Reginald Thomas

Reginald Thomas was initialy buried in a railway cutting close to Railway Woods at Trench Map Cordinates 28.I.11.b.15.45. Following the war the graves from the smaller cemeteries were concentrated in the larger cemeteries. Reginalds body was exhumed, identifed and reburied at Poelkapelle British Cemetery, Belgium.

The Burials Return form from 1923 shows he was identified from his titles and boots stamped with his service number of 1340.

Poelcapelle British Cemetery was created after the Armistice when graves were brought in from the surrounding battlefields and smaller cemeteries.

The Graves Registration Report Form from 1924 shows the location of his grave and the Headstone Inscriptions Report give the details of his headstone.

Poelcapplle British Cemetery is located to the east of the village of Poelcapple on the road to Westrozebeke. It is in a beautiful location surrounded by mature trees and shrubs. Reginald is buried in the corner of the cemetery opposite the main gate. The cemetery contains 7,479 graves but only 1249 are indentifed and the number of 'A Soldier of the Great War Known Unto God' headstones is moving.

In the table below is Reginald Thomas's entry from the Commonweath War Graves Commission.

His date of death is given as the 8^th October 1915 but the Brigade Casualty Report and H.R.Adair's letter to Mrs Thomas show his date of death as the 2^nd October 1915.

Poelcapelle British Cemetery is located 10 Kms north-east of Ieper town centre on the Brugseweg (N313), a road connecting Ieper to Brugge. Two streets connect Ieper town centre onto the Brugseweg; Torhoutstraat leads from the market square onto the Kalfvaartstraat. At the end of Kalfvaartstraat is a large junction on which Brugseweg is the first right hand turning. The cemetery itself lies 10 Kms along the Brugseweg on the right hand side of the road after passing through the village of Poelkapelle