The view north across headstones in the Tyne Cot Cemetery in Zonnebeke, France. "Tyne Cot" or "Tyne Cottage" was the name given by the Northumberland Fusiliers to a barn which stood near to the level crossing on the Passchendaele-Broodseinde road. This barn was the centre of six German blockhouses and was captured by the 2nd Australian Division on 4th October 1917, during the advance on Passchendaele. One of these blockhouses was unusually large and was used as an advanced dressing station after its capture. From 6th October until the end of March 1918, 343 graves had been made on two sides of it, by the 50th (Northumbrian) and 33rd Divisions, as well as two Canadian units. The cemetery fell into German hands in April 1918, before being recaptured along with the village of Passchendaele, by the Belgian army on 28th September. The cemetery was greatly enlarged after the armistice, when burials were brought in from the battlefields surrounding Passchendaele and Langemarck, and from a few small burial grounds. This cemetery is now the largest Commonwealth war cemetery in the world, in terms of burials. At the suggestion of King George V, who visited the cemetery in 1922, the Cross of Sacrifice was placed on top of the original large blockhouse which helped give the cemetery its name. At the rear of the cemetery is the Tyne Cot Memorial, it commemorates almost 35, 000 servicemen from the UK and New Zealand who fought in the Ypres Salient after 16th August 1917, and whose graves are not known. (Source: .ww1cemeteries.com)
