Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing

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Ploegsteert Memorial
Hainaut, Belgium
Designed byH. Chalton Bradshaw
Gilbert Ledward (sculptor)
To the glory of God and to the memory of 11447 officers and men of the forces of the British Empire, who fell fighting in the years 1914–1918 between the River Douve and the towns of Estaires and Furnes, whose names are here recorded but to whom the fortune of war denied the known and honoured burial given to their comrades in death.[citation needed
]
Official nameFunerary and memory sites of the First World War (Western Front)
TypeCultural
Criteriai, ii, vi
Designated2023 (45th session)
Reference no.1567-WA10

The Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing is a

Berks Cemetery Extension
.

History of the location

After

Hyde Park Corner (Royal Berks) Cemetery which lies across the road.[1] The cemetery grounds were assigned to the United Kingdom in perpetuity by King Albert I of Belgium in recognition of the sacrifices made by the British Empire in the defence and liberation of Belgium
during the war.

Memorial to the Missing

The Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing is one of several

Cambrai Memorial in France,[2] apart from two large lions which were commissioned from the sculptor Gilbert Ledward.[3] The Ploegsteert Memorial is 70 ft (21 m) in diameter and 38 ft 6 in (11.73 m) tall and was unveiled on 7 June 1931 by the then-Duke of Brabant, later King Leopold III of Belgium.[4]

The Ploegsteert Memorial lists over 11,000[5][6][7] missing Commonwealth soldiers from the following battles, which were fought outside the Ypres Salient in the area around Ploegsteert:[4]

  • Armentieres
  • Aubers Ridge
  • Loos
  • Fromelles
  • Estaires
  • Hazebrouck (part of the Battle of the Lys)
  • Scherpenberg (part of the Battle of the Lys)
  • Outtersteene Ridge (known as the 'Action of Outtersteene Ridge', 18 August 1918)

The memorial also commemorates the names of three recipients of the Victoria Cross who have no known grave:[8]

"The Last Post"

Since 7 June 1999, the Comité du Memorial de Ploegsteert has arranged for the Last Post to be played at the memorial on the first Friday of each month.[9]

Gallery

  • The memorial in the Berks Cemetery Extension
    The memorial in the
    Berks Cemetery Extension
  • Colonnade of the memorial
    Colonnade of the memorial
  • Colonnade of the memorial
    Colonnade of the memorial
  • Names of the fallen
    Names of the fallen
  • View through the centre of the memorial
    View through the centre of the memorial
  • View of the memorial from the Hyde Park Corner (Royal Berks) Cemetery across the road
    View of the memorial from the
    Hyde Park Corner (Royal Berks) Cemetery
    across the road
  • One of Gilbert Ledward's lions
    One of Gilbert Ledward's lions

See also

References

  1. ^ "Berks Cemetery Extension". The Great War In Flanders Fields. Archived from the original on 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2011-11-21.
  2. ^ "Cambrai Memorial – location". FirstWorldWar.com. Retrieved 2011-11-21.
  3. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
    , OUP, 2004
  4. ^ a b FirstWorldWar.com "The Western Front Today". FirstWorldWar.com. 22 August 2009. Retrieved 2011-11-21. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  5. ^ "Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing". The Great War 1914–1918. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
  6. ^ van Ypersele, Laurence (October 8, 2014). "Commemoration, Cult of the Fallen (Belgium)". International Encyclopedia of the First World War. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
  7. ^ Conflicting information about exact number of missing.
  8. ^ "Ploegsteert Memorial". VictoriaCross.org.uk. 12 November 2011. Archived from the original on 15 June 2008. Retrieved 2011-11-21.
  9. ^ "Ypres Salient Events". GreatWar.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-11-21.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ploegsteert Memorial.
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