Historical Information (Source: CWGC)

The village of Houplines was briefly occupied by the German forces as they advanced northward toward the channel ports in early October 1914. It was retaken by the British 4th Division later that month and remained in Allied hands until April 1918 when it was overrun by German units during the great spring offensive. It was finally recaptured by the Allied forces in September 1918. Houplines then contained four Commonwealth cemeteries in addition to plots in the communal cemetery. These sites were regrouped and concentrated after the war and today just two cemeteries remain. Houplines Communal Cemetery Extension was established, as ‘Houplines New Military Cemetery’, in October 1914 and used, mostly by the men of the 4th and 6th Divisions, until January 1916. In the years after the Armistice, the cemetery was enlarged when graves were concentrated here from the battlefields around Armentieres.

The extension now contains over 530 Commonwealth burials and commemorations of the First World War. 68 burials are unidentified but there are special memorials to four casualties known or believed to be buried among them. The cemetery also contains one Second World War burial.