The Etaples Military Cemetery stands on the former site of a vast military hospital complex used by the Allies during the First World War.
At its height, over 100,000 troops would have been camped here, either in training from the front or receiving treatment for wounds sustained. The hospitals themselves could cater for over 20,000 casualties at any one time. The site was chosen due to it’s distance from the front lines but good transport links, meaning troops could be brought here quickly without being in danger of enemy land attacks.
The cemetery was inaugurated on May 14th, 1922 by King George V and General Douglas Haig.
The site was briefly resurrected as a hospital complex during the early months of World War Two until the German conquest of France.
Today, the Etaples Military Cemetery contains the burials of over 10,000 Commonwealth troops and over 500 non-commonwealth combatants.