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German war cemetery of Langemark.
More than 44,000 soldiers are buried here. The village was the scene of the first gas attacks by the German army, marking the beginning of the Second Battle of Ypres in April 1915.
“The Brooding Soldier”.
Commemorates the Canadian 1st Division in action on 22nd to 24th April 1915. The Canadian division held its position on the left flank of the British Army after the German Army launched the first ever large-scale gas attack against two French divisions on the left of the Canadians. From the start of the battle at 17.00 hours on 22nd April and for the next few days the Canadians were involved in heavy fighting, losing some 2,000 casualties – killed, wounded or missing – from the division.
Dochy Farm Cemetery.
Dochy Farm, which had become a German strong point, was taken by the 4th New Zealand Brigade on 4 October 1917, in the Battle of Broodseinde. The cemetery was made after the Armistice when isolated graves were brought in from the battlefields of Boesinghe, St. Julien, Frezenberg and Passchendaele. The cemetery contains 1,439 burials and commemorations of the First World War, 958 are unidentified.
Tyne Cot Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery and Memorial to the Missing
Is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission burial ground for the dead of the First World War in the Ypres Salient on the Western Front. The cemetery now contains 11,956 burials, of which 8,369 are unidentified and 101 unknown.
Buttes New Britisch Cemetery, Polygon Wood Zonnebeke
Is a large wood south of the village of Zonnebeke which was completely devastated in the First World War. The wood was cleared by Commonwealth troops at the end of October 1914, given up on 3 May 1915, taken again at the end of September 1917 by Australian troops, evacuated in the Battles of the Lys, and finally retaken by the 9th (Scottish) Division on 28 September 1918. On the Butte itself is the Battle Memorial of the 5th Australian Division, who captured it on 26 September 1917. There are now 2,108 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated in Buttes New British Cemetery. 1,677 of the burials are unidentified.
Hill 62
Is a hill just outside of Zillebeke, the top is approximately 62 metres. On June 2nd 1916 the Battle of Mount Sorrel began when the Germans launched an attack against Allied positions on Hill 62, Armagh Wood, Sanctuary Wood and Mount Sorrel. The Germans captured these targets. Therefore they now had a favourable height advantage over the Allies based in Ypres, which could clearly be seen from Hill 62. General Plumer, commander of the II Army in Ypres, could not tolerate this situation. He ordered the Canadians to launch a counter-attack to recapture Hill 62. This started at 01.30 on June 16th and was led by the Canadian 1st and 2nd Divisions. The Canadians took heavy casualties at Hill 62 and failed to recapture it. However, the ferocity of their attack was sufficient to force the Germans out of Hill 62 with neither side in control of it. The Canadians lost 1,200 men killed and 4,500 wounded or missing at Hill 62.
