Esquelbecq Military Cemetery

Esquelbecq Military Cemetery is a British military cemetery located in the northern French town of Ekelsbeke. The cemetery is located about one kilometre west of the village church. She was designed by Edwin Lutyens and is maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. In the centre on the west side is the Cross of Sacrifice, on the east side the Stone of Remembrance. It commemorates 636 dead, of which 579 from the First World War and 47 from the Second World War. Seven victims could not be identified.

History:
At the start of the German spring offensive, the cemetery was started in April 1918 when an Australian and a Canadian field hospital were established in Ekelsbeke. The cemetery remained in use until September of that year. There are buried 569 British, 1 Canadian, 2 Australians, 4 New Zealanders, 1 South African, 1 Indian, 7 Germans and 3 French. There are also two British war graves in the municipal cemetery of Ekelsbeke.

Also at the beginning of the Second World War, the fallen were buried here. These were victims of the German advance of May 1940 and the British retreat to Dunkirk.

Private George Hunter of the 2nd Bn. Durham Light Infantry was executed for desertion on 2 July 1916.

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