Heestert Military Cemetery is a British military cemetery with casualties from the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, located in the Belgian village of Heestert in the

Zwevegem Zwevegem () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Heestert, Moen, Otegem, Sint-Denijs and Zwevegem. On January 1, 2019, Zwevegem had a total population of 24,648. The total ...

municipality. The cemetery was designed by

William Harrison Cowlishaw William Harrison Cowlishaw (1869–1957) was a British architect of the European Arts and Crafts school and a follower of William Morris."William Harrison Cowlishaw." ''A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture''. Oxford Universit ...

and is located between the Onze-Lieve-Vrouw Assumption Church and the village cemetery. It is maintained by the

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 ...

. There are 184 graves and 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 ...

History

Heestert was held by the Germans from the start of the war. It was only taken by the British at the end of October 1918; almost all of the graves are of those who died in the period 21-25 October 1918. The cemetery was built around February 1919 by local farmers. They brought the British and German victims from the battlefield and their farms here to bury them under instruction from the mayor . The cemetery was reorganized in 1920, with the German graves being moved to the south parts of each row. Later that year three more British graves were transferred here from the cemetery at Moen. 184 victims are buried, including 127 Britons (of which 26 could not be identified) and 57 Germans (of which 39 could not be identified). Special memorials were set up for 8 Britons who were known or believed to be buried in the cemetery but whose actual plot was lost or destroyed. This cemetery was protected as a monument in 2009.

Distinguished soldiers

* Arthur Keith Harding, captain in the Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment). and Thistle Robinson, lieutenant in the Royal Fusiliers and son of Richard Atkinson Robinson), were awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC ...

(MC). * Corporals JG Young and Harry Shortman Peter Burridge and Privates F. Byrne, T. Grindle, FJ Boulton, TW Gelder, Harry Richard Foulger and Abraham Barker received the

Military Medal The Military Medal (MM) was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other arms of the armed forces, and to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank, for bravery in battle on land. The award ...

(MM).

References

External links

* * {{Find a Grave cemetery, 2159450, Heestert Military Cemetery Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries in Belgium World War I cemeteries in Belgium Cemeteries and memorials in West Flanders