In Memory of

Richard Vivian Watkins

Private
13074205
Pioneer Corps
who died on
Sunday 21st January 1945. Age 28.

Additional Information:

Son of Stanley Ivor Watkins, and of Ellen May Watkins, of Penylan, Cardiff. Baptised at St Stephen's Church. In 1939, he lived in Westville Road, Roath, Cardiff.

List of casualties at Schoonselhof Cemetery


Commemorative Information

Cemetery: SCHOONSELHOF CEMETERY, Antwerpen, Antwerpen, Belgium.
Cemetery Details: The opening hours for the cemetery are as follows :- Every day 0830-1630.
Grave Reference/Panel Number: V. A. 92.
Location: Antwerp lies 57 Km north of Brussels on the E19 and 59 km north east of Gent on the E17 motorway. The cemetery itself is located in Wilrijk, a suburb of Antwerp. From the Bistplein in front of the railway station in Wilrijk follow the Kleinsteenweg for 300 M until you arrive at the ring road. Turn right and follow the ring road for 100 M to the first set of traffic lights and turn left. Go under the flyover and continue straight on over the dual carriageway into Jules Moretus Lei. Follow this street for 1 kilometre and the entrance to the Municipal Cemetery is on your left. After entering the cemetery follow the Commission signs to the three Commission plots at the far end of the cemetery. Alternatively ask for their location at the office within the cemetery.
Historical Information: Antwerp was the seat of the Belgian Government from the 17th August to the 7th October, 1914. It became, towards the end of August, one of the strong positions on the allied left flank, and by the middle of September a position of critical importance. The Royal Naval Air Service used its aerodrome. It was defended by fortress troops and the greater part of the Belgian Field Army. On the 27th September the Germans laid siege to it; during the first week of October the Naval Division entered the city, and they played a gallant part in its defence; on the 9th, before other British and French reinforcements could arrive the last forts became untenable and the last defenders retired; and from the 10th October, 1914, to the Armistice the city was in German hands. Schoonselhof Cemetery, was the park of a chateau, bought by the town in 1911, used by the Germans from 1914 onwards. There are now more than 100, 1914-18 and nearly 1,500 1939-45 war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these, a small number from the 1914-18 war are unidentified. 17 graves from the 1914-18 War, were brought in after the Armistice from Lierre German Cemetery, 1 from Bouchout-Les-Lierre Churchyard, 3 from the War Plot in Malines Communal Cemetery, and 1 from the Casino garden at Lierre. From the 1939-45 War more than 20 are unidentified.