Tyne Cot Cemetery

Largest Commonwealth War Cemetery in the world, with nearly 12,000 graves

About 10 km northeast of Ypres, near the village of Passchendaele, Tyne Cot is the largest Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery in the world. Nearly 12,000 graves occupy a gentle slope on the Passchendaele Ridge — the ground fought over in the Third Battle of Ypres in 1917, one of the most costly engagements of the entire war. A further 35,000 names are inscribed on the memorial walls of the missing — soldiers killed in the Salient after 15 August 1917 whose bodies were never found.

The scale of the place is confronting even for visitors who know the statistics. Row after row after row of white headstones, stretching in every direction, many of them carrying the inscription "A Soldier of the Great War Known unto God." The visitors' centre at the entrance has a thoughtful permanent exhibition on the battle. Allow at least an hour; many people spend considerably longer.

Tyne Cot is best visited by car or bicycle. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission maintains the cemetery and site at no charge.

things to do war memorial
A story
The name comes from a Northumberland Fusilier who said the German concrete bunkers dotting the ridge reminded him of Tyneside cottages — "Tyne Cot." The central bunker, which the Australian troops captured in October 1917, was later turned into the base of the Cross of Sacrifice at the centre of the cemetery. King George V visited in 1922 and asked that the cross be built on top of it, preserving it in place rather than demolishing it.