Adinkerke 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 mil ...

(CWGC) burial ground for the dead of the Western Front of the First and

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. It is located near

Adinkerke Adinkerke (French language, French: ''Adinkerque'') is a village in the municipality of De Panne in western Belgium close to the France, French border. It forms a conurbation with the coastal town of De Panne, which in turn is part of the west Be ...

in the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

of De Panne in western

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, close to the French border. The cemetery is surrounded by farmland and can only be reached via a 50-metre grassed path which is not suitable for vehicles.

History

Adinkerke Military Cemetery was originally established in 1917 for use by the Allied casualty clearing stations located in this area. It was again used between 1940 and 1944. In addition to the Adinkerke Military Cemetery, there are further military graves in Adinkerke. The "Adinkerke Churchyard Extension" contains a Belgian military cemetery on the west side of the churchyard, as well as 67 Commonwealth burials of the First World War. The

graves are in two small plots and are numbered consecutively with the other graves.

First World War

Most of the dead from the First World War who are buried in Adinkerke Military Cemetery are casualties who had been wounded nearby and later died in one of the casualty clearing stations in this area. The Commonwealth XV Corps held the front from the Belgian coast to St. Georges between June and November 1917. The 24th and 39th Casualty Clearing Stations were posted at Oosthoek (between Adinkerke and Furnes) from July 1917 to November 1917, and the 1st Canadian Casualty Clearing Station was at Adinkerke for a short time in June 1917.

Second World War

During the Second World War, the Adinkerke Military Cemetery was used again when the British Expeditionary Force was involved in the later stages of the defence of Belgium following the German invasion in May 1940, and suffered many casualties in covering the withdrawal to Dunkirk. Commonwealth forces did not return until September 1944, but in the intervening years, many airmen were shot down or crashed in raids on strategic objectives in Belgium, or while returning from missions over Germany.

Description

Adinkerke Military Cemetery contains 168 Commonwealth burials of the First World War, and 55 from the Second World War. Soldiers of the

Russian Army The Russian Ground Forces (), also known as the Russian Army in English, are the Army, land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Forces are the protection of the state borders, combat on land, ...

are also buried here, as are 142 Czech, Slovak and German soldiers, and there is one grave of a member of the Egyptian Labour Corps. There is also a

Cross of Sacrifice The Cross of Sacrifice is a Commonwealth of Nations, 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 grave ...

within the cemetery.

Notable graves

* Flight Commander Francis Dominic Casey

DSC DSC or Dsc may refer to: Education * Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) * District Selection Committee, an entrance exam in India * Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine Educational institutions * Dyal Sin ...

(1890–1917), Irish World War I

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviation, military aviator credited with shooting down a certain minimum number of enemy aircraft during aerial combat; the exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ...

* Flight Commander Arnold Jacques Chadwick

(1893–1917), Canadian World War I

* Squadron Leader John Mungo-Park DFC & Bar (1918–1941), English World War II

Gallery

File:Adinkerke Military Cemetery01.jpg File:Adinkerke Military Cemetery10.jpg File:Adinkerke Military Cemetery11.jpg File:Adinkerke Military Cemetery08.jpg File:Adinkerke Military Cemetery07.jpg File:Adinkerke Military Cemetery09.jpg File:Adinkerke Military Cemetery04.jpg File:Adinkerke Military Cemetery05.jpg File:Adinkerke Military Cemetery03.jpg File:Adinkerke Military Cemetery02.jpg

External links

* – CWGC * {{Find a Grave cemetery World War I memorials in Belgium World War I cemeteries in Belgium Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries in Belgium Cemeteries and memorials in West Flanders De Panne