Lone Tree 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 mil ...

(CWGC) burial ground for the dead of 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

Ypres Salient The Ypres Salient around Ypres in Belgium was the scene of several battles and an extremely important part of the Western front during the First World War. Ypres district Ypres lies at the junction of the Ypres–Comines Canal and the Ieperlee. ...

on the Western Front in Belgium. It is located at

Spanbroekmolen Spanbroekmolen is a small group of farms in Heuvelland, a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The hamlet is sited on one of the highest points of the Messines Ridge, in between the villages of Kemmel, Wijtschate and Wulv ...

, on one of the highest points of the

Messines Ridge The Battle of Messines (7–14 June 1917) was an attack by the British Second Army (General Sir Herbert Plumer), on the Western Front, near the village of Messines (now Mesen) in West Flanders, Belgium, during the First World War. The Nivell ...

Lone Tree CWGC cemetery graves 3038359705

Foundation

Like the Spanbroekmolen cemetery nearby, Lone Tree Cemetery was established in 1917 at the start of the Battle of Messines.Michael Duffy ''The Western Front Today – Lone Tree Cemetery'
FirstWorldWar.com
22 August 2009, accessed 31 August 2009 Most of the burials are of men from the

Royal Irish Rifles The Royal Irish Rifles (became the Royal Ulster Rifles from 1 January 1921) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army, first created in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 83rd (County of Dublin) Regiment of Foot and the 86th (Royal County D ...

36th (Ulster) DivisionCWGC :: Cemetery Details
accessed 31 August 2009 who died on the first day of the battle.wo1.be
, accessed 31 August 2009 Most graves are of soldiers who went "over the top" early in the morning of 7 June 1917. Some of the men buried here were actually killed by the explosion of the

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...

placed by the British

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

under Lone Tree hillWW1Cemeteries.com
, accessed 31 August 2009 at Spanbroekmolen, which was blown around 15 seconds later than planned. The Spanbroekmolen mine formed part of a series of mines under the German lines. It was charged with of

ammonal Ammonal is an explosive made up of ammonium nitrate and aluminium powder, not to be confused with T-ammonal which contains trinitrotoluene as well to increase properties such as brisance. The mixture is often referred to as Tannerite, which is ...

and set below ground, at the end of a gallery long. When detonated on 7 June 1917, its blast formed the "Lone Tree Crater" with a diameter of and a depth of . The crater at Lone Tree was acquired in 1929 by the ''Toc H'' foundation in

Poperinge Poperinge (; french: Poperinghe, ； vls, Poperienge) is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders, Flemish Region, and has a history going back to medieval times. The municipality comprises the town of Poperinge pr ...

, today recognised as the ''Pool of Peace'' memorial.Photo gallery: Battle of Messines Ridge
, access date 16 February 2015.
access date 16 February 2015.
The cemetery was designed by J. R. Truelove. The

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

grounds were assigned to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

in perpetuity by King

Albert I of Belgium Albert I (8 April 1875 – 17 February 1934) was King of the Belgians from 23 December 1909 until his death in 1934. Born in Brussels as the fifth child and second son of Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders and Princess Marie of Hohenzollern-S ...

in recognition of the sacrifices made by the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

in the defence and liberation of

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 ...

during the war.First World War
accessed 19 August 2006

References

External links

*
Lone Tree Military Cemetery
at

Find a Grave Find a Grave is a website that allows the public to search and add to an online database of cemetery records. It is owned by Ancestry.com. Its stated mission is "to help people from all over the world work together to find, record and present fin ...

Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries in Belgium Heuvelland Cemeteries and memorials in West Flanders World War I cemeteries in Belgium {{CWGC cemeteries in Heuvelland municipality