Cemetery: SUNDERLAND (BISHOPWEARMOUTH) CEMETERY
Country: United Kingdom
Locality: Durham
Historical Information: During the First World War, part of Ward 3 Section A was set aside for service war burials, though more than 100 war graves are scattered elsewhere in the cemetery. This plot was extended to accommodate some of the Second World War burials. The remainder are in scattered. The war graves plot is on the central path which runs between the two entrances to the cemetery, one in Hylton Road on the north and one in Chester Road on the south. Sunderland (Bishopwearmouth) Cemetery contains 237 Commonwealth burials of the First World War and 156 from the Second. There are also 31 non-war service burials in the cemetery and one Dutch war grave.
No. of Identified Casualties: 425


Cemetery: ST. SEVER CEMETERY, ROUEN
Country: France
Locality: Seine-Maritime
Visiting Information: OPENING TIMES 1 March - 1 November: Monday-Saturday : 0815-1815 Sundays/Public Holidays : 0815-1745 2 November-28 February: Every Day : 0815-1645
Location Information: St Sever Cemetery is a large communal cemetery situated on the eastern edge of the southern Rouen suburbs of Le Grand Quevilly and Le Petit Quevilly. If approaching Rouen from the north, head for the centre of town and cross over the river Seine, following signs for Caen. Follow this route until you get to the 'Rond Point des Bruyeres' roundabout (next to the football stadium), then take the first exit into the Boulevard Stanislas Girardin. The cemetery is 150 metres down this road on the left. If approaching Rouen from the south, follow the N138 (Avenue des Canadiens) towards the centre of town. At the 'Rond Point des Bruyeres' roundabout (next to the football stadium), take the fourth exit into the Boulevard Stanislas Girardin. The cemetery is 150 metres down this road on the left. If arriving on foot, take the metro to St Sever Metro Station, then follow the Avenue de Caen until you get to the Avenue de la Liberation, then take this road and follow this, which will become the Boulevard du 11 Novembre. At the end of this road is the 'Rond Point des Bruyeres' roundabout. Take the first exit from this into the Boulevard Stanislas Girardin. The cemetery is 150 metres down this road on the left.
Historical Information: During the First World War, Commonwealth camps and hospitals were stationed on the southern outskirts of Rouen. A base supply depot and the 3rd Echelon of General Headquarters were also established in the city. Almost all of the hospitals at Rouen remained there for practically the whole of the war. They included eight general, five stationary, one British Red Cross, one labour hospital, and No. 2 Convalescent Depot. A number of the dead from these hospitals were buried in other cemeteries, but the great majority were taken to the city cemetery of St. Sever. In September 1916, it was found necessary to begin an extension. St. Sever Cemetery contains 3,082 Commonwealth burials of the First World War. There is also 1 French burial and 1 non war service burial here. The Commonwealth plots were designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield.
No. of Identified Casualties: 308


Cemetery: TOWER HILL MEMORIAL
Country: United Kingdom
Locality: London
Visiting Information: OPENING TIMES: Following renovation of the Gardens, the Council took the decision that the gates to Trinity Square Gardens should be locked every night. Therfore, visitors, should note that the gardens will open at 8 a.m. and will close 1/2 hour before dusk.  
Location Information: The Tower Hill Memorial commemorates men and women of the Merchant Navy and Fishing Fleets who died in both World Wars and who have no known grave. It stands on the south side of the garden of Trinity Square, London, close to The Tower of London. The Memorial Register may be consulted at Trinity House Corporation, Trinity Square (Cooper's Row entrance), Tower Hill, London EC3 N4DH, which will be found behind the Memorial. Tel: 020 7481 6900.  
Historical Information: In the First World War, the civilian navy's duty was to be the supply service of the Royal Navy, to transport troops and supplies to the armies, to transport raw materials to overseas munitions factories and munitions from those factories, to maintain, on a reduced scale, the ordinary import and export trade, to supply food to the home country and - in spite of greatly enlarged risks and responsibilities - to provide both personnel and ships to supplement the existing resources of the Royal Navy. Losses of vessels were high from the outset, but had peaked in 1917 when in January the German government announced the adoption of "unrestricted submarine warfare". The subsequent preventative measures introduced by the Ministry of Shipping - including the setting up of the convoy system where warships were used to escort merchant vessels - led to a decrease in losses but by the end of the war, 3,305 merchant ships had been lost with a total of 17,000 lives. In the Second World War, losses were again considerable in the early years, reaching a peak in 1942. The heaviest losses were suffered in the Atlantic, but convoys making their way to Russia around the North Cape, and those supplying Malta in the Mediterranean were also particularly vulnerable to attack. In all, 4,786 merchant ships were lost during the war with a total of 32,000 lives. More than one quarter of this total were lost in home waters. The First World War section of the Tower Hill Memorial commemorates almost 12, 000 Mercantile Marine casualties who have no grave but the sea. The memorial was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens with sculpture by Sir William Reid-Dick. The Second World War extension, designed by Sir Edward Maufe, with sculpture by Charles Wheeler, bears almost 24,000 names.
No. of Identified Casualties: 35812


Cemetery: TRIPOLI WAR CEMETERY
Country: Libya
Locality: unspecified
Visiting Information: 16.01.2003 PLEASE NOTE: Visitors to Libya need to obtain approval from the People's Tourism Committee in Batnan. Further advice may be obtained from the British Embassy in Tripoli, at the following address: British Embassy PO Box 4206 Tripoli LIBYA Tel: 00 218 21 335 1084 Fax: 00 218 21 335 1425 Office Hours: Sunday to Thursday 07.00 to 14.00
Location Information: Tripoli Military Cemetery is co-located with Tripoli War Cemetery, within which it comprises Plots 50-52, adjacent to the eastern boundary wall. The Cemetery is in the Mansura district of Tripoli, 2.5 kilometres west of the city centre. It is located off the western end of Sharia Jamahuriya, close to the major roundabout at Bab Gargaresh. Access to the War and Military Cemeteries is via the now disused Italian Municipal Christian Cemetery. From the main gate of the municipal cemetery follow the avenue for about 100 metres to the small piazza with a crucifixion scene sculpture and turn left (east). The stepped entrance to the War Cemetery can then be seen 100 metres ahead.
Historical Information: During the North African campaign, Tripoli was an important Axis base until taken by Montgomery's forces on 23 January 1943. It then became a hospital centre, and the burials in the war cemetery were almost entirely from the hospitals, which included Nos 2, 48 and 133 General Hospitals from March 1943, and No 89 General Hospital from April 1944. Tripoli War Cemetery contains 1,369 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War, 133 of them unidentified.
No. of Identified Casualties: 1262


Cemetery: TYNE COT MEMORIAL
Country: Belgium
Locality: Zonnebeke, West-Vlaanderen
Visiting Information: There are two separate registers for this site - one for the cemetery and one for the memorial. The memorial register will be found in the left hand rotunda of the memorial as you face the memorial. The Panel Numbers quoted at the end of each entry relate to the panels dedicated to the Regiment served with. In some instances where a casualty is recorded as attached to another Regiment, his name may alternatively appear within their Regimental Panels. Please refer to the on-site Memorial Register Introduction to determine the alternative panel numbers if you do not find the name within the quoted Panels. Wheelchair access to the cemetery is possible via main entrance. For further information regarding wheelchair access, please contact our Enquiries Section on 01628 507200
Location Information: The Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing forms the north-eastern boundary of Tyne Cot Cemetery, which is located 9 kilometres north east of Ieper town centre, on the Tynecotstraat, a road leading from the Zonnebeekseweg (N332). The names of those from United Kingdom units are inscribed on Panels arranged by Regiment under their respective Ranks. The names of those from New Zealand units are inscribed on panels within the New Zealand Memorial Apse located at the centre of the Memorial.
Historical Information: The Tyne Cot Memorial is one of four memorials to the missing in Belgian Flanders which cover the area known as the Ypres Salient. Broadly speaking, the Salient stretched from Langemarck in the north to the northern edge in Ploegsteert Wood in the south, but it varied in area and shape throughout the war. The Salient was formed during the First Battle of Ypres in October and November 1914, when a small British Expeditionary Force succeeded in securing the town before the onset of winter, pushing the German forces back to the Passchendaele Ridge. The Second Battle of Ypres began in April 1915 when the Germans released poison gas into the Allied lines north of Ypres. This was the first time gas had been used by either side and the violence of the attack forced an Allied withdrawal and a shortening of the line of defence. There was little more significant activity on this front until 1917, when in the Third Battle of Ypres an offensive was mounted by Commonwealth forces to divert German attention from a weakened French front further south. The initial attempt in June to dislodge the Germans from the Messines Ridge was a complete success, but the main assault north-eastward, which began at the end of July, quickly became a dogged struggle against determined opposition and the rapidly deteriorating weather. The campaign finally came to a close in November with the capture of Passchendaele. The German offensive of March 1918 met with some initial success, but was eventually checked and repulsed in a combined effort by the Allies in September. The battles of the Ypres Salient claimed many lives on both sides and it quickly became clear that the commemoration of members of the Commonwealth forces with no known grave would have to be divided between several different sites. The site of the Menin Gate was chosen because of the hundreds of thousands of men who passed through it on their way to the battlefields. It commemorates those of all Commonwealth nations except New Zealand who died in the Salient, in the case of United Kingdom casualties before 16 August 1917. Those United Kingdom and New Zealand servicemen who died after that date are named on the memorial at Tyne Cot, a site which marks the furthest point reached by Commonwealth forces in Belgium until nearly the end of the war. Other New Zealand casualties are commemorated on memorials at Buttes New British Cemetery and Messines Ridge British Cemetery. The TYNE COT MEMORIAL now bears the names of almost 35,000 officers and men whose graves are not known. The memorial, designed by Sir Herbert Baker with sculpture by Joseph Armitage and F V Blundstone, was unveiled by Sir Gilbert Dyett in July 1927. The memorial forms the north-eastern boundary of TYNE COT CEMETERY, which was established around a captured German blockhouse or pill-box used as an advanced dressing station. The original battlefield cemetery of 343 graves was greatly enlarged after the Armistice when remains were brought in from the battlefields of Passchendaele and Langemarck, and from a few small burial grounds. It 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 the original large pill-box. There are three other pill-boxes in the cemetery. There are now 11,952 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated in Tyne Cot Cemetery. 8,365 of the burials are unidentified but there are special memorials to more than 80 casualties known or believed to be buried among them. Other special memorials commemorate 20 casualties whose graves were destroyed by shell fire. The cemetery was designed by Sir Herbert Baker.
No. of Identified Casualties: 34873