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Zonnebeke
Zonnebeke, situated near the French border, north of Menen and east of Ypres, consists of five villages: Beselare, Geluveld, Zandvoorde, Passendale and Zonnebeke. It has 11,000 inhabitants.
The First World War (WWI) disturbed what had traditionally been a very peaceful village. This war which was to end all wars, moved on so slowly that the advance was measured in metres rather than kilometres, having a profound impact on the local region.
Thousands of young men from all over the world gave their lives in the village. The countless graves and numerous monuments and memorials all over the area speak for themselves. British soldiers referred to Passendale as ‘Passiondale’.
After the war, the area - which had been reduced to one big ruin - was rebuilt stone by stone. The church was built on the ruins of the old abbey church and is one of the first modern churches in Belgium.
‘Passchendaele 1917’ became a byword in the WWI history, used to symbolise violence in its most brutal and senseless form. The Memorial Museum Passendale 1917 opened on Anzac Day 2004 in the grounds of Zonnebeke Chateau, ninety years after the beginning of the ‘Great War’. This is also the place where Anzac Day ceremonies start for the Australians.
Close to the church, the municipality erected a monument to commemorate civilians and soldiers of Zonnebeke who were killed during WWI and WWII.
A short ceremony takes place at the monument each year on Anzac Day.
Tyne Cot Cemetery, Passchendaele Tyne Cot (or Tyne Cottage) was the name given by the army to a barn which stood west of the Passchendaele-Broodseinde road. The barn became the centre of five German blockhouses and was captured by the Australian Imperial Forces (AIF) 2nd Division on 4 October 1917. One of the blockhouses was then used as an Advanced Dressing Station (ADS). From 6 October 1917 until the end of the war, 343 graves were dug on either side of the ADS. After the Armistice, the cemetery was enlarged until it held 11,956 graves, the largest British cemetery, and covered 35,103 square meters. The unnamed graves number 8366. There are 1368 Australian graves, the majority being unidentified. A special memorial records the names of fifteen other Australians known or believed to be buried within the cemetery. Of particular interest to Australians is the Cross of Sacrifice which, at the suggestion of King George V, was built over one of the blockhouses. It is one of several captured by the AIF 2nd Division, on this occasion the 5th brigade. A plaque commemorates it. A small part of the original blockhouse is visible through a 'window' in the gleaming white concrete which forms the base for the cross.
Two Australian Victoria Cross (VC) winners are buried in Tyne Cot cemetery: Captain Clarence Smith Jeffries of the 34th Battalion (Grave XL.E. 1) and Sergeant Lewis McGee of the 40th Battalion (Grave XX.D.I). Sergeant Lewis McGee showed great courage and exemplary leadership in the Passchendaele fighting of October 1917. Killed in action at Broodseinde, Sergeant Lewis McGee is buried in Tyne Cot Cemetery not far from Captain Jeffries VC.
Tyne Cot is a magnificent garden cemetery and a blaze of colour during the growing seasons. The view ups the slope from the rich-gate, through the headstones, garden and lawns to the Great Cross and the Memorial to the Missing, is profoundly moving. All major memorial ceremonies are held in Tyne Cot cemetery. Note the two large blockhouses towards the front of the cemetery. Both were captured by the AIF, but by the 3rd Division, not the 2nd, as implied on the memorial.
Tyne Cot cemetery is one of the War cemeteries in Greater Ypres maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.