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 m ...

(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, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. It is located near

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

in the

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

of De Panne in western

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, 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 A war grave is a burial place for members of the armed forces or civilians who died during military campaigns or operations. Definition The term "war grave" does not only apply to graves: ships sunk during wartime are often considered to b ...

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 to 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 (russian: Сухопутные войска �В Sukhoputnyye voyska V, also known as the Russian Army (, ), are the Army, land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Gro ...

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 The Egyptian Labour Corps (also known as the ELC or Labour Corps) was a group of Egyptian labourers who worked for the British Army in Egypt during the First World War's Sinai and Palestine Campaign. Historical context Egypt had historically be ...

. There is also a

Cross of Sacrifice The Cross of Sacrifice is a 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 cemeteries containing 40 or ...

within the cemetery.

Notable graves

* Flight Commander

Francis Dominic Casey Francis Dominic Casey, (3 August 1890 – 11 August 1917) was an Irish flying ace of the Royal Naval Air Service during the First World War, credited with nine aerial victories. He received the Distinguished Service Cross before his death duri ...

DSC DSC may refer to: Academia * 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 * Dalton State Col ...

(1890–1917), Irish World War I

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...

* Flight Commander

Arnold Jacques Chadwick Flight Commander Arnold Jacques Chadwick (August 23, 1893 – July 28, 1917) was a Canadian-born World War I flying ace credited with 11 aerial victories. He became an ace twice over; once while flying Sopwith Pups and again while piloting Sopwi ...

(1893–1917), Canadian World War I

* Squadron Leader

John Mungo-Park John Colin Mungo-Park, (25 March 1918 – 27 June 1941) was a Royal Air Force fighter pilot and flying ace of the Second World War. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1940, and a Bar to the medal in 1941. Background and early li ...

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

{{Commons category, Adinkerke Military Cemetery
www.cwgc.org
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