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Étaples Military Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Commonwealth War Graves Commission

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is a joint governmental organisation responsible for marking and maintaining the graves of members of the Commonwealth of Nations' military forces that died in the two world wars, to build memorials to those with no known grave, and to keep records of the war dead....
 cemetery
Cemetery

A cemetery is a place in which death body and cremation are burial. The term cemetery implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground....
 in Étaples
Étaples

?taples or ?taples-sur-Mer is a Communes of France in the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France in northern France. It is a fishing and leisure port on the Canche river....
, near Boulogne on the north-west coast of France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
. The cemetery holds over 11,500 dead from both World War I
World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
 and World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
.

lass="link1" onMouseover='showByLink("m2355000",this)' onMouseout='hide("m2355000")'href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/%c9taples">Étaples
Étaples

?taples or ?taples-sur-Mer is a Communes of France in the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France in northern France. It is a fishing and leisure port on the Canche river....
 was the scene of much Allied
Allies of World War I

File:Map Europe alliances 1914-en.svgThe Entente Powers were the countries at war with the Central Powers during World War I. The main allies were the Russian Empire, French Third Republic, the British Empire, Kingdom of Italy , the Empire of Japan, and the United States....
 activity during World War One due to its safety from attack by enemy land forces and the existence of railway connections with both the northern and southern battlefields
Western Front (World War I)

Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Empire army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France....
. The town was home to 16 hospitals and a convalescent depot, in addition to a number of reinforcement camps for Commonwealth
Commonwealth of Nations

The Commonwealth of Nations, also known as the Commonwealth or the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organization of fifty-three independent member states....
 soldiers and general barracks for the French Army
French Army

The French Army, officially the Arm?e de Terre , is the Army component of the Military of France and its largest. As of 2007, the army employs 134,000 regular soldiers, 15,500 reservists, and 25,750 civilians....
.






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Étaples Military Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Commonwealth War Graves Commission

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is a joint governmental organisation responsible for marking and maintaining the graves of members of the Commonwealth of Nations' military forces that died in the two world wars, to build memorials to those with no known grave, and to keep records of the war dead....
 cemetery
Cemetery

A cemetery is a place in which death body and cremation are burial. The term cemetery implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground....
 in Étaples
Étaples

?taples or ?taples-sur-Mer is a Communes of France in the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France in northern France. It is a fishing and leisure port on the Canche river....
, near Boulogne on the north-west coast of France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
. The cemetery holds over 11,500 dead from both World War I
World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
 and World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
.

History

Étaples
Étaples

?taples or ?taples-sur-Mer is a Communes of France in the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France in northern France. It is a fishing and leisure port on the Canche river....
 was the scene of much Allied
Allies of World War I

File:Map Europe alliances 1914-en.svgThe Entente Powers were the countries at war with the Central Powers during World War I. The main allies were the Russian Empire, French Third Republic, the British Empire, Kingdom of Italy , the Empire of Japan, and the United States....
 activity during World War One due to its safety from attack by enemy land forces and the existence of railway connections with both the northern and southern battlefields
Western Front (World War I)

Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Empire army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France....
. The town was home to 16 hospitals and a convalescent depot, in addition to a number of reinforcement camps for Commonwealth
Commonwealth of Nations

The Commonwealth of Nations, also known as the Commonwealth or the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organization of fifty-three independent member states....
 soldiers and general barracks for the French Army
French Army

The French Army, officially the Arm?e de Terre , is the Army component of the Military of France and its largest. As of 2007, the army employs 134,000 regular soldiers, 15,500 reservists, and 25,750 civilians....
. Of more than 11,500 soldiers interred in Étaples Military Cemetery, over 10,000 of these men were casualties of World War One who died in Étaples or the surrounding area.

The abundance of military infrastructure in Étaples gave the town a capacity of around 100,000 troops in World War One and made the area a serious target for German aerial bombing raids, from which the town suffered heavily. The combination of withstanding these attacks and giving over their homes to the war effort led to Étaples being awarded the Croix de Guerre
Croix de guerre

The croix de guerre is a military decoration of both France and Belgium, where it is also known as the Oorlogskruis . It was first created in 1915 in both countries and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins....
 in 1920.

The Second World War once again saw Allied
Allies of World War II

The Allies of World War II were the countries officially opposed to the Axis powers of World War II during the World War II. Within the ranks of the Allies powers, the British Empire, the Soviet Union, and the United States of America were known as "The Big Three"....
 hospitals stationed in Étaples, and with them the reopening of the cemetery to cope with the casualties of another war. 119 men were buried in Étaples Military Cemetery in World War Two, this low number attributable to the fact that the hospitals were only in place from January 1940 until the British withdrawal from the Continent
Battle of France

In World War II, the Battle of France, also known as the Fall of France, was the Germany invasion of France and the Low Countries, executed from 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War....
 in May of the same year.

The cemetery

Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens
Edwin Lutyens

Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens, Order of Merit , Order of the Indian Empire, Royal Academy, Royal Institute of British Architects, LLD was a leading 20th century British architect who is known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era....
, Étaples Military Cemetery is the largest CWGC cemetery in France, and contains the remains of soldiers from the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
, Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
, Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
, New Zealand
New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous Islands of New Zealand, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands....
, South Africa
South Africa

The Republic of South Africa, also known by Official names of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa....
, India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
 and Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has only published the number of Commonwealth and German dead buried in Étaples, although its records for the cemetery note that it contains 'a few war graves of other nationalities'.

In total, the cemetery contains 10,792 Commonwealth burials of which only 73 are unidentified. There are also 658 German burials in the cemetery.

Victoria Cross


Among the large number of burials at Étaples lies the body of one Victoria Cross winner, that of Major Douglas Reynolds
Douglas Reynolds

Douglas Reynolds Victoria Cross was an England recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to United Kingdom and Commonwealth of Nations forces....
, VC of the Royal Field Artillery
Royal Field Artillery

The Royal Field Artillery of the British Army came into being when the Royal Artillery was divided on 1 July 1899, it was reamalgamated back into the Royal Artillery in 1924....
.

2003 vandalism

In March 2003, vandals protesting against the Anglo-American invasion of Iraq
2003 invasion of Iraq

The 2003 invasion of Iraq, from March 20 to May 1, 2003, was spearheaded by the United States, backed by United Kingdom forces and smaller contingents from Australia, Spain, Poland and Denmark....
 daubed anti-British and anti-American slogans in red paint across parts of the Étaples Military Cemetery. The actions drew widespread condemnation from the United Kingdom, United States, and Australia and from within France itself. The French National Assembly
French National Assembly

The France National Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of France under the French Fifth Republic. The other is the French Senate ....
 described the vandalism as 'barbaric, monstrous and utterly despicable', while French President Jacques Chirac
Jacques Chirac

Jacques Ren? Chirac served as the President of France from 17 May 1995 until 16 May 2007. As President he also served as an ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra and Grand Master of the French L?gion d'honneur....
 wrote to the Queen
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Elizabeth II is the queen regnant of sixteen independent states known as the Commonwealth realms: Monarchy of the United Kingdom, Monarchy of Canada, Monarchy of Australia, Monarchy of New Zealand, Monarchy of Jamaica, Monarchy of Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Monarchy of the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Sain...
 to express his 'sincere regrets'.

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