War Graves and Memorials

There are 137 Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries and memorials in Flanders - 57 of them cared for by the Messines Group.

The Group's work ranges from the New Zealand Memorial on the ridge, to the Messines Ridge British Cemetery and New Zealand Memorial to the Missing, and on to very small cemeteries deep in Ploegsteert Wood and accessible to visitors only by foot. Teams endeavour to visit and care for each site on a weekly basis.

The New Zealand Memorial (above), an obelisk of white stone standing in a quiet, semi-circular woodland park, was dedicated by King Albert I of Belgium in 1924. The Memorial looks down from the ridge across peaceful farmland to where the New Zealand frontline was positioned before the attack of June 7, 1917. In the corners of the garden are two preserved German blockhouses. A plaque provides a brief overview of the attack and it is at the Memorial that the traditional New Zealand Anzac Day service takes place each year.

     New Zealand Memorial to the Missing
                    (Photo: Di Mackey)

Further around is the Messines Ridge Cemetery and New Zealand Memorial to the Missing (left) sited on land that previously belonged to the Royal Institution of Messines and where the landmark Moulin d'Hospice once stood. The New Zealand Memorial to the Missing bears the names of 839 New Zealand soldiers who lost their lives in the area but who have no known grave.

It is one of seven such New Zealand Memorials in Flanders and France and followed a decision by the Government of the time to have the names of missing New Zealand soldiers commemorated close to where they fell. The cemetery contains the graves of 1,531 Commonwealth servicemen, 954 of whom are not identified. 128 New Zealanders have their graves in the cemetery although several of these are commemorated on common memorial headstones.

Smaller cemeteries

On the other side of the town are two of the smallest cemeteries in the region. Bethleem Farm East was made by Australian units when the farm was captured during the Battle of Messines. The cemetery contains the graves of 42 soldiers from Australia and one from the United Kingdom. Bethleem Farm itself was the place where Adolf Hitler stayed as a young soldier in a Bavarian regiment at the beginning of 1915. He was wounded and lived in what was left of the barn.

               Fields & graveyard near Ploegsteert Wood
                            (Photo: Hadewych Cocquyt)

Across the Rijselstraat is the Bethleem Farm West Cemetery which is similar to the East cemetery in origin and surroundings. It contains the graves of 144 Australian soldiers, 26 from New Zealand and 24 from the United Kingdom. One of the New Zealand graves has a memorial headstone because the original grave was destroyed by shell fire. The cemetery also contains the grave of a British pilot from World War Two.

There are a number of other smaller cemeteries in the area around Messines which contain the graves of New Zealanders. These include, for example, the Prowse Point and Underhill Farm cemeteries, the latter at a site where dressing stations were located.