Bedford House Cemetery
A Commonwealth burial ground near Zillebeke on the Western Front.
via Wikipedia: Bedford House Cemetery · see source
Bedford House Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission burial ground for the dead of the First World War located near Zillebeke, itself near Ypres, on the Western Front in Belgium. The cemetery grounds were assigned to the United Kingdom in perpetuity by King Albert I of Belgium in recognition of the sacrifices made by the British Empire in the defence and liberation of Belgium during the war.
Quick Facts
- Use dates
- 1914–1918 and 1939–1945
- Established
- 1914
- Designer
- Wilfred Clement Von Berg
- Nearest town
- Ypres
- West Flanders
- Belgium
- Total
- 5144
- Unknowns
- 3011
- By war
- World War I: 5075; World War II: 69
Facts from the source article.
Did You Know?
- Enclosure No 2 has collective burials with individual headstones marked 'Buried near this spot'.
- Enclosure No 4 received reburials of 3324 troops post-war, most of whose identities are unknown.
- Enclosure No 6 includes remains of 69 British Expeditionary Force troops from the Dunkirk evacuation rearguard action.
- Private Frederick Turner, executed for desertion on 23 October 1917, was pardoned by the British government in 2006.
Foundation
During the First World War, the village of Zillebeke sat just behind the Western Front, so it became a practical spot for divisional headquarters and field ambulance stations. The British forces used Château Rosendal, a large moated property with big gardens, for these roles. They called it either "Bedford House" or "Woodcote House," and the first name stuck as the official title for the cemetery created after the war. Though the Allies held the area throughout the conflict, constant shelling destroyed it. The château was levelled, struck by German 8-inch shells and, on a single day during the Third Battle of Ypres, by 500 gas shells.
More in Funerary and Memory Sites of the First World War
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