Oak Dump Cemetery

Oak Dump Cemetery is a small Commonwealth war cemetery on the outskirts of Ypres, in the municipality of Voormezele, West Flanders, Belgium. It sits on the Bernikkewallestraat, a country road branching off the Rijselsesweg (N365) that links Ypres to Armentières in France, roughly five kilometres south of the town centre. It is the final resting place of soldiers killed during the First World War, one of hundreds of similar burial grounds scattered across the former Western Front around Ypres.

How did the cemetery come to be here?

The cemetery was created by fighting units in the field during July, August and September 1917, at the height of intense positional warfare on this stretch of the Flanders front. After the Armistice, one additional grave dating back to 1914 — from the earliest months of the war — was brought in and added to the site. In March 1918, a military sap opposite the cemetery was blown in, an incident in which seven men of the 180th Siege Battery were killed; this event is directly connected to some of the burials found here.

How many graves are there?

Oak Dump Cemetery holds 111 Commonwealth burials from the First World War, five of them unidentified and marked as the graves of unknown soldiers. Two of the burials, destroyed by shell fire during the war, are commemorated through special memorials — headstones recording that a soldier is known to be buried in the cemetery even though his exact grave could no longer be pinpointed after the damage.

Who designed the cemetery?

The cemetery was designed by W. H. Cowlishaw, one of the architects who worked for what became the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) in the years after the war. Like the Commission's other sites, it follows a restrained, consistent design language — uniform white headstones, carefully tended lawns and planting, and understated architectural features — the same visual language found across hundreds of comparable cemeteries in Belgium and northern France.

What should visitors know before going?

The cemetery lies along the quiet Bernikkewallestraat, surrounded by the flat farmland typical of the countryside around Ypres, well away from the busier tourist routes. It can be reached via the Rijselsesweg (N365), the road connecting Ypres to Armentières. Wheelchair access is available through the main entrance. As with other war cemeteries in the region, visitors are asked to treat the site with the quiet respect due to a place of burial and remembrance.

Frequently asked questions

Where exactly is Oak Dump Cemetery located? In Voormezele, about 5 km south of Ypres town centre, on the Bernikkewallestraat off the N365.

How many soldiers are buried there? 111 Commonwealth soldiers from the First World War, including five unidentified graves.

When was the cemetery established? Mostly during the summer and autumn of 1917, with one grave from 1914 added after the war.

Is it wheelchair accessible? Yes, the main entrance allows wheelchair access.