Visiting Information: Visitors should note there is a small grassed access path to this site which is unsuitable for vehicles. A little further along the track towards Bellewaarde Farm is situated the Liverpool Scottish Memorial. This memorial was erected in July 2000 and it is clearly visible just inside the woodland when viewing Bellewaarde Ridge from R.E. Grave. This memorial is not a Commission responsibility.

Location Information: R. E. Grave Railway Wood is located on the Oude Kortrijkstraat 4 kilometres east of Ieper town centre, on a road leading from the Meenseweg (N8), connecting Ieper to Menen. From Ieper town centre the Meenseweg is located via Torhoutstraat and right onto Basculestraat. Basculestraat ends at a main cross roads, directly over which begins the Meenseweg. 3 kilometres along the Meenseweg lies the left hand turning onto the Begijnenbosstraat. 1 kilometre along the Begijnenbosstraat is the right hand turning onto Oude Kortrijkstraat. The cemetery itself is located 500 metres along the Oude Kortrijkstraat on the right hand side of the road.

The 117th Tunnelling Company took part in underground warfare, tunnelling and mining. Mine warfare caused cruel man-to-man fights in pitch dark, narrow and low tunnels. The main goal of mining was to bring a large amount of explosives under an enemy position to blow it up at a specified time. Of course, the enemy was constantly listening and counter-mining. The R E Grave marks the spot where eight Royal Engineers of the 177th Tunnelling Company and four attached infantrymen were killed in action underground, victims of a German counter-mine attack. They were unable to be recovered from the underground tunnel complex beneath the hill.

The grave takes the form of a small enclosure with a Cross of Sacrifice bearing a dedicatory inscription and the names of those buried there and the regimental insignia of the Royal Engineers, along with the Royal Welsh Fusiliers & the King's Liverpool Regiment, from which the four non-Royal Engineers were seconded. The grave was designed by A J H Holden.

The inscription reads:

"Beneath this spot lie the bodies of an officer, three N.C.O.'s and eight men of or attached to the

177th Tunnelling Company Royal Engineers who were killed in action underground during the

defence of Ypres between November 1915 and October 1917."