Polygon Wood Cemetery
A Commonwealth war cemetery in the Ypres Salient.
via Wikipedia: Polygon Wood Cemetery · see source
Polygon Wood Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission burial ground for the dead of the First World War. It is located in Belgium, in what was the Ypres Salient on the Western Front. Designed by Charles Holden, the cemetery contains the remains of 108 soldiers: 57 from New Zealand, 32 British, and 19 unidentified soldiers. A sole German is also buried in the cemetery, the rest having been relocated.
Quick Facts
- Use dates
- 1917–1918
- Established
- 1917
- Designer
- Charles Holden
- Nearest town
- Zonnebeke
- West Flanders
- Belgium
- Total
- 108
- Unknowns
- 19
- By country
- Allied Powers:
- United Kingdom: 32
- New Zealand: 57
- Unknown 19
- Imperial Germany: 1
- By war
- First World War: 108
Facts from the source article.
Did You Know?
- The cemetery is laid out in the shape of a polygon, matching its name.
- The Buttes New British Cemetery entrance is directly across the road from Polygon Wood Cemetery's entrance.
History
Polygon Wood, near Zonnebeke, saw fighting from late 1914. The Germans held it from April 1915 until the Australian 5th Division captured it during the Battle of Polygon Wood from September to October 1917. The area was abandoned during the German spring offensive in March–April 1918, then retaken by the 9th (Scottish) Division in September 1918.
Cemetery
The site began as a German cemetery with over 340 burials. The British established Polygon Wood Cemetery in August 1917 as a frontline cemetery, lost it in April 1918, and resumed interments in September 1918. Designed by Charles Holden, the cemetery holds 108 soldiers: 57 New Zealanders, 32 British, 19 unidentified, and one German whose comrades were relocated. Special memorials commemorate seventeen British and thirteen New Zealanders known to be among the unnamed. The cemetery is walled and polygon-shaped, with a Cross of Sacrifice on the path. The Buttes New British Cemetery lies nearby in the wood, its entrance across the road.
More in Funerary and Memory Sites of the First World War
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