Ploegsteert in Comines-Warneton in Hainaut, Wallonia, Belgium — Northwestern Europe

Strand Military Cemetery

Photographed by Steve Stoessel, November 13, 2024

1. Strand Military Cemetery Marker

Inscription. Click to hear the inscription.

En octobre 1914, seuls deux corps sont ensevelis au futur Strand Military Cemetery. Après l'offensive de la bataille de Messines, 351 soldats dont 232 Australiens y seront enterrés en 1917. Le Strand Military Cemetery deviendra le cimetière du poste de secours avancé de l'Australian 3rd Division, appelé « Charing Cross ». Après la guerre, l'Imperial War Graves Commission y adjoint 777 tombes, celles des victimes tombées derrière les lignes allemandes et celles des secteurs de Wijtschate et d'Armentières. Le « cimetière australien » devient alors le Strand Military Cemetery. Les 353 tombes d'origine se trouvent dans les parcelles I et VI. Outre ces 1. 148 tombes, ce cimetière abrite un mémorial où figurent 356 noms de victimes non identifiées. Deux d'entre elles sont des pilotes de la R. F. A. tués en juillet 1918 et enterres préalablement au Touquet Berthe Farm German Cemetery. Le cimetière compte aussi les tombes de 8 soldats britanniques en garnison dans la région en 1940, tués lors du repli des troupes vers le port de Dunkerque. Sur la droite du cimetière, un chemin permet aux Britanniques d'accéder aux tranchées à l'est du bois. C'est la Strand Communication Trench recouverte de caillebotis, à l'époque. Elle donnera son nom au cimetière avoisinant. Un peu plus loin, le long de la route vers Messines, se situe un abri particulier, Charing Cross Dressing Station.

Strand Military Cemetery
Strand Military Cemetery was started with two burials in October 1914. It wasn't used again until April 1917 when 351 burials were made, 232 of which are Australian, casualties of the Messines offensive in June of that year. It was the burial plot for the Australian 3rd Division's Central Dressing Station which they called “Charing Cross”. After the war it was known as the Australian Cemetery but was renamed after the concentration of graves by the then Imperial War Graves Commission 717 graves were gathered from between Wytschaete and Armentières and from behind the German lines to complete today's cemetery. It now contains 1,148 graves and memorials of which 356 are unidentified Two of these unnamed are RAF graves of July 1918, originally buried in the Le Touquet Berthe Farm German cemetery. 8 graves are of men who died in the Second World War when British units garrisoned the area in 1940 prior to the Dunkirk evacuation.

Plots I - VI house the 353 graves of the original cemetery.

The track alongside the cemetery is the start of the Strand Communication Trench from which the cemetery takes its name, It was the main route, then a planked road, by which troops moved through the wood to the trenches on its eastern edge. In a field a little farther along the Messines road to the left is the original Charing Cross Dressing Station.

Strand Military Cemetery
Strand Military Cemetery telde in oktober 1914 maar twee graven en was tot 1917 niet verder in gebruik. Toen werden 351 graven aangelegd, waarin 232 Australische militairen werden begraven. Zij sneuvelden allen tijdens de Slag om Mesen in juni 1917. Deze begraafplaats was voorbehouden aan de centrale hulppost van de Australian 3rd Division. Voor de Australiërs heette deze post "Charing Cross". Na de oorlog kreeg deze begraafplaats de naam "Australische begraafplaats" tot de Imperial War Graves Commission nog 777 graven toevoegde van slachtoffers van de sector van Wijschate tot Armentières en van achter de Duitse linies.

De naam van de begraafplaats moest dus weer worden aangepast en zij telt nu 1148 graven waarvan 356 zonder naam. Twee van deze onbekenden zijn piloten van de Britse luchtmacht die in juli 1918 werden neergeschoten en die oorspronkelijk een eerste keer werden begraven op Le Touquet Berthe Farm, een Duits kerkhof. Er liggen hier ook 8 Britse soldaten begraven die tijdens de Tweede Wereldorlog sneuvelden toen zij hier waren gelegerd in 1940 vóór de evacuatie uit Duinkerke. De oudste graven liggen in percelen I en VI. Het pad langs de begraafplaats is het begin van de Strand Communication Trench ("Strand"-verbindingsloopgraaf), vandaar de huidige naam van de begraafplaats.

Dit pad was de belangrijkste weg, destijds nog een plankenweg, waarover de tropen zich aan de oostkant van het bos naar de loopgraven konden begeven. De oorspronkelijke "Charing Cross"-hulppost lag wat verder in een veld langs de Mesenstraat, aan de linkerkant.

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This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Cemeteries & Burial Sites • War, World I. A significant historical month for this entry is April 1917.

Location. 50° 43.96′ N, 2° 52.815′ E. Marker is in Comines-Warneton, Région Wallonne (Wallonia), in Hainaut. It is in Ploegsteert. It is at the intersection of Rue de Messines (Région Wallonne Route 365) and Chemin des Vaches, on the right when traveling north on Rue de Messines. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Comines-Warneton, Région Wallonne 7782, Belgium. Touch for directions.

Regionally, it is in Europe,

the European Union,

Atlantic Europe,

the Benelux Low Countries,

the Schengen Area,

Western Europe,

and the Western World.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Roman Empire

and specifically also the Holy Roman Empire.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 3 kilometers of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Monument ANZAC (approx. 0.6 kilometers away); New Zealand and Australian Memorial (approx. 0.6 kilometers away); Hyde Park Corner (Royal Berks) Cemetery (approx. 0.6 kilometers away); Le Last Post (approx. 0.6 kilometers

Photographed by Steve Stoessel, November 13, 2024

2. Strand Military Cemetery Marker

away); Le Memorial (approx. 0.6 kilometers away); Les Catacombes près de Hyde Park Corner (approx. 0.8 kilometers away); Mud Lane at the Crossroads at Hyde Park Corner (approx. 0.8 kilometers away); Prowes Point (approx. 1.8 kilometers away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Comines-Warneton.

Strand Military Cemetery image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Steve Stoessel, November 13, 2024

3. Strand Military Cemetery

Photographed by Steve Stoessel, November 13, 2024

4. Strand Military Cemetery

Credits. This page was last revised on February 21, 2025. It was originally submitted on February 20, 2025, by Steve Stoessel of Niskayuna, New York. This page has been viewed 115 times since then and 10 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on February 20, 2025, by Steve Stoessel of Niskayuna, New York.