Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing, War memorial in Comines-Warneton, Belgium
The Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing stands in Berks Cemetery Extension in Ploegsteert, Comines-Warneton. It is a cylindrical structure of pale limestone, 21 m in diameter and 11.73 m tall, with a broad drum resting on a ring of square pillars that form an open colonnade; a single tall doorway opens in the solid wall below. A row of low stone markers runs along the grass in front.
The memorial was designed in the 1920s and inaugurated in 1931 to commemorate Commonwealth soldiers who fought in the southern part of the Flanders front and were never found. It was commissioned by the Imperial War Graves Commission, now known as the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
This place serves as a gathering space where visitors from around the world come to remember those lost during the war. The monthly ceremonies create moments of reflection that keep the memory of these soldiers alive.
The memorial is freely accessible throughout the year and sits directly along the N365 road between Ploegsteert and Armentières. A small parking area nearby makes it easy to stop, and the surrounding paths allow a calm walk around the site.
Three Victoria Cross recipients with no known grave are named here: Sapper William Hackett, Private James MacKenzie and Captain Thomas Pryce. Hackett, 43, of the 254th Tunnelling Company, died on 27 June 1916 after a German mine collapsed a tunnel; he refused to leave a badly wounded comrade and both were trapped.
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