Historical Information (Source: CWGC)

Sailly Church was burnt during the open fighting of October 1914, when French cavalry and British and German infantry fought on the Lys, but from the winter of 1914-1915 to the spring of 1918 the village was comparatively untouched. It was captured by the Germans on 9 April 1918, and it remained in their hands until the beginning of September.

The cemetery was begun by Canadian units in March 1915, and used as a front-line cemetery until July 1916; it contains 313 Commonwealth burials of the First World War and one German grave. The cemetery was designed by Sir Herbert Baker.