Tyne Cot

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Tyne Cot
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Part of Tyne Cot memorial (left) and cemetery.
Used for those deceased 1917-1918
Established October 1917
Location 50°53′13.39″N, 02°59′52.54″E near Passendale, West Flanders, Belgium
Designed by Sir Herbert Baker
Total burials 11,856, of which 8,365 are unnamed
Unknown
burials		 101
Burials by nation
Allied Powers:

Central Powers:
Burials by war
World War I: 11,856
Statistics source: Trabel

Tyne Cot Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery and Memorial to the Missing is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) burial ground for the dead of World War I in the Ypres Salient on the Western Front.

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.

It is the largest cemetery for Commonwealth forces in the world, for any war. The cemetery and its surrounding memorial are located outside of Passendale, near Zonnebeke in Belgium.

The name "Tyne Cot" is said to come from the Northumberland Fusiliers seeing a resemblance between the German concrete pill boxes, which still stand in the middle of the cemetery, and typical Tyneside workers' cottages - Tyne Cots.[1]

Contents

[edit] Tyne Cot Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery

A two minute video recording of the location.
A two minute video recording of the location.

The cemetery lies on a broad rise in the landscape which overlooks the surrounding coutryside. As such, it was strategically important to both sides fighting in the area. The area was captured by the 3rd Australian Division, 1 AIF, on 4 October 1917 and two days later a cemetery for British and Canadian war dead was begun. The cemetery was recaptured by German forces on 13 April 1918 and was finally liberated by Belgian forces on 28 September.[2]

After the Armistice in November 1918 the cemetery was massively enlarged from its original 343 graves[2] by concentrating graves from the battlefields, smaller cemeteries nearby and from Langemark.[3]

The "Cross of Sacrifice" that marks most CWGC cemeteries was built on top of a German pill box in the centre of the cemetery, purportedly at the suggestion of King George V of the United Kingdom[4], who visited the cemetery in 1922 as it neared completion.[2]

The cemetery was designed by Sir Herbert Baker.

[edit] Notable graves

The cemetery, being so large, has a correspondingly large number of notable graves and memorials, including the grave of Private James Peter Robertson, a Canadian awarded the Victoria Cross for bravery in rushing a machine gun emplacement and rescuing two men from under heavy fire. He was killed saving the second of these men on 6 November 1917.[3]

Another recipient of the Victoria Cross buried in the cemetery is Captain Clarence Smith Jeffries, an Australian who led an assault party and rushed one of the strong points at the Battle of Passchendaele on 12 October 1917, capturing four machine guns and thirty five prisoners, before running his company forward again. He was planning another attack when he was killed by an enemy gunner.

The personal message at the foot of the headstone of Second Lieutenant Arthur Conway Young is much commented upon. The message reads "Sacrificed to the fallacy/That war can end war"[3]

[edit] Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing

The stone wall surrounding the cemetery makes up the Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing. On completion of the Menin Gate memorial to the missing in Ypres, it was discovered to be too small to contain all the names as originally planned[5]. An arbitrary cut-off point of 15 August 1917 was chosen and the names of the UK missing after this date were inscribed on the Tyne Cot memorial instead[6]. Additionally, the New Zealand contingent of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission declined to have its missing soldiers names listed on the main memorials, choosing instead to have names listed near the appropriate battles. Tyne Cot was chosen as one of these locations.[7]

The memorial contains the names of 33,783 soldiers of the UK forces, plus a further 1,176 New Zealanders[8]. It was designed by Sir Herbert Baker, with sculptures by F V Blundstone[2], who also sculpted part of the Newfoundland National War Memorial.

[edit] Gallery

Graves at Tyne Cot Cemetery

Tyne Cot Cemetery with "Cross of Sacrifice" on the far right

The inscription on the cross built upon the largest of the three pillboxes reads:THIS WAS THE TYNE COT BLOCKHOUSE CAPTURED BY THE 3RD AUSTRALIAN DIVISION
4 OCTOBER 1917
It originally read "2nd Division" until corrected in the 1990s.[9]

Tyne Cot "Cross of Sacrifice"

[edit] References

  1. ^ Holt, T and V Major and Mrs Holt's Battlefield Guide to the Ypres Salient Barnsley:2003 Leo Cooper Pen and Sword ISBN 0-85052-551-9; p78
  2. ^ a b c d CWGC entry, accessed 25 May 2006
  3. ^ a b c First World War, accessed 25 May 2006
  4. ^ FirstWorldWar.com, accessed 25 May 2006
  5. ^ (Holt, p29)
  6. ^ (Holt, p125)
  7. ^ (Holt, p28)
  8. ^ Trabel, accessed 25 May 2006
  9. ^ GreatWar.co.uk, accessed 25 May 2006

[edit] External links