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ADDOLORATA CEMETERY,
Vjal Santa Lucija, Paola,
MALTA
From
the spring of 1915, the hospitals and convalescent depots established on the
islands of Malta and Gozo dealt
with over 135,000 sick and wounded, chiefly from the campaigns in Gallipoli
and Salonika, although increased submarine activity in the Mediterranean
meant that fewer hospital ships were sent to the island from May 1917.
During the Second World War, Malta's
position in the Mediterranean was of
enormous Allied strategic importance. Heavily fortified, the island was never
invaded, but was subjected to continual bombardment and blockade between Italy's entry into the war in June 1940 and
the Axis defeat at El Alamein in November
1942. At the height of Axis attempts to break Malta's resistance in April 1942,
the island and her people were awarded the George Cross by King George VI. Malta's
defence relied upon a combined operation in which the contributions made by
the three branches of the armed forces and Merchant Navy were equally
crucial. Although heavily pressed in defence, offensive raids launched from
the island by air and sea had a crippling effect on the Axis lines of
communication with North Africa, and played
a vital part in the eventual Allied success there.
Addolorata Cemetery contains 250 Commonwealth
burials of the First World War and 18 from the Second World War. Many of the
graves will be found in two plots, one in Compartment A, Section EA, Division
E and the other in Compartment D Section V Division E; the rest of the graves
are scattered. The Commission also cares for 46 war graves of other
nationalities within the cemetery.
ALEXANDRIA (CHATBY) MILIATRY
& WAR MEMORIAL CEMETERY, EGYPT
Chatby Military and War Memorial
Cemetery (originally
the Garrison cemetery) was used for burials until April 1916, when a new
cemetery was opened at Hadra. Thereafter, burials at Chatby were infrequent,
although some graves were brought into the cemetery after the war from other
burial grounds in the area. During the Second World War, Alexandria
was again an important hospital centre, taking casualties from campaigns in
the Western Desert, Greece, Crete, the Aegean
Islands and the Mediterranean.
Rest camps and hostels were also established there together with a powerful
anti-aircraft base. Alexandria
was also the communications centre for the middle and near east and became
the headquarters of the Military Police. There are now 2,259 First World War
burials in the cemetery and 503 from the Second World War. The cemetery also
contains war graves of other nationalities and many non war and military
graves, some of which date from 1882. The CHATBY MEMORIAL stands at the
eastern end of the cemetery and commemorates almost 1,000 Commonwealth
servicemen who died during the First World War and have no other grave but
the sea. Many of them were lost when hospital ships or transports were sunk
in the Mediterranean, sailing to or from Alexandria. Others died of wounds or sickness
while aboard such vessels and were buried at sea.
BEAUMETZ CROSS
ROADS CEMETERY,
Beaumetz-Les-Cambrai, Pas de Clais, FRANCE
The village of
Beaumetz-les-Cambrai was captured by the enemy on the 22nd March, 1918, after
an obstinate defence by the 51st (Highland) and 25th Divisions, and retaken
in the middle of the following September. Beaumetz Cross
Roads Cemetery
was begun by fighting units in March, 1917, and used until February, 1918;
these graves are in Row D. The Germans knew it as No. 6 (English Military)
Cemetery. Further British burials were made (in Rows E and F) in September
and October, 1918. After the Armistice graves of 1917-18 were brought in from
the surrounding battlefields the body of one United States soldier was removed
to another cemetery. There are now over 250, 1914-18 war casualties
commemorated in this site. Of these, over a quarter are unidentified and
special memorials are erected to four soldiers from the United Kingdom and three from Australia,
known or believed to be buried among them. The Cemetery covers an area of
1,405 square metres and is enclosed by a flint wall on three sides.
BANCOURT BRITISH
CEMETERY, Pas de Calais, FRANCE
Bancourt was occupied
by Commonwealth forces in March 1917. It was lost a year later during the German
offensive in the spring of 1918, but recaptured by the New Zealand Division
(in particular, the 2nd Auckland
Battalion) on 30 August 1918. The cemetery was begun by the New Zealand
Division in September 1918; the original cemetery is now Plot I, Rows A and
B. The remainder of the cemetery was made after the Armistice when graves
were brought in from the battlefields east and south of Bancourt and from
certain Allied and German cemeteries.
BOURAIL NEW ZEALND WAR CEMETERY, NEW CALEDONIA
The island of New Caledonia was annexed by France in 1854. In 1942 the
Allies used the island as a training ground for jungle and island warfare,
and it was here that New Zealand
forces prepared for the Solomon
Islands campaign. The Headquarters of the
South Pacific Command was established at Noumea,
the capital, which became the principal United States base for the
campaign and the largest forward Allied military and supply base in the South
Pacific. No.4 General Hospital was set up in Dumbea
Valley, nearly 25 kilometres from Noumea. Bourail, on the
west coast of the island, was the Headquarters of the 3rd New Zealand
Division, which began to arrive in New
Caledonia towards the end of 1942. Brigade
Headquarters and staging camps were disposed along the main arterial road on
the western side of the island, where the principal defences were
concentrated and where airfields were built to link the island with the
battle zone and the bases in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and other places in
the Pacific. There are 246 Commonwealth burials of the 1939-1945 war in this
cemetery, of which 4 are unidentified.
DELVILLE WOOD
CEMETERY, Longueval, Somme, FRANCE
Delville Wood was a tract of woodland, nearly 1
kilometre square, the western edge of which touched the village
of Longueval in the Somme. On 14 July 1916 the greater part of Longueval
village was taken by the 9th (Scottish) Division and on the 15th, the South
African Brigade of that Division captured most of Delville Wood. The wood now
formed a salient in the line, with Waterlot Farm and Mons Wood on the south
flank still in German hands, and, owing to the height of the trees, no close
artillery support was possible for defence. The three South African
battalions fought continuously for six days and suffered heavy casualties. On
18 July, they were forced back and on the evening of the 20th the survivors,
a mere handful of men, were relieved. On 27 July, the 2nd Division retook the
wood and held it until 4 August when the 17th Division took it over. On 18
and 25 August it was finally cleared of all German resistance by the 14th
(Light) Division. The wood was then held until the end of April 1918 when it
was lost during the German advance, but was retaken by the 38th (Welsh)
Division on the following 28 August. DELVILLE WOOD
CEMETERY was made after
the Armistice, when graves were brought in from a few small cemeteries and
isolated sites, and from the battlefields. Almost all of the burials date
from July, August and September 1916. Commonwealth graves from the following
were concentrated into Delville Wood Cemetery:- ANGLE WOOD CEMETERY, GINCHY,
was in an "excavated shell-hole" in Angle Wood, to the North-West
of Maurepas; and in them were buried 27 British soldiers (mainly of the
London Regiment); BATTERY COPSE CEMETERY, CURLU, was between Curlu and
Maurepas. It contained, in addition to French graves, those of 17 British
soldiers; BAZENTIN-LE-PETIT GERMAN CEMETERY was at the South-East end of the
village; in addition to the German graves, it contained five British soldiers
(who fell in March and April, 1918); COURCELETTE COMMUNAL CEMETERY GERMAN
EXTENSION contained the graves of three British soldiers, one from Canada,
and 1,040 German; FERME-ROUGE FRENCH MILITARY CEMETERY, CURLU, was close to
Battery Copse Cemetery. In addition to the French graves, it contained one
British soldier who fell in March, 1917; GUILLEMONT GERMAN CEMETERY No.1, at
the West end of the village, contained 221 German graves and those of seven
British soldiers who fell in May and July, 1918; LONE RIDGE CEMETERY, LONGUEVAL,
between Delville Wood and the centre of the village, contained the graves of
52 soldiers who fell at the end of August, 1918; MARICOURT (DE LA COTE)
GERMAN CEMETERY, on the South West side of the village, contained the graves
of five British soldiers and airmen; MARTINPUICH GERMAN CEMETERY No.1, at the
North-East end of the village, contained the graves of six British soldiers
and one sailor who fell in March 1918; MARTINPUICH GERMAN CEMETERY No.2, to
the West of No.1, contained the grave of one British soldier. There are now
5,523 burials and commemorations of the First World War in this cemetery.
3,593 of the burials are unidentified but there are special memorials to 27
casualties known or believed to be buried among them. Other special memorials
record the names of three soldiers buried in Courcelette Communal Cemetery
German Extension, whose graves were destroyed by shell fire. The cemetery was
designed by Sir Herbert Baker Opposite the cemetery stands the SOUTH AFRICAN
NATIONAL MEMORIAL. Originally intended as a memorial to the South African
servicemen who served and died in all theatres during the First World War,
this was later extended to include the Second World War and the Korean War.
EL ALAMEIN WAR
CEMETERY,
EGYPT
The campaign in the Western Desert was fought between
the Commonwealth forces (with, later, the addition of two brigades of Free
French and one each of Polish and Greek troops) all based in Egypt, and the
Axis forces (German and Italian) based in Libya. The battlefield, across
which the fighting surged back and forth between 1940 and 1942, was the 1,000
kilometres of desert between Alexandria in Egypt and Benghazi
in Libya.
It was a campaign of manoeuvre and movement, the objectives being the control
of the Mediterranean, the link with the east through the Suez Canal, the
Middle East oil supplies and the supply route to Russia
through Persia.
EL ALAMEIN WAR CEMETERY contains the graves of men who died at all stages of
the Western Desert campaigns, brought in from a wide area, but especially
those who died in the Battle of El Alamein at the end of October 1942 and in
the period immediately before that. The cemetery now contains 7,240
Commonwealth burials of the Second World War, of which 815 are unidentified. There
are also 102 war graves of other nationalities. The ALAMEIN CREMATION
MEMORIAL, which stands in the south-eastern part of El
Alamein War Cemetery, commemorates more than 600 men whose
remains were cremated in Egypt
and Libya
during the war, in accordance with their faith. The entrance to the cemetery
is formed by the ALAMEIN MEMORIAL. The Land Forces panels commemorate more
than 8,500 soldiers of the Commonwealth who died in the campaigns in Egypt and Libya,
and in the operations of the Eighth Army in Tunisia up to 19 February 1943,
who have no known grave. It also commemorates those who served and died in Syria, Lebanon,
Iraq and Persia. The
Air Forces panels commemorate more than 3,000 airmen of the Commonwealth who
died in the campaigns in Egypt,
Libya, Syria, Lebanon,
Iraq, Greece, Crete and the Aegean, Ethiopia, Eritrea
and the Somalilands, the Sudan,
East Africa, Aden and Madagascar,
who have no known grave. Those who served with the Rhodesian and South
African Air Training Scheme and have no known grave are also commemorated
here. The cemetery was designed by Sir J. Hubert Worthington.
EUSTON ROAD
CEMETERY, Colincamps, Somme, FRANCE
Colincamps and "Euston", a road junction a
little east of the village, were within the Allied lines before the Somme offensive of July 1916. The cemetery was started
as a front line burial ground during and after the unsuccessful attack on
Serre on 1 July, but after the German withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line in
March 1917 it was scarcely used. It was briefly in German hands towards the
end of March 1918, when it marked the limit of the German advance, but the
line was held and pushed forward by the New Zealand Division allowing the
cemetery to be used again for burials in April and May 1918. The cemetery is
particularly associated with three dates and engagements; the attack on Serre
on 1 July 1916; the capture of Beaumont-Hamel on 13 November 1916; and the
German attack on the 3rd New
Zealand (Rifle) Brigade trenches before
Colincamps on 5 April 1918. The whole of Plot I, except five graves in the
last row, represents the original cemetery of 501 graves. After the
Armistice, more than 750 graves were brought in from small cemeteries in the
neighbouring communes and the battlefields. The cemetery now contains 1,293
Commonwealth burials and commemorations of the First World War. 170 of the
burials are unidentified but there are special memorials to 32 casualties
known or believed to be buried among them, and to two soldiers whose graves
in nearby small cemeteries were destroyed in later battles. The cemetery was
designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield.
GREVILLERS
(NEW ZEALAND) MEMORIAL, Pas de Calais, FRANCE
The
Memorial commemorates almost 450 officers and men of the New Zealand Division
who died in the defensive fighting in the area from March to August 1918, and
in the Advance to Victory between 8 August and 11 November 1918, and who have
no known grave. This is one of seven memorials in France
and Belgium to those New Zealand
soldiers who died on the Western Front and whose graves are not known. The
memorials are all in cemeteries chosen as appropriate to the fighting in
which the men died. The village
of Grevillers was
occupied by Commonwealth troops on 14 March 1917 and in April and May, the
3rd, 29th and 3rd Australian Casualty Clearing Stations were posted nearby.
They began the cemetery and continued to use it until March 1918, when
Grevillers was lost to the German during their great advance. On the
following 24 August, the New Zealand Division recaptured Grevillers and in
September, the 34th, 49th and 56th Casualty Clearing Stations came to the
village and used the cemetery again. After the Armistice, 200 graves were
brought in from the battlefields to the south of the village, and 40 from an
adjoining cemetery made during the German occupation, which no longer exists.
There are now 2,106 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War buried or
commemorated in Grevillers
British Cemetery.
189 of the burials are unidentified but there are special memorials to 18
casualties known or believed to be buried among them. Other special memorials
record the names of two casualties, buried in Avesnes-les-Bapaume German
Cemetery, whose graves
could not be found. The cemetery also contains the graves of seven Second
World War airmen, and 18 French war graves. The cemetery and memorial were
designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.
HELIOPOLIS WAR
CEMETERY, Cairo, EGYPT
General Headquarters, Middle East Command was set up in Cairo shortly before
the outbreak of the Second World War, remaining there throughout the war
years. In January 1941, a Royal Air Force Sector Headquarters for Fighter
Defence Canal Zone was established. Cairo
was also a significant hospital centre during the Second World War, as well
as a leave centre with many social clubs and hostels. The cemetery at Heliopolis was opened in October 1941 for burials from
the many hospitals in the area coping with the wounded and sick, mainly from
the Western Desert campaigns. After the war, 125
graves were moved into the cemetery from Mena Camp
Military Cemetery
where permanent maintenance was not possible. There are now 1,742
Commonwealth casualties of the Second World War buried or commemorated in the
cemetery, and the 83 war graves of other nationalities reflect the diverse
make up of the Middle East Command. The cemetery was designed by Mr. J.
Hubert Worthington. The pavilions at the entrance to the cemetery house the HELIOPOLIS (PORT TEWFIK) MEMORIAL to almost 4,000 men
who served and died with the Indian Army during the First World War in Egypt and Palestine, and who have no known grave. The
original memorial at Port Tewfik was destroyed during the Israeli-Egyptian
fighting of the 1970s. The pavilion at the rear of the cemetery houses the
HELIOPOLIS (ADEN) MEMORIAL to more than 600 men of the Commonwealth forces
who died in the defence of Aden
during the First World War and who have no known grave. The original memorial
in Aden was
destroyed in 1967.
HOOGE CRATER CEMETERY, BELGIUM
Hooge Crater Cemetery
is 4 kms east of Ieper town centre on 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 crossroads, directly over which
begins the Meenseweg. Hooge
Crater Cemetery
was begun by the 7th Division Burial Officer early in October
1917. It contained originally 76 graves, in Rows A to D of Plot I, but was
greatly increased after the Armistice when graves were brought in from the
battlefields on Zillebeke, Zantvoorde and Gheluvelt and the following smaller
cemeteries:
BASS WOOD CEMETERIES No. 1 and No.2, ZILLEBKE, on the East side of the
Bassevillebeek, 1 Km south of Herenthage Chateau. They contained the graves
of 48 soliders from the United Kingdom who fell in December, 1917-March,
1918; KOELENBERG GERMAN CEMETERIES, GHELUWE, close together on the South side
of the Menin Road, in which were buried ten soliders from the United Kingdom;
K.O.S.B. CEMETERY, GHELUWE, on the Menin Road, 1 Km West of Gheluwe. Here
were buried, after the capture of Gheluwe by the 34th Division, in
October, 1918, 18 soldiers from the United Kingdom, of whom ten belonged to
the 1st/5th K.O.S.B; LA CHAPELLE FARM, ZILLEBEKE,
between Chester Farm and Blauwepoort Farm, where 17 soldiers from the United
Kingdom were buried in February and March, 1915: MENIN ROAD PILLBOX CEMETERY,
ZILLEBEKE, between Herenthage Chateau and Gheluvelt, where 20 soldiers from
the United Kingdom were buried in October, 1917; NIEUWE KRUISEECKE CABARET
CEMETERY, GHELUVELT, on the South side of the Menin Road, where 21 soldiers
from the United Kingdom one one from Canada were
buried in October, 1918; PILLBOX CEMETERY, ZONNEBEKE, 500 metres North-East
of Westhoek, which was used in October, 1917; there were buried in it 34
soldiers form Australia, 26 from the United Kingdom, two from Canada and one
of the British West Indies Regiment; SANCTUARY WOOD OLD BRITISH CEMETERY,
ZILLEBEKE, within the wood and North-East of the present cemetery; there were
buried in it, in 1915-17, 50 soldiers from the United Kingdom (of whom 30
were unidentified) and four from Canada; TOWER HAMLETS CEMETERY, GHELUVELT,
between Gheluvelt and Bass Wood, on the West side of a row of
"pillboxes" called tower Hamlets; it contained the graves of 36
soldiers from the United Kingdom who fell in the winter of 1917-1918;
WESTHOEK RIDGE SMALL CEMETERY, ZONNEBEKE, in Westhoek village, "near the
Area Commandant's pillbox and the A.D.S."; it was used in the autumn of
1917, and it contained the graves of 16 soldiers from Australia and six from
the United Kingdom.
There are now 5,916 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War buried or
commemorated in this cemetery. 3,570 of the burials are unidentified, but
special memorials record the names of a number of casualties either known or
believed to be buried among them, or whose graves in other cemeteries were
destroyed by shell fire.
LA
PLUS DOUVE
FARM CEMETERY,
Comines-Warneton, Hainut,
BELGIUM
In the valley of the river Douve, north of Ploegsteert
Wood, were two farms. La Petite Douve was the object of a successful raid by
the 7th Canadian Infantry Battalion in November 1915 and La Plus Douve, which
was generally within the Allied lines, was used at times as a battalion
headquarters. It was also known as Ration Farm because battalion transport
could approach it at night with rations. La Plus Douve Farm Cemetery was
begun in April 1915 by the 48th (South Midland)
Division and continued in use until May 1918, when it fell into German hands.
The cemetery contains 336 Commonwealth burials of the First World War. The
cemetery was designed by Charles Holden.
MAPLE LEAF
CEMETERY, Comines-Warneton, Hainut, BELGIUM
Maple Leaf
Cemetery was begun in December 1914 by
fighting units and field ambulances, but from July 1915 to April 1916, the
village was occupied by the Advanced Dressing Station of the 3rd Canadian
Field Ambulance and the cemetery thus acquired its present name. The last
Commonwealth burial was made in December 1917, but German graves were added
in April 1918 when the cemetery was in German hands. The cemetery contains
167 Commonwealth and nine German burials of the First World War. The cemetery
was designed by G H Goldsmith.
MESSINES
RIDGE (N.Z.) MEMORIAL, Mesen, West-Vlaanderen,
BELGIUM
Messines
(now Mesen) was considered a strong strategic position, not only from its
height above the plain below, but from the extensive system of cellars under
the convent known as the 'Institution Royale'. The village was taken from the
1st Cavalry Division by the German 26th Division on 31 October-1 November
1914. An attack by French troops on 6 -7 November was unsuccessful and it was
not until the Battle of Messines on 7 June 1917 that it was retaken by the
New Zealand Division. On 10-11 April 1918, the village fell into German hands
once more after a stubborn defence by the South African Brigade, but was
retaken for the last time on 28-29 September 1918. The MESSINES RIDGE (NEW
ZEALAND) MEMORIAL stands within Messines Ridge British Cemetery and
commemorates over 800 soldiers of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force who
died in or near Messines in 1917 and 1918 and who have no known grave. This
is one of seven memorials in France
and Belgium to those New Zealand
soldiers who died on the Western Front and whose graves are not known. The
memorials are all in cemeteries chosen as appropriate to the fighting in
which the men died. MESSINES
RIDGE BRITISH
CEMETERY, in which this
memorial stands, occupies ground that belonged to the 'Institution Royale'.
It was made after the Armistice when graves were brought in from the
battlefield around Messines and from a number of small burial grounds in the
area. The dates of death of those buried here range from October 1914 to
October 1918, but the majority died in the fighting of 1917. There are now
1,531 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated
in the cemetery. 954 of the burials are unidentified but special memorials
commemorate a number of casualties known or believed to be buried among them,
or who were buried in other cemeteries where their graves were destroyed by
shell fire. Both cemetery and memorial were designed by Charles Holden.
PUHOI PUBLIC
CEMETERY, Puhoi, Rodney District,
Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
This cemetery is in Ahuroa Road, Puhoi, about 1 kilometre west
of the town. There are three Commonwealth burials of the 1939-1945 war here.
RUNNYMEDE MEMORIAL, Coopers Hill, Englefield
Green, Surrey, ENGLAND
The
Air Forces Memorial at Runnymede commemorates by name over 20,000 airmen who were
lost in the Second World War during operations from bases in the United Kingdom and North and Western
Europe, and who have no known graves. They served in Bomber,
Fighter, Coastal, Transport, Flying Training and Maintenance Commands, and
came from all parts of the Commonwealth. Some were from countries in
continental Europe which had been overrun
but whose airmen continued to fight in the ranks of the Royal Air Force. The
memorial was designed by Sir Edward Maufe with sculpture by Vernon Hill. The
engraved glass and painted ceilings were designed by John Hutton and the poem
engraved on the gallery window was written by Paul H Scott. The Memorial was
unveiled by The Queen on 17 October 1953. hoi, about 1 kilometre west of the
town. There are three Commonwealth burials of
ST. SEVER CEMETERY EXTENSION, Rouen,
Seine-Maritime, FRANCE
During
the First World War, Commonwealth camps and hospitals were stationed on the
southern outskirts of Rouen.
A base supply depot and the 3rd Echelon of General Headquarters were also
established in the city. Almost all of the hospitals at Rouen remained there for practically the
whole of the war. They included eight general, five stationary, one British
Red Cross and one labour hospital, and No. 2 Convalescent Depot. A number of
the dead from these hospitals were buried in other cemeteries, but the great
majority were taken to the city cemetery
of St. Sever. In
September 1916, it was found necessary to begin an extension, where the last
burial took place in April 1920. During the Second World War, Rouen was again a
hospital centre and the extension was used once more for the burial of
Commonwealth servicemen, many of whom died as prisoners of war during the
German occupation. The cemetery extension contains 8,346 Commonwealth burials
of the First World War (ten of them unidentified) and in Block "S"
there are 328 from the Second World War (18 of them unidentified). There are
also 8 Foreign National burials here. The extension was designed by Sir Reginald
Blomfield.
TYNE COT MEMORIAL, Zonnebeke, West-Vlaanderen, BELGIUM
The Tyne Cot Memorial is one of four memorials to the
missing in Belgian Flanders which cover the area known as the Ypres Salient.
Broadly speaking, the Salient stretched from Langemarck in the north to the
northern edge in Ploegsteert Wood in the south, but it varied in area and
shape throughout the war. The Salient was formed during the First Battle of
Ypres in October and November 1914, when a small British Expeditionary Force
succeeded in securing the town before the onset of winter, pushing the German
forces back to the Passchendaele Ridge. The Second Battle of Ypres began in
April 1915 when the Germans released poison gas into the Allied lines north
of Ypres. This was the first time gas had
been used by either side and the violence of the attack forced an Allied
withdrawal and a shortening of the line of defence. There was little more
significant activity on this front until 1917, when in the Third Battle of
Ypres an offensive was mounted by Commonwealth forces to divert German
attention from a weakened French front further south. The initial attempt in
June to dislodge the Germans from the Messines Ridge was a complete success,
but the main assault north-eastward, which began at the end of July, quickly
became a dogged struggle against determined opposition and the rapidly
deteriorating weather. The campaign finally came to a close in November with
the capture of Passchendaele. The German offensive of March 1918 met with
some initial success, but was eventually checked and repulsed in a combined
effort by the Allies in September. The battles of the Ypres Salient claimed
many lives on both sides and it quickly became clear that the commemoration
of members of the Commonwealth forces with no known grave would have to be
divided between several different sites. The site of the Menin Gate was
chosen because of the hundreds of thousands of men who passed through it on
their way to the battlefields. It commemorates those of all Commonwealth
nations, except New Zealand,
who died in the Salient, in the case of United Kingdom casualties before
16 August 1917 (with some exceptions). Those United
Kingdom and New Zealand
servicemen who died after that date are named on the memorial at Tyne Cot, a
site which marks the furthest point reached by Commonwealth forces in Belgium until
nearly the end of the war. Other New Zealand
casualties are commemorated on memorials at Buttes
New British
Cemetery and Messines Ridge
British Cemetery.
The TYNE COT MEMORIAL now bears the names of almost 35,000 officers and men
whose graves are not known. The memorial, designed by Sir Herbert Baker with
sculpture by Joseph Armitage and F.V. Blundstone, was unveiled by Sir Gilbert
Dyett on 20 June 1927. The memorial forms the north-eastern boundary of TYNE COT
CEMETERY, which was
established around a captured German blockhouse or pill-box used as an
advanced dressing station. The original battlefield cemetery of 343 graves
was greatly enlarged after the Armistice when remains were brought in from
the battlefields of Passchendaele and Langemarck, and from a few small burial
grounds. It is now the largest Commonwealth war cemetery in the world in
terms of burials. At the suggestion of King George V, who visited the
cemetery in 1922, the Cross of Sacrifice was placed on the original large
pill-box. There are three other pill-boxes in the cemetery. There are now
11,956 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated
in Tyne Cot Cemetery,
8,369 of these are unidentified. The cemetery was designed by Sir Herbert
Baker.
WAIKARAKA PARK
CEMETERY, Te Papapa, Auckland, NEW
ZEALAND
This cemetery is in Neilson Street, Te Papapa, Auckland. There are 41
Commonwealth burials of the 1914-1918 war and 11 of the 1939-1945 war here.
WHANGAREI (MAUNU) PUBLIC
CEMETERY, Whangarei, NEW ZEALAND
To reach this cemetery take the SH 14, south west of
Whangarei, for about 5 kilometres, then turn left, onto Maunu Cemetery Road,
and the main entrance is approximately half a kilometre along this road.
Those grave locations with (S) following the number indicate that they are
buried in a separate services' section. There is one Commonwealth burial of
the 1914-1918 war and 14 of the 1939-1945 war here.
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