Étaples Military Cemetery is a

Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mi ...

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a bu ...

Étaples Étaples or Étaples-sur-Mer (; vls, Stapel, lang; pcd, Étape) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. It is a fishing and leisure port on the Canche river. History Étaples takes its name from having been a medieval ...

, near

Boulogne Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the C ...

on the north-west coast of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

. The cemetery holds over 11,500 dead from both

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

History

Étaples was the scene of much Allied activity during

due to its safety from attack by enemy land forces and the existence of railway connections with both the northern and southern battlefields. The town was home to 16 hospitals and a convalescent depot, in addition to a number of reinforcement camps for

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with " republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from th ...

soldiers and general barracks for the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed Force ...

. Of more than 11,500 soldiers interred in Étaples Military Cemetery, over 10,000 of these men were casualties of World War I who died in Étaples or the surrounding area. The abundance of military infrastructure in Étaples gave the town a capacity of around 100,000 troops in World War I and made the area a serious target for German aerial bombing raids, from which the town suffered heavily. The combination of withstanding these attacks and giving over their homes to the war effort led to Étaples being awarded the

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

in 1920. The

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

once again saw Allied hospitals stationed in Étaples, and with them the reopening of the cemetery to cope with the casualties of another war. 119 men were buried in Étaples Military Cemetery in World War II, this low number attributable to the fact that the hospitals were only in place from January 1940 until the British withdrawal from the Continent in May of the same year.

The cemetery

Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, Étaples Military Cemetery is the largest CWGC cemetery in France, and contains the remains of soldiers from the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India and Germany. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has only published the number of Commonwealth and German dead buried in Étaples, although its records for the cemetery note that it contains 'a few war graves of other nationalities'. In total, the cemetery contains 10,792 Commonwealth burials of which only 73 are unidentified. There are also 658 German burials in the cemetery. Image:PSIMG 5265tonemapped.jpg, German burials Image:PSIMG 5266tonemapped.jpg, Commonwealth burials File:Stone of Remembrance and shelter at Etaples Military Cemetery.JPG,

Stone of Remembrance The Stone of Remembrance is a standardised design for war memorials that was designed in 1917 by the British architect Sir Edwin Lutyens for the Imperial War Graves Commission (IWGC). It was designed to commemorate the dead of World War I, to ...

and shelter File:Cross of Sacrifice at Etaples Military Cemetery.JPG, The

Cross of Sacrifice The Cross of Sacrifice is a Commonwealth war memorial designed in 1918 by Sir Reginald Blomfield for the Imperial War Graves Commission (now the Commonwealth War Graves Commission). It is present in Commonwealth war cemeteries containing 40 or m ...

Notable burials

Notable burials or memorials include: * Captain

Edward Vivian Birchall Edward Vivian Dearman Birchall (10 August 1884 – 10 August 1916), was an English philanthropist who died of wounds at the Battle of the Somme. He left a legacy of £1000 for the promotion of voluntary services. The money was used to help cr ...

, whose philanthropy helped create the

National Council for Voluntary Organisations The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) is the umbrella body for the voluntary and community sector in England. It is a registered charity (no 225922). NCVO works to support the voluntary and community sector and to create an ...

* Private Jim Bonella, Australian Machine Gun Corps (former Aussie Rules footballer) * Brigadier

Edgar William Cox Brigadier-General Edgar William Cox (9 May 1882 – 26 August 1918) was a senior intelligence officer on the British General Staff throughout most of the First World War who drowned in suspicious circumstances whilst swimming in August 1918 sho ...

, , General Staff. * Lieutenant Colonel

William Robert Aufrere Dawson William Robert Aufrère "Bob" Dawson, (23 June 1891 – 3 December 1918) was a British Army officer in the First World War. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) on four occasions for his actions in command of the 6th (Service) Ba ...

Royal West Kent Regiment The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army based in the county of Kent in existence from 1881 to 1961. The regiment was created on 1 July 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms, originally as the Que ...

* Captain

Noel Forbes Humphreys Noel Forbes Humphreys (1 December 1890 – 27 March 1918) was a Welsh rugby union international who was part of the first official British and Irish Lions team that toured South Africa in 1910. He was killed in action in the First World War. Ear ...

, Tank Corps * Nursing Sister Katherine Maud MacDonald, the first Canadian woman to meet her death at the hands of enemy activity. She was killed during a German air raid on the № 1 Canadian General Hospital at Étaples in May of 1918. * Major

Douglas Reynolds Douglas Reynolds VC (20 September 1882 – 23 February 1916) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth force ...

, ,

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It came into being when created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of ...

2003 vandalism

In March 2003, vandals protesting against the Anglo-American

invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...

daubed anti-British and anti-American slogans in red paint across parts of the Étaples Military Cemetery. The actions drew widespread condemnation from the United Kingdom, United States, and Australia and from within France itself. The French National Assembly described the vandalism as 'barbaric, monstrous and utterly despicable', while French President

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988, as well as ...

wrote to the

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

to express his 'sincere regrets'.

References

External links

*
Etaples Military Cemetery on the website "Remembrance Trails of the Great War in Northern France"
* ttp://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2003/04/02/sloganBig.jpg Picture from ''The Guardian'' of 2003 vandalism {{DEFAULTSORT:Etaples Military Cemetery World War I cemeteries in France World War II cemeteries in France Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries in France World War I in the Pas-de-Calais Cemeteries in Pas-de-Calais Works of Edwin Lutyens in France Cemetery vandalism and desecration