View source for Berks Cemetery Extension

{{Short description|CWGC cemetery in Hainaut, Belgium}}
{{Infobox Military Cemetery
|name= Berks Cemetery Extension
|body= [[Commonwealth War Graves Commission]]
|image=[[Image:0 Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing - Hyde Park Corner - (1).jpg|300px| ''Berks Cemetery Extension'' with the ''[[Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing]]'']]
|use_dates= June 1916 – September 1917
|established= 1916
|designer= [[H Chalton Bradshaw]]
|coordinates= {{coord|50|44|17|N|02|52|55|E|}}
|nearest_town= [[Ploegsteert]], [[Hainaut (province)|Hainaut]], [[Belgium]]
|total=880
|unknowns=
|by_country=[[Allies of World War I|Allied Powers]]:
* [[United Kingdom]]: 467
* [[Canada]]: 149
* [[Australia]]: 180
* [[New Zealand]]: 80
[[Central Powers]]:
* [[Germany]]: 4
|by_war=
[[World War I]]: 880
|source=[http://ww1cemeteries.com/ww1cemeteries/berkscemeteryextension.htm WW1cemeteries.com]

| embedded             = {{designation list | embed=yes

   | designation1            = WHS
   | designation1_offname    =Funerary and memory sites of the First World War (Western Front)
   | designation1_type       = Cultural
   | designation1_criteria   = i, ii, vi
   | designation1_date       = [[List of World Heritage Sites by year of inscription#2023 (45th session)|2023]] <small>(45th [[World Heritage Committee|session]])</small>
   | designation1_number     = [https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1567 1567-WA10]
  }}
}}
'''Berks Cemetery Extension''' is a [[Commonwealth War Graves Commission]] (CWGC) burial ground in [[Belgium]] for the dead of the [[World War I|First World War]], located in the village of [[Ploegsteert]] in the [[Ypres Salient]] on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]].

Inside the cemetery is the [[Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing]], which commemorates more than 11,000 British and Empire servicemen who died in the area during the First World War and have no known grave. ''Berks Cemetery Extension'' is not to be confused with the much smaller ''[[Hyde Park Corner (Royal Berks) Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery|Hyde Park Corner (Royal Berks) Cemetery]]'', which is located directly opposite, across the road.

==History==
The cemetery was originally set up by [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] troops in June 1916 as an extension to ''[[Hyde Park Corner (Royal Berks) Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery|Hyde Park Corner (Royal Berks) Cemetery]]'' across the road.<ref>[http://www.wo1.be/eng/database/dbDetail.asp?TypeID=6&SubTypeID=19&ItemID=5735 www.wo1.be] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927225203/http://www.wo1.be/eng/database/dbDetail.asp?TypeID=6&SubTypeID=19&ItemID=5735 |date=2011-09-27 }}, accessed 26 May 2006</ref>  After fierce fighting at the start of the war, [[Ploegsteert Wood]] had become a quiet sector where no major action took place. Units were sent here to recuperate and retrain after fighting elsewhere and before returning to active operations.

''Berks Cemetery Extension'' was still small at the time of the [[Armistice with Germany (Compiègne)|Armistice]]. 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 cemetery extension was significantly enlarged in 1930 when it became clear that ''Rosenberg Chateau Military Cemetery'' and ''Rosenberg Chateau Military Cemetery Extension'', located approximately one kilometre away, could not be acquired in perpetuity and the graves were moved to the ''Berks Cemetery Extension''.<ref>[http://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/9102 CWGC entry], accessed 26 May 2006</ref> The current appearance of the cemetery was designed by [[H. Chalton Bradshaw|Harold Chalton Bradshaw]], who also designed the [[Cambrai Memorial]] in France.<ref>[http://www.webmatters.net/cwgc/cambrai_mem.htm First World War]</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Ploegsteert-PM 50491.jpg
Berks Cemetery Extension 12.JPG
Berks Cemetery Extension 8 1-2.JPG
Ploegsteert-PM 50492.jpg|Berks Cemetery Extension and [[Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing]] as seen from the [[Hyde Park Corner (Royal Berks) Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery|Hyde Park Corner (Royal Berks) Cemetery]] across the road
Berks Cemetery Extension 10.JPG
</gallery>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Berks Cemetery Extension}}
* {{cwgc cemetery|9102}}
* {{Find a Grave cemetery}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061003020306/http://www.silentcities.co.uk/cemeteryb/Berks%20Cemetery%20Extension%20%28Rosenberg%20Chateau%20Plots%29%2C%20Ploegsteert.htm Silent Cities]
{{CWGC cemeteries in Comines-Warneton}}

[[Category:Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries in Belgium]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Hainaut (province)]]
[[Category:Comines-Warneton]]
[[Category:Funerary and memory sites of the First World War (Western Front)]]