December 22, 2025. The very first story uncovered by Pieter, when he began researching the names on the Cenotaph outside the Borden-Carleton Legion, was that of WWI soldier Vincent Earl CARR, who lost his life on October 30, 1917 during the Battle of Passchendaele in Belgium. Born May 3, 1894 in North Tryon, Prince Edward Island, Vincent was the son of Robert and Catherine (nee McLeod) Carr, and the husband of Bessie Carr (who died exactly a year later!)
Photo: Vincent Carr in 1915, in the uniform of the 55th Battalion. (Photo courtesy of Delbert Carr collection. Photo colourization: Pieter Valkenburg)
….Why were 3 WWI Canadian Soldiers were buried side by side?…
Vincent is buried in Cement House Cemetery in Langemark, Belgium, which we visited in 2017. During that visit, Pieter noticed that the graves on either side of him were Canadians from the same unit as Vincent, and that they had died on the same day.
Photo at Cement House Cemetery of Bellas, Carr, and Willson. (Photo credit: Pieter Valkenburg)
While in Passchendaele, a brochure ‘Did Your Granddad Fight in Passchendaele 1917?’ from the Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917 invited people to submit names and photos. In return, museum staff would send a trench map with the approximate place where the person was killed.
You can see Abraham Heights towards the bottom left corner of the map. (Map: courtesy http://www.darrellduthie.com/maps/)
….A trench map showed that Vincent Carr and 4 other soldiers were buried in Abraham Heights…
It took almost 2 years before we received the trench map in October 2019, along with more information on what happened on October 30, 1917. On that fateful day, Vincent Carr, and two soldiers from Ontario, Jack Bingham WILLSON and Robert BELLAS, were all killed by the same high explosive shell on Abraham Heights. They had been buried in the same grave on Abraham Heights, where they lost their lives, along with 2 British soldiers.
In 1939, when all 5 bodies were exhumed and reburied in Cement House Cemetery, all three Canadians were still identifiable. The British Army’s cardboard identity ‘tags’ had disintegrated, leaving the two British soldiers as unidentified. (See https://onthewarmemorialtrail.com/2019/09/01/the-three-ww1-soldiers-who-were-buried-together-at-passchendaele/ )
The Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917 wrote us that: “…According to the War Diary of the 1st Canadian Motor Machine Gun Brigade, three machine gun companies were in the field around October 30. ‘A’-Battery from the 28th till the 31st of October, ‘B’-Battery from the 29th till the 31st of October and the ‘Eaton’-Battery from the 30th October till the 1st of November. Although the positions on Abraham Heights (28.D.15.b.7.4.) were abandoned on the 29th to take up new positions just north of Tyne Cot Cemetery (28.D.16.b.6.9.), many runners were sent to the supply stores behind the front to resupply the machine guns on the front line. It’s likely that the men were killed by shellfire while hauling equipment between the gun positions and the back areas….” (Note: The numbers and letters in brackets beside Abraham Heights and Tyne Cot Cemetery are the GPS coordinates.)
Trench map showing the coordinates where Carr, Willson, and Bellas were originally buried on Abraham Heights. (Map: courtesy of Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917)
….Where EXACTLY had the men been buried?…
While in Belgium, Pieter’s cousin François Breugelmans and his wife Mieke de Bie joined us for this portion of our 2025 European War Memorial Tour. We drove to Zonnebeke, home of the Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917, hoping that someone would be able to decipher the coordinates on the trench map sent to us in 2019…which of course we’d brought with us, along with articles from the County Line Courier newspaper about Vincent’s story to date. Could we find the exact location?
François and I were excited to figure out the trench map coordinates. Pieter thought it was a fool’s errand after over 100 years, and pointed out that since I’m directionally challenged (ie get lost everywhere), it would be a miracle if we found out where it was. He and Mieke decided to sit on a couch and wait for the results of the discussion with the museum receptionist.
Mieke and Pieter left the trench map discussion to François and Daria. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)
The museum receptionist was astonished by the question posed, but was so interested she said to wait while she made a phone call. One of the archivists was called in to help. “…I remember this map!…” he exclaimed.
François Breugelmans (left) with the Museum receptionist, and the young archivist (right) who figured out the coordinates on the trench map. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)
The archivist overlaid the trench map with a Google map, found the location, and then showed us a street view of how it looks today…..in a farm field near Beecham Farm.
Side by side view – the trench map (left) and Google map (right) was shown to us on the archivist’s laptop. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)
A red circled arrow marked the location of where the trench was on Google Street View Maps. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)
….We searched for the location that was on the map…
We thanked the museum personnel and immediately went to the location marked on the map, finding out it was just outside Zonnebeke. We got excited when we saw a sign indicating that we were beside Beecham Farm. It still existed!
Beecham Farm was still in existence! (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)
Across the road from Beecham Farm we could see Tyne Cot Cemetery, which we’d visited in 2017. (See https://onthewarmemorialtrail.com/2017/11/12/a-visit-to-tyne-cot-cemetery/)
We could see Tyne Cot Cemetery (see yellow arrow) across the road from Beecham Farm. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)
Tyne Cot was listed on the original trench map, so we knew were in the right location! A field belonging to Beecham Farm was the location of the trench where Vincent Carr was originally buried.
The trench where Vincent Carr was originally buried was in this field on Beecham Farm. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)
I felt like a detective who’d solved a mystery, while standing beside the field at Beecham Farm where Vincent Carr was originally buried! (Photo credit: François Breugelmans)
….We celebrated our success in Ypres…
Flush with the victory of finding the original trench location….not bad for 4 seniors… we decided to celebrate with a well-earned snack and rest in Ypres before continuing on with our 2025 European War Memorial Tour in Belgium. It was over 30oC and very humid, and we needed a break!
We enjoyed a drink and bitterballen in Ypres. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)
Of course, no trip to Ypres was complete without a stop at the Peter de Groote chocolate shop! I never pass up their delicious ginger chocolates!
Daria, Mieke, and Pieter at the chocolate shop in Ypres. (Photo credit: François Breugelmans)
Thank you to the staff at Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917 in Zonnebeke for helping us in our quest to find the trench location. Thank you also to François Breugelmans and Mieke de Bie for joining us on our Belgian adventures.
Our adventures continue as we share the highlights of our 2025 European War Memorial Tour.
If you have a story or photo to share, please contact Pieter at memorialtrail@gmail.com or comment on the blog.
© Daria Valkenburg
….Want to follow our research?…
If you are reading this posting, but aren’t following our research, you are welcome to do so. Our blog address: https://onthewarmemorialtrail.com/
4 countries, 6 weeks, 7,000 km – an unforgettable war memorial journey in Europe…. Daria’s book ‘No Soldier Buried Overseas Should Ever Be Forgotten‘ is available in print and e-book formats. Net proceeds of book sales help support research costs and the cost of maintaining this blog. For more information see https://nosoldierforgotten.com/
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel: On The War Memorial Trail With Pieter Valkenburg: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJ591TyjSheOR-Cb_Gs_5Kw.
Never miss a posting! Subscribe below to have each new story from the war memorial trail delivered to your inbox.
On The War Memorial Trail Research Project........ with Pieter and Daria Valkenburg 