control for long: on 16 April 1918, during the German spring offensive, the village fell once more into German hands.

The cemetery today holds 166 burials from the conflict. Its layout and architectural design were the work of William Harrison Cowlishaw, one of the architects commissioned by what was then the Imperial War Graves Commission (today the Commonwealth War Graves Commission), the body responsible for hundreds of similar memorial sites scattered across the former battlefields of Flanders and northern France.

How can visitors reach the cemetery?

Access is from the village of Wijtschate via Houtemstraat. The first right-hand turning leads onto Krommestraat, which should be followed for around 800 metres. A turning to the left then appears, and the cemetery itself lies roughly 50 metres beyond it. The site offers wheelchair access, though with some difficulty due to the terrain.

Frequently asked questions

How many people are buried at Derry House Cemetery No.2? The cemetery contains 166 burials of Commonwealth servicemen.

Who established the cemetery? It was started by a field ambulance unit of the 11th Division and later used by the 2nd Battalion, The London Scottish.

Where does the cemetery's name originate? From a nearby farm nicknamed "Derry House" by soldiers of the Royal Irish Rifles.

Is the site easy for visitors to reach? Yes, it is reached via a marked route from Wijtschate, and the ground allows wheelchair access, albeit with some difficulty.

Why was the Wytschaete area so significant during the war? It sat on a strategic ridge controlling access to Ypres, making it the object of repeated fighting, including the well-known Battle of Messines in 1917.