"What were the horrors of Verdun and the Somme compared to this colossal eruption of force!"
For all the dead found in the grounds who today lie in one of the Commonwealth Cemeteries, we have determined the place of their exhumation. For each of them, the circumstances of their death have been investigated and noted down. By means of the below interactive map, we open up and preserve their stories for the future.
Unternehmung Höhensturm
At the very same moment as the Allies launched their attack of 4 October 1917, the Germans mounted a counterattack at Zonnebeke, called Unternehmung Höhensturm. The operation ended in catastrophe. Hundreds of Germans were killed and many times that number were captured or wounded.
A final resting place
The exhumation of the many bodies in the grounds of the chateau took several years. As a result, the dead ended up at eighteen different Commonwealth Cemeteries. Most of the Germans who died at Zonnebeke have no known final resting place. A minority are today commemorated by name on a grave or a monument to the missing.
Do you have unique stories or historical visual material concerning a soldier who fought or died at Zonnebeke? You can share it through the interactive map or through the Passchendaele Archives project. You will be helping to build a platform for relatives, interested members of the public, researchers, museums and others. Help us to remember and to preserve their stories for the future.
