Cross of Sacrifice and headstones in the CWGC Kemmel No 1 French Cemetery, Poperingestraat, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium.


In April 1918, Kemmel was the scene of fierce fighting in which both Commonwealth and French forces were engaged. From 26 April to the end of August, the village was in German hands. The origin of the cemetery is not known; it was found by the French Graves Services soon after the Armistice and contained Commonwealth, French and German graves. Additional Commonwealth graves were brought into the cemetery from the battlefields of the Ypres Salient and from some other burial grounds in the area (for instance, BECELAERE CHURCHYARD and BEERST GERMAN CEMETERY), as were some German burials found by the Belgian Graves Services. The French graves were removed later to the Kemmel French Ossuary, and to the French cemetery at Potijze. The cemetery now contains 296 Commonwealth burials of the First World War, 260 of which are unidentified. There are also 94 German graves, of whom the majority are unidentified.


Size: 3504px × 2336px
Location: Poperingestraat, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium
Photo credit: © Maurice Savage / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: 1, belgium, british, cemetery, commission, commonwealth, cross, cwgc, flanders, french, front, graves, great, headstones, ieper, kemmel, remembrance, sacrifice, war, west-vlaanderen, western, world, ww1, wwi, ypres