Bedford House Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery
| Bedford House | |
|---|---|
| Commonwealth War Graves Commission | |
 |
|
| Used for those deceased 1914–1918 and 1939–1945 | |
| Established | 1914 |
| Location |
50°49′44″N 02°53′29″E / 50.82889°N 2.89139°E near Ieper, West Flanders, Belgium |
| Designed by | Wilfred Clement Von Berg |
| Total burials | 5144 |
| Unknown burials | 3011 |
| Burials by nation | |
|
|
| Burials by war | |
|
World War I: 5075 World War II: 69 |
|
| Statistics source: wo1.be and CWGC | |
World War I: 5075
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.
Zillebeke was directly behind the Western Front, making it a useful site for divisional headquarters and field ambulance stations. Château Rosendal, a large house with a moat and extensive gardens was put to this use. The British forces in the area named the château "Bedford House" or "Woodcote House", with the former becoming the official name used for the post-war cemetery.
Whilst the area remained in Allied hands through the war, it was devastated by shell fire and the château was razed over the course of the war, being hit by German 8-inch shells, as well as 500 gas shells in just one day of the Third Battle of Ypres.
Five cemeteries were established in the grounds. At the end of the war, the earliest of these was moved to White House cemetery in Sint Jan, whilst the fifth was relocated to Aeroplane cemetery in Ypres.
The second cemetery was established in December 1915 and remained in use until October 1918. After the Armistice, 437 graves were concentrated in this enclosure from two nearby battlefield cemeteries, Ecole de Bienfaisance and Asylum British, that the Commission could not maintain. Unusual for a Commonwealth cemetery on the Western Front, there are collective burials in this enclosure, although individual headstones have still been provided, marked "Buried near this spot".
...
Wikipedia