Buffs Road Cemetery

Buffs Road Cemetery is a small Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) burial ground located near Ypres in Belgium, within the area known as the Ypres Salient on the First World War's Western Front. It is one of hundreds of similar cemeteries scattered across the countryside around Ypres, a region that saw some of the bloodiest and longest-running fighting of the entire conflict between 1914 and 1918.

Where is Buffs Road Cemetery located?

The cemetery sits near the city of Ypres, in the province of West Flanders. Its name references the road along which it was established — a naming pattern typical of British war cemeteries from this period, many of which were laid out directly beside the routes used by troops moving to and from the front line.

What was the Ypres Salient, and why are there so many cemeteries here?

The Ypres Salient was a bulge in the front line around Ypres, held by Allied forces for almost the entire war despite being surrounded by German positions on three sides. Successive battles fought here — including engagements notorious for the use of poison gas and for exceptionally difficult, waterlogged, shell-cratered terrain — produced enormous casualties on both sides. After the fighting ended, the region was left with a dense network of military cemeteries: some vast, holding thousands of burials, and others small, like Buffs Road Cemetery, where a comparatively modest number of soldiers rest, often connected to a specific engagement or to a unit that held the surrounding ground.

Who maintains the cemetery today?

Buffs Road Cemetery is cared for by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the organisation responsible for commemorating and maintaining the graves of Commonwealth service members who died in the two World Wars. The CWGC looks after thousands of such sites worldwide, applying the same consistent standard of headstones, planting and layout regardless of a cemetery's size. As a result, even a small, lesser-known site like Buffs Road Cemetery is maintained to the same standard as the largest CWGC cemeteries in the region, such as Tyne Cot.

What should visitors know before coming here?

This is first and foremost a place of burial and remembrance rather than a conventional tourist attraction, and visitors are expected to observe quiet and respect for the soldiers buried here and for the families who sometimes come to visit. The cemetery forms part of the wider remembrance trail around Ypres, which includes the Menin Gate and its daily Last Post ceremony, several war museums, and preserved trench and fortification remains. For those interested in the history of the First World War, smaller, more intimate cemeteries like this one often convey the human scale of the losses more directly than the largest sites, encouraging a focus on individual names and stories rather than sheer numbers.

Frequently asked questions

Is Buffs Road Cemetery open to the public? Yes, CWGC cemeteries are generally open to visitors free of charge throughout the year.

How do you get to Buffs Road Cemetery? The cemetery lies in the countryside near Ypres, in the West Flanders region of Belgium, and is most easily reached by car from the city centre or as part of an organised battlefield tour of the Ypres Salient.

Is it worth combining a visit with other nearby memorial sites? Yes — the area around Ypres is dense with war cemeteries and memorials, so a visit to Buffs Road Cemetery works well as part of a broader tour tracing the history of the First World War in the Salient.