RE Grave, Railway Wood

RE Grave is a war cemetery in Zillebeke where twelve Royal Engineers soldiers rest beneath the ground beneath a Cross of Sacrifice. The site sits on Bellewaerde Ridge about four kilometers east of Ypres and marks a historic point in the tunnel warfare that took place there.

Between November 1915 and August 1917, the 177th Tunnelling Company of the Royal Engineers built defensive networks and conducted underground combat here. This period shaped the location as a center of engineering operations during the trench warfare.

The memorial grounds were given to the United Kingdom by Belgian King Albert I as recognition of military sacrifices during World War I. Visitors experience a place that reflects the importance of this gesture for British-Belgian relations.

The location sits in rural countryside and is best reached by car or on foot since public transport options are limited. Visitors should dress for the weather and wear sturdy shoes, as the ground can become muddy especially after rain.

Unlike typical war cemeteries, this site has no individual gravestones because the soldiers could not be recovered from their underground position. This makes it an unusual memorial that reflects the particular challenges of tunnel warfare.