Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing

The Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) memorial in Belgium for missing soldiers of World War I. It commemorates men from the Allied Powers who fought on the northern Western Front outside the Ypres Salient and whose graves are unknown.

After Ploegsteert Wood had been the site of fierce fighting at the start of the war, it became a relatively quiet sector where no major action took place. Allied units were sent here to recuperate and retrain after fighting elsewhere and before returning to active operations. Berks Cemetery Extension was founded by Commonwealth troops in June 1916 as an extension to Hyde Park Corner (Royal Berks) Cemetery which lies across the road. The cemetery grounds were assigned to the United Kingdom in perpetuity by King Albert I of Belgium in recognition of the sacrifices made by the British Empire in the defence and liberation of Belgium during the war.

The Ploegsteert Memorial was designed by H. Chalton Bradshaw. The Ploegsteert Memorial is 21 m in diameter and 11.73 m tall and was unveiled on 7 June 1931 by the then-Duke of Brabant, later King Leopold III of Belgium.

Address
Mesenstraat 159, Ploegsteert, Belgium

Established
1931