CROONAERT CHAPEL CEMETERY

GENERAL DIRECTIONS: Croonaert Chapel Cemetery is located 6 km south of Ieper town centre, between the villages of Voormezele and Wijtschate. The village of Voormezele is reached via the Kemmelseweg (N331). From Ieper town centre the Kemmelseweg is reached via the Rijselsestraat, through the Lille Gate (Rijselpoort), and straight on towards Armentieres (N365). 900 m after the crossroads is the right hand turning onto the Kemmelseweg, (made prominent by a railway level crossing). 2 km along the Kemmelseweg on the left lies the turning onto the Ruusschaartstraat, towards Voormezele village. 1 km down the Ruusschaartstraat and opposite Voormezele church is the right hand turning onto a road called Wijtschatestraat. 1.5 km along the Wijtschatestraat on the right hand side is Croonaert Chapel Cemetery. Visitors to this site should note a 200 metre grassed access path which is unsuitable for vehicles.

Croonaert Chapel was a shrine in a hamlet on the Wytschaete-Voormezeele road, and was in No Man's Land before the Battle of Messines 1917. The cemetery was begun by the 19th Division Burial Officer in June 1917, and used until the following November. Two further burials were made in April 1918 and January 1919. Croonaert Chapel Cemetery contains 75 Commonwealth burials of the First World War, seven of which are unidentified. 51 German graves of June 1917 were removed after the Armistice. The cemetery was designed by  Captain Wilfred Clement Von Berg, MC