Lives of the First World War

Meteren Military Cemetery, Nord, France. Meteren was occupied by German forces early in October 1914 and on 13 October, their entrenched positions covering the village were captured by the 10th Brigade of the 4th Division. The village then remained in Allied hands until the German offensive of April 1918. The 33rd Division held it against heavy German attacks on 13 April, but it was lost on the 16th. The sector was then taken over by French troops for a time, but on 19 July, the 9th (Scottish) Division (2nd Royal Scots Fusiliers and South African Composite Battalion) recovered the site of the village after a fortnight's bombardment which completely destroyed the houses. The cemetery was made in 1919 by the French authorities, who brought in Commonwealth, French and German graves from the neighbouring battlefields and from other cemeteries. Meteren Military Cemetery now contains 768 Commonwealth burials and commemorations of the First World War. 180 of the burials are unidentified but there are special memorials to five casualties believed to be buried among them. There are also special memorials to one soldier buried in Meteren Churchyard, and one Indian soldier buried in Mont-des-Cats Indian Cemetery, whose graves were destroyed in later fighting. There are also 69 French burials here.

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