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Middelkerke Communal Cemetery

  • Country Belgium
  • Total identified casualties 45 Find these casualties
  • Region West-Vlaanderen
  • Identified casualties from Second World War
  • GPS Coordinates Latitude: 51.18664, Longitude: 2.82874
MIDDELKERKE COMMUNAL CEMETERY - CWGC
MIDDELKERKE COMMUNAL CEMETERY - CWGC

Location information

Middelkerke Communal Cemetery is located 9 km south west of Oostende. From Oostende the N34 continues for 9 km to the costal town of Middelkerke. The town is approached via the C de Grootelaan which leads to the left hand turning onto Kerkstraat N325. The next immediate left hand turning leads onto the N318 Oostendelaan. 500 metres along the Oostendelaan lies the right hand turning onto the H.Prootstraat. The cemetery is located at the end of H.Prootstraat. This cemetery is not an open site and access is limited by normal cemetery opening hours. (Rear entrance to this cemetery is permanently open).

Visiting information

ARRIVAL

The route to the cemetery from the carpark is signposted.

Middelkerke is a communal cemetery with the CWGC plot in the top left-hand corner of the cemetery from the main entrance.

PARKING

There is a car park with space for multiple vehicles approximately 40 metres from the main entrance of the cemetery, off Franciscus Dierendonckstraat

The car park is flat and firm with a brick paved surface.

A tarmac path runs from the car park to the main entrance of the cemetery.

ACCESS LAYOUT AND MAIN ENTRANCE

The main entrance is 4 metres wide and has a tall (above head height) white metal gate, the gates are secured open by cemetery staff during opening hours.

The CWGC plot is on a grassed area surrounded by kerbs, to the left of the main entrance, approximately 150 metres northeast of the entrance. Gravel pathways run parallel and perpendicular to each other throughout the cemetery.

The Cross of Sacrifice is in the centre of the bound plot and is visible from the main entrance. The kerb adjacent to the pathway is approximately 150mm tall. There is a paved ramp, approximately 1 metre wide leading up to the plot from the pathway.

ALTERNATIVE ACCESS

All access is via the main cemetery entrance.

ADDITIONAL NFORMATION

From September 1st to March 31st, the cemetery is open every day from

08:00 to 12:00 and 14:00 to 17:00

From April 1st to 31st August, the cemetery is open Monday to Saturday

08:00 to 12:00 and 14:00 to 20:00

Sunday and public Holidays

08:00 to 12:00 and 14:00 to 17:00

There are toilets managed by the cemetery at the main entrance.

History information

The British Expeditionary Force was involved in the later stages of the defence of Belgium following the German invasion in May 1940, and suffered many casualties in covering the withdrawal to Dunkirk. Commonwealth forces did not return until September 1944, but in the intervening years, many airmen were shot down or crashed in raids on strategic objectives in Belgium, or while returning from missions over Germany.

The Commonwealth plot in Middelkerke Communal Cemetery contains 53 burials of the Second World War, ten of them unidentified, and two Polish war graves.