Tynecot Cemetery
Located in the Ypres Salient in Belgium, Tyne Cot Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery and Memorial to the Missing is the largest CWGC cemetery in the world. The cemetery grounds located just outside Passchendaele were assigned to Britain in perpetuity by King Albert I of Belgium in recognition for the sacrifices made by the British Empire during World War I.
The cemetery was designed by Sir Herbert Baker and the Cross of Sacrifice in the centre of the grounds was built on top of a German pill box. A total of 11,954 men are buried here (UK 8,907 – Canada 966 – Newfoundland 14 – Australia 1,353 – New Zealand 519 – South Africa 90 – British West Indies 2 – France 1 – Germany 4). 8,367 of the graves are unnamed. 3 men who won the Victoria cross lie here:
- Captain Clarence Smith Jeffries VC, Plot XL E1
- Sergeant Lewis McGee VC, Plot XX D1
- Private James Peter Robertson VC, Plot LVIII D26
The Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing is the stone wall that surrounds the cemetery. Over 34,000 names are on the memorial. These men were almost all from the UK. New Zealand preferred to have the names of its missing carved into memorials near to the appropriate battles.
Tours for 2010
Escorted tours to the Western front usually include a visit to Tyne Cot as part of their itinerary.
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