| Blankenberge Town Cemetery (WW1) |
| West-Vlaanderen, Belgium |
Pictures courtesy of Andrew Mackay
|
Blankenberge Town cemetery is located on the coast of Belgium, 4 km west from Zeebrugge and 20 km east of Oostende. The N34 runs from Zeebrugge to Oostende via the town of Blankenberge. From Zeebrugge or Oostende the N34 Koning Albertlaan leads directly to the town square. The cemetery itself is located via Kerkstraat N371, then right onto Zuidlaan for 500 metres, finally turning left along Landijk for 100 metres to the cemetery itself. This cemetery is not an open site and access is limited by normal cemetery opening hours. 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. The Commonwealth plot in Blankenberge Town Cemetery contains 80 burials of the Second World War, 14 of them unidentified. Over half the graves are as a result of the sinking of H.M.L.S.T. 420, which was carrying Royal Air Force personnel, outside the port of Oostende on the 7th November 1944. The plot also contains three war burials of other nationalities and one non-war grave. Elsewhere in the cemetery, there are ten Commonwealth burials of the First World War. |
Latest additions to the site | Belgian Cemetery Index | French Cemetery Index
Other Cemeteries and Memorials around the world | British Cemeteries and Memorials | 1939-1945 Cemetery Index
Cemeteries with Victoria Cross burials | Cemeteries with "Shot at Dawn" burials | Regimental Badge Archive | Roll of Honour
Information on how to submit a photograph or image to the site | Book Reviews | About Us and our task | Links